# Shocker! Teen sex comedy found guilty of misogyny. The weird case of "Weird Science". **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 21, 2010, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shocker-teen-sex-comedy-found-guilty-of-misogyny-the-weird-case-of-weird-science/547496 "2010-07-21T18:04:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2010, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shocker-teen-sex-comedy-found-guilty-of-misogyny-the-weird-case-of-weird-science/547496/21 "2010-07-21T23:56:39Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > “What about that time I found you naked with that bowl of Jell-O?” C’mon! I was hot and I was hungry! ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2010, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shocker-teen-sex-comedy-found-guilty-of-misogyny-the-weird-case-of-weird-science/547496/22 "2010-07-22T01:02:42Z")
> [@Lamia](#): > > I always thought _Weird Science_ was creepy, for basically the same reasons as the OP. I remember the mid-90s TV series based on the movie as being surprisingly good, though. It wasn’t the greatest show ever or anything, but it was pretty fun. IIRC the Lisa character in the show was more of a sassy mentor to the two boys than she was in the movie, she wanted them to learn things and not just have whatever they wanted handed to them. And Lisa being played by [Vanessa Angel](http://www.chevychasecentral.com/spieslikeus/vanessa_angel.jpg) didn’t hurt, either. ---
**Author:** ![kidneyfailure](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9f8e36/32.png) [@kidneyfailure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kidneyfailure)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2010, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shocker-teen-sex-comedy-found-guilty-of-misogyny-the-weird-case-of-weird-science/547496/23 "2010-07-22T01:14:28Z")
It’s a movie. Christ, it doesn’t need to be over-analyzed. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2010, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shocker-teen-sex-comedy-found-guilty-of-misogyny-the-weird-case-of-weird-science/547496/24 "2010-07-22T01:51:59Z")
> [@GilaB](#): > > In _Sixteen Candles_, another film in the Hughs canon, the cool guy sends his passed-out drunk prom-queen girlfriend off in his fancy car with the geek, strongly implying that the geek should have sex with her. All of this is treated as a total joke, but it’s rape - she’s too incapacitated to consent. > Googling for the details of the scene gave me [this analysis](http://www.salon.com/life/broadsheet/feature/2009/08/11/16_candles) of it, which gives a good look at the whole theme of date rape in Hughs’ movies. But, she says afterward she enjoyed it, so that makes it all right . . . ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2010, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shocker-teen-sex-comedy-found-guilty-of-misogyny-the-weird-case-of-weird-science/547496/25 "2010-07-22T01:53:19Z")
> [@kidneyfailure](#): > > It’s a movie. Christ, it doesn’t need to be over-analyzed. :eek: What are you **doing** here?! ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2010, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shocker-teen-sex-comedy-found-guilty-of-misogyny-the-weird-case-of-weird-science/547496/26 "2010-07-22T02:52:51Z")
Well, a film about two boys creating a woman for sex was never going to be anything but misogynistic, was it? However, I admit that when I rewatched it a couple of years ago I was disturbed by the _level_ of misogyny that I hadn’t noticed when I watched it as a kid. I still enjoyed it, but not so much that I’d recommend it to my almost-12-year-old daughter when there are so many other movies to watch. This is partly because the very adult woman kissing the very teenage boys is downright creepy. Was it known for being misogynistic at the time? Probably among some circles, but these days it would have to be post-modern, ironic or whatever to get away with it - it would have to be self-acknowledged misogyny. > [@BrainGlutton](#): > > :eek: What are you **doing** here?! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![kidneyfailure](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9f8e36/32.png) [@kidneyfailure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kidneyfailure)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2010, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shocker-teen-sex-comedy-found-guilty-of-misogyny-the-weird-case-of-weird-science/547496/27 "2010-07-22T03:13:43Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > :eek: What are you **doing** here?! Saying that it’s a movie and, Christ, it doesn’t need to be over-analyzed. _Weird Science_ had sexual undertones that could have been written by a horny teenage boy?! Wow, will wonders never cease! It was a film for horny teenage boys, hence the HTB content. No need for further analysis. ---
**Author:** ![crypto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b3f665/32.png) [@crypto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crypto)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2010, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shocker-teen-sex-comedy-found-guilty-of-misogyny-the-weird-case-of-weird-science/547496/28 "2010-07-22T04:12:52Z")
This is a very strange thread. I can’t tell if it’s tongue in cheek, or if the OP is serious. I think the target audience watched this movie for what it was… a very fun, goofy, 80’s teen sex film. That’s it. No deeper meaning. At least to me _at the time_. I thought Kelly LeBrock was amazing to look at. A fantasy girl by any stretch, and quite frankly, for any age man (or woman). If you could invent a girl like that, everyone would have one. Of course, when you look at it at an adult, it doesn’t work the way it is supposed to. You now can \*\*look \*\*for the subcontext that was lost on probably 99.5% of the target audience who saw the movie at the time. Guilty of misogyny? You bet. Did I care? No. Even as a teen in the 80’s, I knew it wasn’t a real movie. And since the idea of Lisa wasn’t real, the deal made by the dorks with the jerks wasn’t a REAL deal. It was a fantasy/comedy. Not a movie about flesh peddling. **Revenge of the Nerds** , on the other hand, displayed a rape scene that by anyone’s definition _ **at any time** _ was rape. When I originally saw it, I thought it was rape. When I see it now, I think it’s rape. That’s because it \*\*WAS \*\*rape. But I don’t remember it even causing much of a ripple when it first came out. It was a guy having sex with a woman who thought he was her boyfriend. And when she finds out, everything’s OK! It’s a laugh riot! Part of the revenge of the nerds! But since Betty Childs \*\*\*was \*\*\*like a goat, I guess it wasn’t much of a surprise that she liked Lewis plowing her. :dubious: That has never made much sense to me. I would imagine if RofNs came out today, it would have protesters. ---
