# Real Genius (1985) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies\ **Created:** [June 29, 2023, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-genius-1985/986270 "2023-06-29T03:28:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![veryfrank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/87869e/32.png) [@veryfrank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/veryfrank)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2023, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-genius-1985/986270/61 "2023-06-30T13:25:41Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > It wasn’t just steam tunnels. Probably because of the Boston winters (and weirdness like the winds around the Green Building), MIT also has lots of interconnected basements, allowing you to go from building to building without going outdoors in totally unrestricted space. It also has lots of above-ground “gerbil tubes” connecting buildings. You can literally walk for miles through the MIT corridor system and steam tunnels without retracing your path (although you’ll cross it several times). McGill University has a pretty exptensive trail of underground tunnels. Montreal winters are, I’ll go out on a limb and assume, even harsher than Boston ones, and to be able to get from the north end of campus to the library without freezing your 'nads off is a lifesaver. I don’t remember them being very fancy, just a step or two above janitorial service tunnels, but like everything else on that campus (and in the city), I assume they’ve been renovated since then. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2023, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-genius-1985/986270/62 "2023-06-30T14:30:32Z")
> [@veryfrank](#): > > McGill University has a pretty exptensive trail of underground tunnels. Montreal winters are, I’ll go out on a limb and assume, even harsher than Boston ones Not clear to me. I’ll agree that Rochester NY winters are worse, because they’ve got that lake effect snow. Nevertheless, MIT had a better tunnel system than Rochester. But this isn’t a (literal) race to the bottom. _Anyplace_ with lots of snow is going to have lots of tunnels and gerbil tubes. ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2023, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-genius-1985/986270/63 "2023-06-30T15:44:04Z")
One of my personal top ten movies. I watched it for the first time the 1991 between my freshmen and sophmore college years. I was spending the summer with my parents in a town where I didn’t know anyone and was in a somewhat vulnerable state. Seeing a movie about how cool it was to be a science nerd was exactly what I needed at the time. After watching it I immediately rewound the tape and watched it again. That is the only time I’ve ever done that with a movie. [Grumpy old guy] Nerds these days have it so easy, what with their big bang theory and superhero block busters. Back in the day all we had were Urkle and Screech. [\Grumpy old guy] ---
**Author:** ![GargoyleWB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gargoylewb/32/199_2.png) [@GargoyleWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GargoyleWB)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2023, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-genius-1985/986270/64 "2023-06-30T16:40:51Z")
Similar for me…I was in Physics, and one of the physics labs was open all-hours with a lot of supplies freely available, including tanks of Nitrogen. Policy was lab-use only of course, but still brought a few dewars home for fun and parties. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2023, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-genius-1985/986270/65 "2023-06-30T16:55:50Z")
> [@Buck\_Godot](#): > > [Grumpy old guy] Nerds these days have it so easy, what with their big bang theory and superhero block busters. Back in the day all we had were Urkle and Screech. [\Grumpy old guy] That gets back to what I said about Real Genius being exaggerated in the right direction. Urkle and Screech were exaggerations of some aspects of nerdity, but only some, with the result that they didn’t look like actual nerds, to nerds. They were what non-nerds thought nerds looked like. But the characters in Real Genius, and later in Big Bang Theory, were nerds’ nerds. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2023, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-genius-1985/986270/66 "2023-06-30T17:14:50Z")
[![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/ZRSRWMYUBG0/hqdefault.jpg "I am the King of Nerds | Leonard and Penny restarting | The Big Bang Theory |") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZRSRWMYUBG0) ---
**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:** [June 30, 2023, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-genius-1985/986270/67 "2023-06-30T17:17:12Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > Best line in the movie. At least, the one I use the most. Sadly, the line I use the most is a casual _“well, lasers are a young science,”_ followed by looking like it just dawned on me that I slipped up and mentioned something I wasn’t supposed to say. No, never in a context that’d make sense. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2023, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-genius-1985/986270/68 "2023-06-30T17:24:37Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > That gets back to what I said about Real Genius being exaggerated in the right direction. Urkle and Screech were exaggerations of some aspects of nerdity, but only some, with the result that they didn’t look like actual nerds, to nerds. They were what non-nerds thought nerds looked like. But the characters in Real Genius, and later in Big Bang Theory, were nerds’ nerds. I agree here: as someone noted upthread, the other big “nerd movies” from the '80s (Revenge of the Nerds, Weird Science) stereotyped the nerd characters, and made fun of them; Real Genius embraced them for their nerdiness, and never actually made fun of them _for being nerds_. They made fun of Kent (one of the antagonist characters), but that was because he was an incompetent sycophant, and a general weirdo, not because he was a nerd. I’m kind of torn on Big Bang Theory; while I really enjoyed that show, and its celebration of nerd culture, it absolutely poked fun at the characters. Though, as I think about it, what it was primarily making fun of wasn’t their nerdiness, but their other character flaws (Sheldon’s OCD and lack of social skills, Leonard’s insecurity, Howard’s womanizing and mommy-complex, etc.) ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2023, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-genius-1985/986270/69 "2023-06-30T17:35:06Z")
_Big Bang Theory_ was pretty solidly on the Urkel/Screech side of the line for me. Really hated that show. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2023, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-genius-1985/986270/70 "2023-06-30T21:49:41Z")
