Back in the 90s, didn't anybody find Johnny Depp's relationship with Winona Ryder creepy?

You just answered your own question didn’t ya. Depp was hot and not old not like Seinfeld or Grammer

Yes ! And JD publicly showed off his ass tattoo of “ Winona forever “ and when they broke up ( he got tired of her) he changed it to “ wino forever.” How prophetic for him . He’s such a hypocrite and phony person

I thought the issue with Godfather 3 is they were both doing too much heroin

R3 Where did you hear that? I never heard heroin rumors, but I did hear about the puppy in the hotel.

The only way Winona would have had to drop out of a film because of an abortion is if she’d decided not to have one.

R5 Complications? Excessive bleeding?

Older men getting with teenage/barely legal girls was normalized back then.

Winona was 17 in 1989. What drama was she going to that Depp's referring to? This was way before the shoplifting.

Not just them. I remember reading articles about Edward Furlong and his much older teacher. They were all framed like, "It's so cute that he fell for an older woman."

Actors fuck each other during shooting. It get lonely. No big deal.

OP is Amber Heard trying to dredge up any accusations

No, OP. Grow up.

I never realized then that she was that much younger than JD. They just seemed like 2 hormonal kids. We’ve really become more self righteous and judgy as a society That is being shaped by both the conservative evangelical jesus freaks and the woke everybody is victimizing me contingent.

No, nobody thought it was creepy. Depp always seemed to take good care of Ryder. I believe he urged her to drop out of Godfather III when she was suffering from exhaustion.

R9

Edward Furlong is not at all comparable. EVERYONE thought that was creepy. He was something 12 and his tutor-turned-lover was like, at least 26.

Interesting quote at R8. I've never really followed Depp and was slightly too young to be into him in his prime but that quote is something. Straight men are often so emotionally non-demonstrative and quiet. I can see a woman - especially a very young one - REALLY falling for that "I would die for her!" *tearing up* shit.

She had no problem bedding down with that human stinkweed…no way.

Jenna Ortega looks like the baby Johnny and Winona would have had if they'd procreated.

R2 I thought Winona dumped him? But I could be wrong. Her career was going better than his at that point.

R15 I got interested in the relationship a couple of years ago thanks to stuff mentioned in one of the gossip threads on here and found multiple articles where people praised or at least supported the relationship. In this one, a director who worked with Furlong said, "I had my doubts at first, but I think she’s good for him. She’s a stabilizing force and she cares for the guy."

R18 Drugs, booze, mental breakdowns and legal trouble. Winona and Johnny are/were pretty messed up. It's good that they didn't have a child because more than likely, it would have grown up to be a Hollywood train wreck. The only reason Johnny's kids turned out well is because their mother Vanessa appears to be stable.

I remember it was scandalous when she made it all the way to Rome and then dropped out of Godfather III. Considering her workload of just finishing shooting three movies back to back, the exhaustion’s understandable. But still, it’s not a demanding role.

Well, it was demanding for Sofia Coppola. The fact that the movie got stuck with HER is what Ryder should have been arrested for. Not shoplifting.

They had some great 90's fashion couple moments, as he did with Kate Moss.

People thought it was romantic because it was seen as an extension of the fairy-tale romance in "Edward Scissorhands." Also, age gap relationships weren't as big of a deal back then. People like Brad Pitt and Jerry Seinfeld dated teenagers and people might have rolled their eyes a little, but not many people were offended.

R24 I always found it funny how people make Edward Scissorhands out to be an amazing love story. It's not. Most of the movie is about Edward adjusting to life in the suburbs. He has a crush on Kim, but they don't have a Titanic/Notebook type of romance.

R20

That was not the general view. All the articles I read conveyed the tone that it was inappropriate and weird.

At least she wasn’t his cousin.

Johnny didn't seem 27.

Winona was 18 in December of 1989 when Johnny made that quote. I realize it’s just a year older than 17 but it most states it makes a difference. They started dating in June and she was 18 four months later(in October). Not really that big a deal. She was more mature than he ever was.