**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:** [July 22, 2010, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shocker-teen-sex-comedy-found-guilty-of-misogyny-the-weird-case-of-weird-science/547496/29 "2010-07-22T11:38:45Z")
> [@kidneyfailure](#): > > Saying that it’s a movie and, Christ, it doesn’t need to be over-analyzed. _Weird Science_ had sexual undertones that could have been written by a horny teenage boy?! Wow, will wonders never cease! It was a film for horny teenage boys, hence the HTB content. No need for further analysis. But overanalysing minutiae is the national pasttime of Geektopia. It’s what we _do_. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2010, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shocker-teen-sex-comedy-found-guilty-of-misogyny-the-weird-case-of-weird-science/547496/30 "2010-07-22T14:09:25Z")
> [@TWDuke](#): > > You’re entitled to your opinion of course, but **After Midnight** , **King of Comedy** , and **The Color of Money** are all highly regarded films. Alongside **The Last Temptation of Christ** and **Raging Bull** , not a bad decade’s work by most standards. What was **After Midnight**? If you mean **After Hours** , that’s the first Scorsese movie I ever saw that I never wanted to see a second time. It tried and failed to launch Griffin Dunne and Lisa Fiorentino as major stars. I kind of liked the “mousetrap” scene, though. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2010, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shocker-teen-sex-comedy-found-guilty-of-misogyny-the-weird-case-of-weird-science/547496/31 "2010-07-22T14:41:25Z")
Bahhh… Like all good things, misogyny gets better with age. ---
**Author:** ![puddleglum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puddleglum/32/137_2.png) [@puddleglum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puddleglum)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2010, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shocker-teen-sex-comedy-found-guilty-of-misogyny-the-weird-case-of-weird-science/547496/32 "2010-07-22T15:51:55Z")
The two nerds are pathetic children who want a fantasy women who will do whatever they tell her to do. A comon adolescent fantasy among those who do not have the social skills to talk to girls. Lisa is a smart and powerful woman who pretends that the boys are in control yet is fully in control the whole movie. Lisa teaches the boys to grow up, have confidence, and relate to people. At the end of her lesson, they no longer want a fantasy woman to share but real girls who they can be in an actual relationship with. The girls are seen as vapid in the beginning but also grow to appreciate nice guys over the jerks they were with at the beginning. There is never an indication that they would have let themselves be traded for Lisa. The offer is just a lie to manipulate Gary and Wyatt. To see it as sexual slavery is to buy into the villain’s world view. ---
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2010, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shocker-teen-sex-comedy-found-guilty-of-misogyny-the-weird-case-of-weird-science/547496/33 "2010-07-22T16:19:54Z")
Well, so what? What’s wrong with bein’ sexy? I mean there’s no… Sex-IST! ---
**Author:** ![AveDementia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bc8723/32.png) [@AveDementia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AveDementia)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2010, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shocker-teen-sex-comedy-found-guilty-of-misogyny-the-weird-case-of-weird-science/547496/34 "2010-07-22T16:35:41Z")
Whenever anyone brings up the rape scene in Revenge of the Nerds, I’m reminded of the part in The Three Musketeers where D’Artagnan finds out that Milady De Winter is inviting another man to come around after dark and sleep with her, so he diverts the other guy and shows up in the dark to sleep with her himself. IIRC, it happened 2 or 3 times in the book, but was never shown in any of the movie versions. And I always thought the Prom Queen in 16 Candles was lying about sex with the geek. His shirt wasn’t even untucked and he was never so drunk that he would have forgotten. Perhaps he thought it was okay if she believed he was a stud because that seems to be what he was aiming for the whole movie (panties and pictures for evidence, etc.). Never actually saw Weird Science, except for the one scene where some guy was being humiliated at a party because of a public announcement that he masturbated. That struck me wrong because it was cringe-worthy to see him humiliated (I guess it was supposed to be funny?), and it also wasn’t believable to me because I didn’t see why all the others guys present weren’t saying “And?..” I never cared to check out the rest of the movie after that. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2010, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shocker-teen-sex-comedy-found-guilty-of-misogyny-the-weird-case-of-weird-science/547496/35 "2010-07-22T17:11:49Z")
The overly effeminate Robert Downey Jr as a tough? OK…LOL 😃 ---
**Author:** ![TWDuke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e495f1/32.png) [@TWDuke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TWDuke)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2010, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shocker-teen-sex-comedy-found-guilty-of-misogyny-the-weird-case-of-weird-science/547496/36 "2010-07-23T03:58:47Z")
> [@Krokodil](#): > > What was **After Midnight**? If you mean **After Hours** , that’s the first Scorsese movie I ever saw that I never wanted to see a second time. It tried and failed to launch Griffin Dunne and Lisa Fiorentino as major stars. I kind of liked the “mousetrap” scene, though. Yeah, I typed the wrong word. Happens sometimes. Doesn’t change the fact that the '80s were hardly a wasteland for Scorsese. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2010, 8:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shocker-teen-sex-comedy-found-guilty-of-misogyny-the-weird-case-of-weird-science/547496/37 "2010-07-23T08:27:17Z")
Wow, no one’s linked it yet? I guess I’ll to it: [How _Weird Science_ Should Have Ended](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IwhjpHgqHDk) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shocker-teen-sex-comedy-found-guilty-of-misogyny-the-weird-case-of-weird-science/547496.md?page=1)