# 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:** 6
**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:** [July 1, 2023, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-genius-1985/986270/101 "2023-07-01T23:32:22Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > I don’t know. Vending machines back then were less sophisticated, No – mechanisms for rejecting bad coins were pretty standard on most vending machines by the 1960s. Having locks that could easily be opened was something else. But hacking the vending machine with frozen stuff that would melt and evaporate was higher tech and way cooler than using a coin on a string orsome foreign coin that worked well in the machine or any of the standard cons. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2023, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-genius-1985/986270/102 "2023-07-04T05:34:07Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Hack, hell The locks on those machines are absurdly simple to jimmy. Or they could just make a key from the one they swiped from the service provider person when he was distracted by the whatever. Why bother with the slot, when you can just open the side and reach inside? Some of the pinball machines could be convinced to give free games with a paper clip. And I’m using the original definition of hack, which usually had nothing to do with computers. The goal was to get free games, not to steal money from the machine. I never played the things myself, having grown up in NY when they were outlawed. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2023, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-genius-1985/986270/103 "2023-07-04T05:39:05Z")
One of the really common things these kids almost certainly did was hack free long distance phone calls. That’s was going on all over the place in the 80s. But I can see something that realistic and not difficult as something the filmmakers probably avoided filming. Too close to what people really did. People like Steves Jobs and Wozniak. They referred to it in “WarGames”, though, so who knows? ---
**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:** [July 4, 2023, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-genius-1985/986270/104 "2023-07-04T06:14:05Z")
> [@Great\_Antibob](#): > > One of the really common things these kids almost certainly did was hack free long distance phone calls. Often called [phreaking](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phreaking) My favorite story: > [John Draper](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Draper) discovered through his friendship with Engressia that the free whistles given out in Cap’n Crunch cereal boxes also produced a 2600 Hz tone when blown (providing his nickname, “Captain Crunch”). This allows control of phone systems that work on single frequency (SF) controls. One can sound a long whistle to reset the line, followed by groups of whistles (a short tone for a “1”, two for a “2”, etc.) to dial numbers. ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2023, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-genius-1985/986270/105 "2023-07-05T02:23:46Z")
He was also Rusty, the homeless guy on Seinfeld the Kramer tried to hire to pull a rickshaw. ---
**Author:** ![Kron](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kron/32/12444_2.png) [@Kron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kron)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2023, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-genius-1985/986270/106 "2023-07-05T13:26:17Z")
And for me, he’ll always be the guy who turns into a werewolf in _The Monster Squad_. “The wolfman has nards!” ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2023, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-genius-1985/986270/107 "2023-07-05T13:44:51Z")
Different Monster Squad than I was thinking of (mine had Fred Grandy in it) ---
**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 5, 2023, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-genius-1985/986270/108 "2023-07-05T20:34:09Z")
> [@snfaulkner](#): > > He was also Rusty, the homeless guy on Seinfeld the Kramer tried to hire to pull a rickshaw. I thought Rusty was the horse pulling the hansom cab (that Kramer fed beefareeno to). ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2023, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-genius-1985/986270/109 "2023-07-05T20:43:26Z")
Kramer actually mentions the horse to the homeless guy when Rusty tells him his name. “I had a horse named Rusty” ---
**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 5, 2023, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-genius-1985/986270/110 "2023-07-05T20:55:15Z")
LOL. I didn’t remember that. ---
**Author:** ![vislor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vislor/32/5933_2.png) [@vislor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vislor)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2023, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-genius-1985/986270/111 "2023-07-06T16:39:56Z")
Love this movie! I agree, it’s a better portrait of nerds than anything. BBT - started out good but the last several seasons I was watching out of habit, not because it was good. Love Buckaroo Banzai!! “The Duece you say!” I quote those movies. I have quoted movies for so long, I don’t remember where the quotes come from. Thanks for the memories! ---
**Author:** ![Pavelb1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/439d5e/32.png) [@Pavelb1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pavelb1)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2023, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-genius-1985/986270/112 "2023-07-06T18:11:26Z")
I just pretend the RDJ scenes are actually Tony Stark ---
**Author:** ![Pavelb1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/439d5e/32.png) [@Pavelb1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pavelb1)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2023, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-genius-1985/986270/113 "2023-07-06T18:15:00Z")
I only scanned this thread but…did no one mention Deborah Foreman?? ---
**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 6, 2023, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-genius-1985/986270/114 "2023-07-06T18:20:07Z")
Post #12. ---
**Author:** ![Pavelb1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/439d5e/32.png) [@Pavelb1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pavelb1)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2023, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-genius-1985/986270/115 "2023-07-06T18:24:13Z")
Thank you. I thought I was taking crazy pills. ---
**Author:** ![flurb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/51bf81/32.png) [@flurb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flurb)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2023, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-genius-1985/986270/116 "2023-07-06T18:29:02Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > I feel sorry for the Great Dane that wants to be friendly with Atherton and gets shooed away every time. Except at the end. If they ever make a Mount Rushmore of actors who played 80’s movie assholes, William Atherton belongs right up there. _Real Genius, Ghostbusters, Die Hard_ – the man just had a genius for playing self-important, antagonistic jerks. I respect him tremendously. Paul Gleason and William Zabka belong up there as well, I’m not sure who would be the fourth. ---
**Author:** ![Pavelb1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/439d5e/32.png) [@Pavelb1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pavelb1)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2023, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-genius-1985/986270/117 "2023-07-06T18:43:13Z")
Jeffrey Jones of course. Hilariously, Paul Gleason is in Die Hard too. ---
**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 6, 2023, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-genius-1985/986270/118 "2023-07-06T18:47:55Z")
Honorable mention to Thomas F. Wilson? ---
**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:** [July 6, 2023, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-genius-1985/986270/119 "2023-07-06T18:54:30Z")
> [@Pavelb1](#): > > Jeffrey Jones of course. Good choice. I’m sad that [he turned out to be a creep IRL](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeffrey_Jones#Criminal_offenses), because I really enjoyed his acting roles. ---
**Author:** ![SunUp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea5d25/32.png) [@SunUp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SunUp)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2023, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-genius-1985/986270/120 "2023-07-06T19:22:39Z")
John Vernon would qualify, though his most iconic roles (Mayor in _Dirty Harry_, Dean Wormer) were in the 70’s. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-genius-1985/986270.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-genius-1985/986270.md?page=7)