# Back to the Future - is Biff an attempted rapist? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 17, 2013, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-to-the-future-is-biff-an-attempted-rapist/666521 "2013-08-17T23:48:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2013, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-to-the-future-is-biff-an-attempted-rapist/666521/61 "2013-08-19T16:31:11Z")
A scene like that wouldn’t be appropriate in a comedy. It’s not funny and the movie would have been widely condemned even back in the 70’s. Raping an unconscious girl has never been accepted in any context. Certainly not in a comedy. 70’s and 80’s comedies were raunchy with innuendos, leering, and even groping but there was a definite line drawn at full on rape. > [@squeegee](#): > > But did you consider them _funny_ ? > > Also, please answer my earlier question: are you upset that the kid in Animal House didn’t fuck his unconscious girlfriend? ---
**Author:** ![Erdosain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/erdosain/32/7284_2.png) [@Erdosain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Erdosain)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2013, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-to-the-future-is-biff-an-attempted-rapist/666521/62 "2013-08-19T16:36:56Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > A scene like that wouldn’t be appropriate in a comedy. It’s not funny and the movie would have been widely condemned even back in the 70’s. Raping an unconscious girl has never been accepted in any context. Except that we’ve been discussing a movie, Sixteen Candles, where the romantic hero Jake casually suggests to Anthony Michael Hall that he should rape his (Jake’s) unconscious girlfriend. And the happy ending of the movie is that Jake ends up with Molly Ringwald. What a lucky girl! ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2013, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-to-the-future-is-biff-an-attempted-rapist/666521/63 "2013-08-19T17:39:10Z")
> [@squeegee](#): > > Also, please answer my earlier question: are you upset that the kid in Animal House didn’t fuck his unconscious girlfriend? Mozart would have. ETA: “Moe who?” “Zart.” ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2013, 7:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-to-the-future-is-biff-an-attempted-rapist/666521/64 "2013-08-20T07:34:33Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Imagine Porkys, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Weird Science, Revenge of the Nerds none of those are PC enough for todays crowd. I will defend _Fast Times_ (to me it’s defending, because I’m an advocate of what you sneer at as “PC”). There is a fairly nuanced examination of teen sexuality, from what I remember. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Miskatonic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.miskatonic/32/310_2.png) [@Mr.Miskatonic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Miskatonic)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2013, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-to-the-future-is-biff-an-attempted-rapist/666521/65 "2013-08-20T12:50:38Z")
_Fast Times_ just had good old fashion statutory rape. Although the guy doing it could have the ‘she said she was 18’ defense. ---
**Author:** ![pancakes3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ba9def/32.png) [@pancakes3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pancakes3)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2013, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-to-the-future-is-biff-an-attempted-rapist/666521/66 "2013-08-20T12:58:04Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Well, they’d have to rewrite Peeping George too in any remake. Everything has to PC these days. > > Practically none of the classic 80’s comedies would get remade today without major rewrites. Imagine Porkys, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Weird Science, Revenge of the Nerds none of those are PC enough for todays crowd. I wouldn’t say major rewrites. Maybe tweaks. It is on a whole, more respective of women though. I can’t think of any comparably rapey scenes in the American Pie series, Project X, or Jonah Hill’s string of teen movies. This isn’t to say modern movies have their own brand of debauchery - specifically drinking and drugs. sidebar: In 21 Jump Street’s final chase scene, Channing Tatum commandeers a Prom limo where there’'s a drunk girl in the back seat. As Channing is firing guns out through the moonroof, the drunk girl tries to unbutton his pants to blow him, but he stops her. I don’t know if that helps the feminist movement or hurts. > [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > Yes. You could never have, for example, a main character in a major TV series who was an unabashed and unrepentant **consumer** of illegal drugs. Or even a bald, vindictive, cancerous producer of illegal drugs. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2013, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-to-the-future-is-biff-an-attempted-rapist/666521/67 "2013-08-20T14:39:09Z")
> [@Mr.Miskatonic](#): > > _Fast Times_ just had good old fashion statutory rape. Although the guy doing it could have the ‘she said she was 18’ defense. This isn’t depicted as being cool, fun, or funny, though, and while the girl is willing she clearly doesn’t enjoy the experience. I think _Fast Times at Ridgemont High_ couldn’t be made today largely because it’s _too_ liberal on the subject of abortion for today’s audiences. I don’t think there has been a recent teen comedy where the heroine has an abortion at all, much less one where this is treated as the sensible thing for her to do. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2013, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-to-the-future-is-biff-an-attempted-rapist/666521/68 "2013-08-20T14:46:40Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > Yes. You could never have, for example, a main character in a major TV series who was an unabashed and unrepentant consumer of illegal drugs. House on House was an anabashed abuser of Vicodin, which while isn’t illegal, is very dangerous and the fact that he used it to harshly was used as a punchline at times. Including the times he did try to illegally get scripts for it. And the 80s movies being made today…have you SEEN some of today’s movies? Superbad? Project X, that new one about the kids 21st birthday? It’s all about sex and drugs and drinking and partying…all while underage. Granted they aren’t PG movies, but these elements are all still there. It’s even on a somewhat related note that the biggest comedy out there right now on TV, Modern Family, features the hilarious situations of an 18 year old girl who has sex outside of marriage, parties, and drinks. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2013, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-to-the-future-is-biff-an-attempted-rapist/666521/69 "2013-08-20T15:00:11Z")
