A 15-year-old clip of Adam Sandler and Winona Ryder from the 2002 MTV Movie Awards has resurfaced in the wake of an ongoing conversation around sexual harassment in Hollywood.
The clip shows Sandler asking Ryder if her breasts are real (“No, they’re actually made of Jell-O pudding,” she replies), and then following it up by asking to touch one of them.
“I’m gonna ask one last question, and this is the one you’re waiting for so let’s just finish up here, then we’re never gonna worry about this crap again, okay?” he says. “Can I touch one of your boobs? Please?”
“Adam, it would be my fantasy for you to do that,” she replies. “Please. Go to town.”
He pokes one of her boobs, then, with her encouragement, pokes it a couple more times.
“Very good,” he says. “What flavour?”
“Butterscotch,” she replies. “They’re butterscotch pudding.”
The whole performance is done to cheers from the audience, with Sandler repeatedly operating under the guise that he doesn’t really want to do it, but it’s what “the people want”.
Of course, there’s absolute no way this stunt would have gone ahead without Ryder’s prior knowledge and consent. The two were co-stars in the abysmal (but financially successful) flick Mr Deeds, which came out that year. They had established a working relationship that, well, worked for them.
And Ryder absolutely plays along with the gag. This isn’t meant to criticise Sandler’s behaviour, or anything like that.
But this clip is interesting viewing purely for the reason that there’s absolutely no way the stunt would go ahead in 2017.
Given these two are both in the public eye once again – Ryder for her incredible performance in Stranger Things; Sandler for managing to not Adam Sandler-up a movie – and given the conversation around sexual harassment and power imbalances in Hollywood, it’s not a bad time to reflect on how far gender roles have come in the last 15 years.
Progress is being (slowly) made, you know?