Speaking of steam tunnels, at the building where my office is (a really old building in downtown Tacoma, WA) we have steam tunnels underground. I’ve had to go down there as the IT guy because it’s where the demarc for various systems (phone, internet) are located. Brick walls, dirt floor, and little bulbs in wire cages spaced far apart. It looks like something from an Eli Roth film. I’ve never had any interest in exploring them. Real Genius was a favorite growing up, I was pretty young when it came out and I remember it was introduced to me as what cool nerds look like. It also gave an impression on me of what college might be like. My life never lived up to any of that. (My college experience was more like the show Community.) But I still think of this film fondly. ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2023, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-genius-1985/986270/71 "2023-06-30T22:19:29Z")
This movie is in my top 5. To this day, if somebody asks me if I run, I respond with “only when chased.” ---
**Author:** ![gre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d78d45/32.png) [@gre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gre)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2023, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-genius-1985/986270/72 "2023-06-30T22:54:51Z")
I saw this movie too late — just a few years ago. It mostly made me think how totally not fun or interesting my time in college was. And I was too old to crush on the girl usefully. As I recall, she was at first hyperactive and weird and somehow didn’t understand bathrooms and what they were for very well, and later she shifted to just standing around in the background. And there was an Asian guy who did a lot of standing around but I’m not sure whether he ever got to say anything. But at least I saw the whole thing. I also finally saw Buckaroo Banzai a few years ago, and stopped at the halfway point because I hadn’t been enjoying anything in it yet. I still haven’t worked up the courage to try Young Einstein. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2023, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-genius-1985/986270/73 "2023-06-30T23:10:14Z")
> [@gre](#): > > I also finally saw Buckaroo Banzai a few years ago, and stopped at the halfway point because I hadn’t been enjoying anything in it yet. Loved _The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension_. But then, I was right in the demographic. I could identify with the music, the clothes, and the locations. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2023, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-genius-1985/986270/74 "2023-06-30T23:52:32Z")
> [@Dr.Strangelove](#): > > MIT’s steam tunnels No idea if it originated there, but apparently at MIT various “hacks” are common enough for there to be an explicit code concerning unauthorized exploration: [http://hacks.mit.edu/Hacks/misc/ethics.html](http://hacks.mit.edu/Hacks/misc/ethics.html) Exploring some steam tunnels one night, I came across a machine room littered with empty beer bottles and chip bags. This did not sit right, so on my next trip I took a couple of bin liners and cleaned the place up… ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2023, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-genius-1985/986270/75 "2023-07-01T00:12:23Z")
I still periodically pull up the end credits and play them on Youtube. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/8MqJ3iGBdOo/hqdefault.jpg "Buckaroo Banzai end titles (credits) (good quality)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8MqJ3iGBdOo) ---
**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:** [July 1, 2023, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-genius-1985/986270/76 "2023-07-01T00:29:29Z")
There’s also this: > **[Buckaroo Banzai Closing Credits With Billy Joel Song Played During Filming](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=so6EZrIQZNU%2F)** > > By the time this was filmed, the budget was almost entirely gone, and the post-production had just about wrapped up. It was decided the film couldn't just e... ---
**Author:** ![FinsToTheLeft](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finstotheleft/32/2930_2.png) [@FinsToTheLeft](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinsToTheLeft)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2023, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-genius-1985/986270/77 "2023-07-01T00:56:53Z")
I’m still waiting for Buckaroo Banzai against the World Crime League. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2023, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-genius-1985/986270/78 "2023-07-01T01:04:08Z")
I can’t vouch for its quality, but: > **[Amazon.com: Buckaroo Banzai Against the World Crime League, Et Al: A Compendium...](https://www.amazon.com/Buckaroo-Banzai-Against-World-League/dp/150672213X)** > > Amazon.com: Buckaroo Banzai Against the World Crime League, Et Al: A Compendium of Evils: 9781506722139: Rauch, E.M., Tedesco, Julian Totino: Books ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2023, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-genius-1985/986270/79 "2023-07-01T01:37:20Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > Loved _The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension_. But then, I was right in the demographic. I could identify with the music, the clothes, and the locations. And it’s funny. Smart funny. Just because it’s not as cold as Back East, there are a lot of tunnels connecting buildings in certain areas. Like County-USC (formerly known as General Hospital or Big G) Hospital. I had a friend who worked there who said those tunnels were dang weird. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2023, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-genius-1985/986270/80 "2023-07-01T01:43:05Z")
As a teenager this was one of those movies I wanted to live in. How has it not been turned into a TV series by now? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-genius-1985/986270.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-genius-1985/986270.md?page=5)