The Dark History Of Ace Ventura

"Ace Ventura" is, for better or worse, one of the defining film franchises of the 1990s. The first film was a massive box office hit that catapulted Jim Carrey from regular fame to superstardom for the remainder of the decade, allowing him to star in other hits like "The Mask," "Dumb and Dumber," "Batman Forever," and "Liar Liar."

Regardless of how popular it was at the time, or how much it helped Jim Carrey's career, there is no denying that both "Ace Ventura: Pet Detective" and its sequel "Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls" have not aged well. While the cast is filled with popular actors that are still working today, that doesn't take away from the poorly-written script they were forced to work with. Each film has several different and equally terrible moments that many would find offensive upon re-watch because of how crass, mean-spirited, hateful, or disgusting they are. Even at the time the movie was released, many critics noted just how homophobic the humor proved to be. Some say that comedy is subjective, but that can't excuse everything wrong with a movie that has problematic elements embedded in seemingly every joke. 

For those who haven't seen these over-the-top comedy films, they are centered around an outrageous man-child named Ace Ventura who styles himself as a private detective specifically for animals. The first movie features Ace solving the disappearance of the Miami Dolphins football team's mascot (which is a dolphin named Snowflake). The sequel took Ace on a globe-trotting adventure to Africa to solve the mystery of a missing sacred bat. No matter where these stories take Ace Ventura, he almost always does something offensive to someone along the way. Read on to discover the dark history of Ace Ventura.

As a private detective, Ace Ventura is never afraid to push the boundaries of people's privacy during his investigations. It should come as no surprise that these moments go well beyond what would be acceptable for any private investigator and would basically be considered illegal by actual law enforcement. These movies seem to want Ace's behavior to be amusing and lighthearted, but when looking at it objectively it just feels more creepy than anything.

One example of this is in "Ace Ventura: Pet Detective" when Ace decides to take his investigation to the parents of one of his suspects. He goes to their home unannounced and seemingly uninvited to interrogate them about their son, a former football player. While the movie doesn't portray this as wrong, it would be very inappropriate to just show up asking questions to the family of someone without any probable cause. This is further exacerbated in a scene where Ace Ventura impersonates an incoming patient at a mental hospital in order to sift through the private records of an actual patient. Not only is this morally suspect, but this kind of privacy invasion would violate a person's HIPPA rights to protect people's medical information, per the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services.

Violence is one of Ace Ventura's key character traits, and there are multiple instances throughout the franchise (per IMDb) where he physically assaults people, usually after he usually starts conflict in the first place. In fact, "Ace Ventura: Pet Detective” starts with one such moment by introducing Ace Ventura as a liar, trickster, and violent man while trying to kidnap someone's dog. In this scene, he impersonates a delivery man, destroys a package, kidnaps a dog, and then leads the owner on an insane chase that culminates with Ace Ventura biting him. It's a bizarre series of events that quickly show the kind of person this character is.

This is seen even more clearly in the climax of the first film. There, Ace Ventura reveals the true identity of Lt. Einhorn to the entire Miami Police Department by tearing off her clothes in full view of everyone. As mentioned previously, this entire plotline is horrible for myriad reasons but the awful fight scene between the two characters is particularly upsetting due to the level of violence displayed. After being held at gunpoint, Ace proceeds to viciously attack Einhorn with punches and kicks before systematically ripping off parts of her clothes to expose her to an audience of police officers. This is a genuinely disturbing moment that serves as a prime example of how much physical assault and abuse appear in the "Ace Ventura" movies.

If you or someone you know is dealing with domestic abuse, you can call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1−800−799−7233. You can also find more information, resources, and support on their website.

In both "Ace Ventura: Pet Detective" and "Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls," Jim Carrey's leading man character regularly displays varying levels of sexism when interacting with women. In some cases, he's openly disrespectful to them by acting like a total moron and wasting their time, like in his first interaction with Melissa Robinson. In their first meeting, Ace eats handfuls of sunflower seeds while she attempts to explain the dolphin kidnapping situation, after which he leaves their nasty shells directly on her desk. While not actively malicious, it still displays Ace's disrespect for a woman in a position of power that he tends not to show for male characters as often.

Additionally, Ace Ventura seems to consistently make unwanted advances toward women he's attracted to by making inappropriate remarks to them. This happens in the first movie when he's introduced to Lois Einhorn by making comments about how she "turns him on." He does this again in the sequel by pining after the princess of the tribal village he's staying in by claiming that he can't sleep with her because of his newfound vow of celibacy. Regardless of which example you choose, it's clear Ace Ventura consistently treats female characters with an uncomfortable amount of disrespect throughout these movies.

One of the worst elements of "Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls" is the racist undertones throughout the story as Ace navigates his investigation into the disappearance of a sacred bat while in Africa. This film relies heavily on racial stereotypes as well as Western-centric myths of African culture like poverty and archaic living conditions, per Global Citizen. This stereotyping is an embodiment of the character Ace Ventura himself.

The story takes Ace to the non-existent African nation of Nibia on behalf of the also non-existent Wachati tribe. This representation of tribal culture is an alienating conglomeration of every stereotypical element of what Americans assume rural Africa must be. This tribe is portrayed as spear-wielding, bat-worshiping warriors who Ace Ventura seems to have little respect for. In one scene, he purposefully desecrates a special altar of the tribe when nobody is looking just to cause trouble. Furthermore, the movie tries to balance this by having a different nonexistent tribe refer to Ace as a "White Devil." Everything about the way the "Ace Ventura" films portray other cultures is consistently tasteless, mean-spirited, and offensive.

In terms of problematic sexist aspects of Ace Ventura's behavior, perhaps the biggest example of this is his relationship with the Wachati Princess in "Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls." This character is portrayed as a beautiful virginal bride-to-be who attempts to seduce Ace Ventura as he tries to discover what happened to the tribe's sacred bat. Their biggest scene together shows Ace struggling to contain his lust while the two are having a fireside conversation, since he cannot act upon his feelings after taking a spiritual vow to remain celibate. This is undercut entirely by the end of the film when it's revealed that the princess is no longer a virgin after spending time alone with Ace, which causes him to be chased away for his indiscretion.

It's obvious to audiences how the white savior trope, as detailed by Healthline, plays out in this film, but his inappropriate relationship with the princess is particularly hard to watch. Not only is she portrayed as young and naïve, but she is also shown to be the one trying to seduce Ace Ventura at first because of his heroism in looking for Shikaka the bat. She even exposes herself to him in an attempt to make him break his vow, which he ends up doing by the end of the story. This dynamic is a bizarre way to try and frame Ace Ventura as an irresistible hero while making his eventual decision to sleep with the princess seem acceptable. Unfortunately for the film, it doesn't work.