10 Romantic Scenes From ’00s Movies We Thought Were Cute But Were Actually Cooked

Looking back at some of the most beloved ’00s movies, we tend to wear rose-tinted glasses. This means rewatching these films can be low-key traumatic, especially when your most cherished teen movies contain scenes which were deeply problematic.

I came to this thumping realisation over the weekend when I screened a double feature of 2007’s Disturbia and 2000’s Almost Famous. Other than the fact that both of these movies are on Netflix, don’t ask me about this pairing, as I can’t answer you. While the two movies might not appear to have much in common, I couldn’t believe how creepy the men were in both films. Even worse, the men’s gross actions were portrayed as… cute, even romantic.

It got me wondering: what toxic trash were they feeding us in the early ’00s which was disguised as romance?

Here are 10 romantic movie scenes that we thought were cute but were actually cooked:

1. Disturbia

Now this movie is a throwback! It’s the only horror movie on this list, but it had to be included for this truly cooked scene involving love interests Kale and Ashley. Ashley confronts Kale after she notices someone has been watching her ever since she moved to town. “So you were watching me. Question is for how long? Just tonight? Or maybe a week? Two weeks? Since I moved in?” she quizzes Kale. He then confirms he has been watching her and lists all the things he’s seen through his binoculars. Somehow, she is charmed, replying, “That’s either the creepiest or the sweetest thing I’ve ever heard,” then THEY KISS.

Umm, I’m going to go with CREEPIEST.

Stalking is never romantic; stalking is a crime. Run, bitch! Run!

2. Twilight

Speaking of stalking, we can’t forget Edward sneaking in and watching Bella sleep in Twilight. Bella wakes up and sees Edward in her room, he tells her “I like watching you sleep,” then Bella asks “Do you do that a lot?” to which Edward replies, “Just the past couple of months”. Like in Disturbia, when Bella finds out this truly cooked information, she smiles like it’s super sweet. CALL THE POLICE!

3. Almost Famous

I do not know how this scene even got made. William arrives at Penny Lane’s hotel room, to find she has overdosed on a range of drugs and alcohol to the point where she passes out. While she is basically unconscious, he slut-shames Penny, telling her, “I’m about to boldly go where…many men…have gone before,” before kissing her. This is gross, as not only could Penny not give consent because she was passed out, but what kind of selfish asshole thinks it’s the right time to kiss a woman when she’s on the brink of death — instead of making sure she’s OK.

4. High School Musical 2

This whole scene has aged terribly. Gabriella expresses her very legitimate concern that she needs to get a summer job, telling Troy when he asked about their plans that, “Hopefully some of those activities will include a job.” He dismisses her, saying “whatever happens, as long as we’re together, it’s cool right?” Err, wrong! Gabby needs money and she has every right to be worried about that.

The scene gets even worse when Troy gives Gabriella a ‘T’ necklace. Troy may have well just stamped “Property of Troy” on her forehead. Yuck. It makes sense that “T as in Troy?” has become a meme, the scene is ridiculous and should be rightly mocked.

5. Love Actually

This scene is almost as famous as the movie itself. Mark spends the entire film treating his best friend’s new wife, Juliet, like crap, to the point where she thinks he hates her. But she realises that something is up when she watches footage he recorded of her wedding, which is all just of her…a creepy enough detail in itself! Then in a scene where he arrives at her home with cards, he declares that he’s in love with her.

This is cooked, not just because it legitimises the damaging cliché that boys are mean to girls who they actually like, but it also just doesn’t make sense. If Juliet wanted to be with Mark, she would, but she never expressed any interest in him — she’s happily married! By Juliet kissing Mark at the end of the scene — rather than (shock! horror!) rejecting this strange, presumptuous man — she’s prioritising his needs over her own. Not cute!

6. Never Been Kissed

OK, this movie technically came out in 1999 but I couldn’t exclude it. This entire romance was cooked. Josie was playing a teen at high school and Sam was her adult teacher. Sam was super inappropriate with her, and one of the worst scenes was on the ferris wheel where he spoke to Josie (his student!) about his girlfriend drama. He then told her, “All I can tell you is that when you get my age, guys will be lined up around the block for you.” Umm, wtf.

At the end of the movie, Josie wrote an article and apologised to Sam for threatening his job, like it’s her fault that he was hitting on a supposed teen. Why are you saying sorry, Josie?! You were doing your job and he was violating his!

7. The Notebook

There’s something about ferris wheels that seems to bring out the worst in people. Most people consider The Notebook as one of the most iconic romances of all time, but they’re probably forgetting the scene where Noah coerces Allie into dating him by hanging from a ferris wheel and threatening suicide or self-harm. The scene suggested that blackmailing women into dating men was romantic, but should have been a huge red flag against Noah, who could clearly be extremely manipulative.

8. Cruel Intentions

Another 1999 movie, but still cooked! I remember watching this scene as a young teen and seeing a passionate first kiss between Sebastian and Annette. Watching it back today, this kiss was forceful, aggressive and lacking enthusiastic consent. She had to physically push him off her, then Sebastian gaslit Annette into thinking he was the victim. It’s straight-up toxic.

9. Bend It Like Beckham

This is probably one of my favourite ’00s films, so I was devastated to notice that in a scene between Jess and Joe, he says some of the dumbest shit I’ve ever heard. Jess gets into a fight on the soccer field after one of her opponents calls her a racial slur. Joe chases Jess to try to find out what happened, and after Jess tells him how she feels being racially abused, he replies, “Jess, I’m Irish. Of course I understand what that feels like.”

This isn’t to say that Irish people haven’t been historically discriminated against, especially in the UK, but their struggle in the 21st century can’t be compared to the systematic oppression of people of colour. In this moment, Joe should have just listened to Jess and offered her understanding.

This ain’t it, chief.

10. The Devil Wears Prada

Don’t get me started on how awful Nate is to Andy this entire film, but the scene that truly triggers me is when Andy is out with Christopher in Paris. He kisses her out of nowhere, and even though she tells him, “I can’t, I’m sorry,” he then kisses her again. Consent? He doesn’t know it. Then she tells him she’s too drunk, but he keeps kissing her. Watching it in 2021, it’s all kinds of wrong.

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All these scenes are going to be a big yikes from me.