Well what was Winona to do, when he infiltrated her high school as a second semester junior how was she to have known!

R26 I'm glad to hear it. I'm too young to remember the relationship, but, as I said, when I looked into it, I found stuff that pointed it towards people accepting it.

Of course, Furlong's family was such a train wreck maybe the teacher just looked like a better option in comparison to some people.

My memory of their relationship is that she was mature for her age and he was immature, so I didn’t really notice (or know about) the age difference.

can we please stop saying "normalized"? we're not talking about foreign relations.

It's not like Winona was a sheltered suburban teenager when she started dating JD--unlike, say, Shoshanna Lonstein and Jerry Seinfeld. She had already filmed Lucas, Beetlejuice, and Heathers. They were like a druggie Bridget loves Bernie. Age has nothing to do with how unhealthy their relationship was, everyone in entertainment is vulnerable to addiction and megalomania. Had she snagged Harrison Ford or Jack Palance she probably would have had a much better time. Instead she moved on from Depp with ugly-ass Dave Pirner...

Didn’t she grow up in Petaluma? That’s about as sheltered and mollycoddled as you can get.

[quote]Jerry Seinfeld dated teenagers and people might have rolled their eyes a little, but not many people were offended.

Jerry Seinfeld was dating a 17-year-old high school girl he picked up in Central Park when he was in his FORTIES, and you better believe people were weirded out. But he was so famous and at the top of his game that few were willing to say anything directly - she was a rich girl and her parents had given their okay, so that mostly reduced any outcry to muttering under the breath.

As for Winona and Johnny, like others have said a lot of it was the extension of the Edward Scissorhands romance, and the perception of her as the good girl whose influence on the bad boy was positive.

Nope, PR agencies around that time even paired up 23 year old Brad Pitt with 14 year old Dallas costar Shalane McCall and spread it all over magazines. It talks about it here:

Depp has always been creepy.

His weirdness made critics like him. They do love novelty.

But he was never worthy of all the attention, acting-wise.

And he was always creepy-weird.

I don't think the age gap is that bad here and it was not uncommon. At least Winona is almost entirely grown and Depp is still a young man. I don't think it's predatory. The gap is tiny enough and they were into the same things and had commonality. Winona is independent and assertive. I find the Elvis and Priscilla thing far more creepy and predatory grooming.

Winona is a flake.

No, back then people minded their own business.

No, no one thought it was weird. It was not unusual for teen girls to date much older guys, no one blinked an eye at it. There were some comments about the Seinfeld thing, but most people just minded their business. It was a different time, and now things have changed because everyone must be a victim now. Nuance and shades of gray no longer counts.

R37 What's creepy about him?

R33 Did they have a reputation as a druggie couple?

I think people were definitely creeped out by the Seinfeld thing, but since her parents were okay with it, it was kind of like, what can you do? I remember his reputation taking a bit of a hit over that. But like someone said, he was so successful at that time, people were willing to overlook it.

There's a big difference between a 17 year old and 25 year old and a teenager with a middle-aged man. The former could be a bit inappropriate but it really is dependent on how mature the teenager is. The latter is just a power imbalance and disgusting. And honestly many older teenage girls who seek older guys around college age because they find them more stable and drama free. Most guys in their early 20s are still a bit immature in ways and not making a lot of money or hold much power. Unless they're a teacher or manager, there isn't that much abuse of power. The parents approval is definitely the key. I think it's worse when it's an older woman and teenage boy because teenage boys are very immature compared to their female peers.

I never gave any of this a second thought and I'm not going to start now.

R45 How are boys immature compared to girls?

Elvis and Priscilla was definitely creepy and dysfunctional but I felt slightly better learning they didn’t see each other again for two years after meeting in Germany. Priscilla moved to Graceland in 1963 when she was about to turn 18.

