History YMMV / Cats

** The line about a "heathen Chinese" was acceptable when T.S. Eliot wrote the line. However, it's very clearly racist, and is seen as such today.

* AdaptationDisplacement: The lyrics were lifted from Creator/TSEliot's poems, mainly from the book Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats. Guess which gets more exposure?

* ValuesDissonance: Macavity's habit of cheating at cards, which now reads as ArsonMurderAndJaywalking, was never a criminal act, but it was once an extremely serious social offence. In the nineteenth century, accusations of cheating could and did lead to duels.

** The line about a "heathen Chinese" was acceptable when T.S. Eliot wrote the line, but it's very clearly racist (and seen as such) today.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: Femi Taylor, who plays Exotica in the film, once played as Bombalurina during a variety show, singing "Macavity". Unfortunately, she is completely missing from the song in the video.
** Creator/StevenSpielberg planned an AnimatedAdaptation in the 1990s.

* PeripheryHatedom: It used to be common to make fun of the musical for being a melodramatic musical about cats. This caused many references and parodies in 90s media.

* EarWorm: So many of them, but mainly "Memory".

** The Rum Tum Tugger and Mistoffelees are a particularly confusing instance. RTT sings Mistoffolees' song, and it's commonly accepted that they're friends, at least until you remember that in RTT's song the chorus goes "The Rum Tum Tugger is a-" and Mistoffelees shouts "...terrible bore!" Fans are divided on their relationship with one another.\\

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WordOfGod says that Mistoffelees and the Tugger are two of a group of four brothers (the other two being Munkustrap and Alonzo), and this forms the basis for their love/hate relationship. It also explains the reactions of Munkustrap and Alonzo to the Tugger and Mistoffolees, and vice versa.

* TearJerker:
** The ending of "Gus: The Theatre Cat" where Gus, longing for the bygone days of his youth and fame, breaks own into tears, unable to choke out the last part of his song, and is led off the stage, sobbing. Doubly so in the video production, which was one of the last performances Sir John Mills gave before he died.
** The notoriously heart-wrenching "Memory". Grizzabella is a hideous mess, and she knows this more than anyone, but just wants the others to show some kind of sympathy for her.

* MemeticMutation: Commercials for another Broadway play (unknown as of 2014, until the commercial resurfaces) of an older woman with a thick New York accent exclaiming "I laughed, I cried, it was better than Cats!" Even referenced on SaturdayNightLive.

* MemeticSexGod: Take a wild guess, his name rhymes with Bugger.

* UnfortunateImplications:
** "Now the Peke, although people may say what they please, is no British Dog, but a [[AcceptableReligiousTargets Heathen]] [[YellowPeril Chinese]]." It is understandable because the lyrics were written during a time when they would have been considered acceptable. However, since other Unfortunate Implication lyrics were changed during the course of the show's run (e.g., original lyric "The Chinks they swarmed aboard" was changed to "The Siamese swarmed aboard), this could probably have been avoided.
** Black actress Femi Taylor playing a cat named... wait for it... ''Exotica.''
** Jemima's name was changed to Sillabub in the Broadway version of the play to avoid any UnfortunateImplications [[EthnicMenialLabor associated]] with the name Jemima.

* AlternateCharacterInterpretation: A big part of the fandom, especially where Macavity is concerned.
** The Rum Tum Tugger and Mistoffelees are a particularly confusing instance. RTT sings Mistoffolees' song, and it's commonly accepted that they're friends, at least until you remember that in RTT's song the chorus goes "The Rum Tum Tugger is a-" and Mistoffelees shouts "...terrible bore!" Fans are divided on their relationship with one another.
** WordOfGod says that Mistoffelees and the Tugger are two of a group of four brothers (the other two being Munkustrap and Alonzo), and this forms the basis for their love/hate relationship. It also explains the reactions of Munkustrap and Alonzo to the Tugger and Mistoffolees, and vice versa.

*** Not to mention the fact that the chorus cats are rarely given much personality other than, well, cats. The ease of AlternateCharacterInterpretation in this show is great fodder for fanficcers.

* EveryoneIsJesusInPurgatory: A common interpretation is that the play takes place in the afterlife - Jellicle being " 'gelical", or Angelical, and they recount their mortal lives as a reason they should be allowed to be reincarnated.
** It can be argued that the whole thing is about Sanctification by Grace; the cat who is chosen to be taken up to the Celestial Lair isn't the clever Mistoffeles, the charming Rum-tum-tugger, the wise Deuteronomy, or even Jennyanydots with her good works--it was Grizzabella, mangy, skanky Grizzabella, the cat who NEEDED it most. T.S. Elliot was one of the foremost Christian poets of the 20th C. Andrew Lloyd Webber's father was formerly Assistant Organist at St. Paul's Cathedral; he himself had been a choirboy at Westminster Abbey. I don't know what Lloyd Webber's adult spiritual affiliation is, but he was brought up in a Christian atmosphere.

* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: The Rum Tum Tugger maybe a casanova who breaks hearts as often as he steals them from the female jellicle's, but he shows great respect to Deuteronomy (believed to be his father) tells the others how to bring him back when he's kidnapped, and at the end of Mistoffeles, gives all credit to him when Deuteronomy asks who if he brought him back.
* LesYay: Deme and Bomba, anyone? Though this leads right into {{Squick}} territory if you consider them sisters or not.

* NightmareFuel: Macavity

* TearJerker: The ending of "Gus: the Theatre Cat" where Gus, longing for the bygone days of his youth and fame, breaks own into tears, unable to choke out the last part of his song, and is led off the stage, sobbing.
** Doubly so in the video production, which was one of the last performances Sir John Mills gave before he died.
** The notoriously heart-wrenching "memories". Grizzabella is a hideous mess, and she knows this more than anyone, but just wants the others to show some kind of sympathy for her.
* UnfortunateImplications: "Now the Peke, although people may say what they please, is no British Dog, but a [[AcceptableReligiousTargets Heathen]] [[YellowPeril Chinese]]."
** Possibly justified in that the lyrics were written during a time when they would have been considered acceptable. However, since other Unfortunate Implication lyrics were changed during the course of the show's run (ex. original lyric "The Chinks they swarmed aboard" was changed to "The Siamese swarmed aboard), this could probably have been avoided.
*** It's particularly ironic that Growltiger's Last Stand is one of the most popular numbers in China and Japan.
** Black actress Femi Taylor playing a cat named... wait for it... ''Exotica.'' Ouch.

* TheWoobie: Grizabella

* AdaptationDisplacement: The lyrics were lifted from [[TSEliot T.S. Eliot]]'s poems, mainly from the book Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats. Guess which gets more exposure?

* AdaptationDisplacement: The lyrics were lifted from [[TSEliot T.S. Eliot]]?s poems, mainly from the book Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats. Guess which gets more exposure?

* ExcusePlot: A clan of cats has assembled for their yearly meeting, more importantly lookit 'em dance and sing!

* {{Hatedom}}: While the play has enjoyed a lot of popularity, there remains a very vocal group that absolutely ''despises'' it.
** Not to mention that this is the musical most people tend to make fun of more than any other, although it's not always mean-spirited.