NM. I was going to say more, but what’s the point? ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2013, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-to-the-future-is-biff-an-attempted-rapist/666521/70 "2013-08-20T15:31:04Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > NM. I was going to say more, but what’s the point? Yeah, I could say a lot about Mew Mexico, too, but I won’t. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2013, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-to-the-future-is-biff-an-attempted-rapist/666521/71 "2013-08-20T16:08:52Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > Yes. You could never have, for example, a main character in a major TV series who was an unabashed and unrepentant consumer of illegal drugs. I sense a whoosh, but will note that plenty of the main characters on _How I Met Your Mother_ enjoy marijuana – sometimes abashedly, but never repentantly. ---
**Author:** ![shijinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@shijinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shijinn)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2013, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-to-the-future-is-biff-an-attempted-rapist/666521/72 "2013-08-20T16:15:41Z")
no they don’t. they had sandwiches. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2013, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-to-the-future-is-biff-an-attempted-rapist/666521/73 "2013-08-20T17:27:37Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > I sense a whoosh, but will note that plenty of the main characters on _How I Met Your Mother_ enjoy marijuana – sometimes abashedly, but never repentantly. I haven’t watched many episodes of that show, but I thought they ate sandwiches. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2013, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-to-the-future-is-biff-an-attempted-rapist/666521/74 "2013-08-20T22:18:58Z")
> [@Mr.Miskatonic](#): > > _Fast Times_ just had good old fashion statutory rape. Although the guy doing it could have the ‘she said she was 18’ defense. In most states, especially at that time, a girl does/did not have to be 18. How old was that character? And I agree: it was not portrayed as a positive experience. ---
**Author:** ![Unintentionally\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unintentionally_blank/32/5418_2.png) [@Unintentionally\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unintentionally_Blank)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2013, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-to-the-future-is-biff-an-attempted-rapist/666521/75 "2013-08-21T00:11:18Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Well, they’d have to rewrite Peeping George too in any remake. Everything has to PC these days. > > Practically none of the classic 80’s comedies would get remade today without major rewrites. Imagine Porkys, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Weird Science, Revenge of the Nerds none of those are PC enough for todays crowd. Probably wouldn’t have had **Blazing Saddles** or **Airplane** either. I still expect Cannonball Run to be remade, only now they’re hauling Colorado Green to Washington state. Unfortunately, the one-off Trans-Am is taken down by a Drone. ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2013, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-to-the-future-is-biff-an-attempted-rapist/666521/76 "2013-08-21T00:18:07Z")
> [@Unintentionally\_Blank](#): > > I still expect Cannonball Run to be remade, only now they’re hauling Colorado Green to Washington state. Unfortunately, the one-off Trans-Am is taken down by a Drone. [sub]I think you mean Smokey and the Bandit[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![Unintentionally\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unintentionally_blank/32/5418_2.png) [@Unintentionally\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unintentionally_Blank)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2013, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-to-the-future-is-biff-an-attempted-rapist/666521/77 "2013-08-21T00:21:31Z")
Dammit. My childhood is a mush of mixed references. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2013, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-to-the-future-is-biff-an-attempted-rapist/666521/78 "2013-08-21T00:45:15Z")
> [@Unintentionally\_Blank](#): > > Probably wouldn’t have had **Blazing Saddles** or **Airplane** either. Why not _Airplane_, as long as it’s rated properly? That style of comedy is still relatively popular today (albeit often done badly). ---
**Author:** ![Unintentionally\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unintentionally_blank/32/5418_2.png) [@Unintentionally\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unintentionally_Blank)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2013, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-to-the-future-is-biff-an-attempted-rapist/666521/79 "2013-08-21T00:48:42Z")
> [@Leaper](#): > > Why not _Airplane_, as long as it’s rated properly? That style of comedy is still relatively popular today (albeit often done badly). Because TITS! And blow jobbing Otto and the abortion joke in the white zone (which is for loading and unloading only). And ‘I speak jive’. All Waaaay too insensitive. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2013, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-to-the-future-is-biff-an-attempted-rapist/666521/80 "2013-08-21T00:58:28Z")
I disagree about this PC thing, and started a [new thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=16590527#post16590527) about it. (Perhaps it should have gone to Great Debates? Not sure.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-to-the-future-is-biff-an-attempted-rapist/666521.md?page=3)