Muhammad Ali married Khalilah Ali when she was 17 and he was 25, they met when she was 10 years old. He impregnated a 16 year old girl, Wanda Bolton, in his 30’s while still married to Khalilah.

I was a few years younger than Ryder and thought Depp was super hot and cool at the time. So, no, I didn't find it creepy. But, maybe I should have, because if he looked different and wasn't a Hollywood star, my opinion might have been different. Good looks and youth get you far in superficial minds (and, yes, I'm admitting I have one, unfortunately).

However, years later, I found him creepy in general.

In my high school, the “cool” and “mature” girls (aka I’m too good for high school guys) dated college guys a few years older. It was not scandalous if they were at least 17.

That said, I do think it’s weird just generally for people to want to date much younger people who 1. aren’t adults and 2. who lack life experience. But especially #1. My college students look like babies to me and they were 20+ on my classes. I can’t imagine wanting to dare a high school kid when I was in my mid-20s.

I think it comes down to wanting control over a younger girl because an older girl wouldn’t put up with that, and being emotionally stunted.

I think another factor is the fact that many straight men find teen girls very attractive. It's weird we're not just allowed to say that anymore, like saying it out loud somehow means we're a creep ourselves. I am a woman and I am perfectly aware and have been since I was about 11 that there are a LOT of straight men out there who are attracted to teenagers.

R48 The age gap would have been less disturbing if Elvis didn't seem to have so much control over Priscilla and her decisions. He seemed more interested in her purity and youth than loving her for her personality or charm. It wasn't a relationship of mutual respect as he constantly cheated and neglected her and kept her cooped up at the home and had her dressed up to resemble him. He may have waited until she was old enough (as he should) to marry her and have sex with her. But the fact once she gave birth, he lost all sexual and romantic interest, shows it was a dysfunctional one. Priscilla can speak her truth though and she doesn't feel victimized. So what do I know?

R54 I agree with everything you said. Priscilla has a tendency to be wishy washy about her recollections of Elvis so I don’t know what to think. I mean she mostly trashes him in her book but now all she does is praise him and refer to him as the love of her life. When this interviewer repeated to her what you just said, about Elvis not having sex with her anymore after she gave birth, she said that wasn’t true.

No. But OP's full tampon is creepy. Jesus cripe, why not change that thing once a week! Everyone's eyes are watering.

Priscilla has to walk on eggshells as she runs Elvis' estate and has to answer to his fans. She also probably she doesn't want to feel she was a victim even though she admits Elvis was controlling and manipulative and she was too young to advocate for herself.

Elvis and Ann Margret were contemplating marriage. The Colonel basically forced Elvis to marry Priscilla. He died young and she’s still alive and living off his name all these years. She won in the end. If she doesn’t view herself as a victim I’m not about to feel sorry for her. Child Bride by Suzanne Finstad paints a different picture of Priscilla.

I don’t advocate for controlling relationships but this look is still iconic to this day.

I don't remember the age difference ever being discussed. Most people, myself included, never knew.

Leonardo DiCaprio started dating Gisele when she was 18 and he was 25.

Leo and Gisele were on and off tho. She may have been his only legit relationship.

She turned out to be even crazier than him.

I was Shoshana's age and I found the Seinfeld thing disgusting. It was covered in People Magazine like it was totally normal. The only person I ever heard say anything about it is Bobcat Goldwait and 25 years later, Jerry was still holding a weird and angry grudge about him.

Jerry’s a dick.

If they'd stayed together, do you think Johnny would have turned out better or worse than he is now?

R51 I grew up near a military base where they send a lot of young guys, and of girls in my high school dated them. Most of these guys were between 18-20 and the girls were between 16-18.

R64 I Googled this and learned that when someone mentioned Goldthwait on that Comedians in Cars show, his name was bleeped out.

Bobcat Goldthwait dated and was engaged to Nikki Cox, his Unhappily Ever After costar who was 16 years younger than him and he met her when she was 16.