5. Sixteen Candles
There's no denying John Hughes' indelible stature as an iconic 1980s filmmaker, but his teen classic Sixteen Candles is also imbued with some unsavoury, extremely casual racism against its much-criticised exchange student character, Long Duk Dong. Ridiculous name aside - because the word "dong" was funny thirty years ago - the character is placed in the most excruciatingly embarrassing, humiliating situations possible, ranging from him getting drunk and dancing like a maniac, to failed romantic interludes and of course, the requisite abuse of the English language. Oh, and there's the fact that whenever he shows up, a gong noise is heard, which becomes tiresome by the second or third time it happens. Reports in the wake of the film suggested that many Asian-Americans were taunted with lines of the film being shouted at them, and it remains a high-point of cultural insensitivity; a rare error of judgement during Hughes' hey-day of classic teen comedies, even if the film itself is otherwise good fun.