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From: srt@ucla-cs.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.movies
Subject: My Science Project (* mild spoilers *)
Message-ID: <5949@ucla-cs.ARPA>
Date: Mon, 10-Jun-85 17:49:42 EDT
Article-I.D.: ucla-cs.5949
Posted: Mon Jun 10 17:49:42 1985
Date-Received: Sat, 15-Jun-85 09:10:22 EDT
Organization: UCLA Computer Science Department
Lines: 39

My Science Project is a summer film from Disney that I saw in a preview
last night.  It is an adventure film of sorts; a high school guy finds a
mysterious alien artifact that does strange things.  Adventure results.
I found the movie fun and not overly involving, I give it a fair
recommendation.

What prompts me to post this is the use of cheap stereotypes and moralizing
throughout this film, a trend that is, I think, growing in movies aimed
at the younger (i.e., high school aged) crowd.

In this movie, we have the obligatory:  nerd, female nerd who wants to
become popular, bimbo, dumb auto shop guy, and Brooklyn tough guy.

We also have the obligatory scenes:  dumb auto shop guy looks stupid in
science class.  Nerd follows around nerd girl, laughing stupidly through
nose (don't even audition for a nerd part if you can't laugh through your
nose).  Dumb auto shop guy gets dumped by bimbo.  Brooklyn tough guy has
typical Brooklyn tough guy lowrider car, typical Brooklyn tough guy open
shirt, typical Brooklyn tough guy slicked back hair, etc.

And, of course, the killer, killer scene:  dumb auto shop guy and female
nerd who wants to become popular fall in love and realize that the other
is a (drumroll) REAL person.

What bothers me about this is not the moral they are pushing, nor the
societal pressures that led to this kind of thing being mandatory in
youth films (remember the ridiculous scene at the end of Karate Kid where
the "bad" guy all of the sudden repents?) but the fact that the morals
film makers are pushing are so transparent and simplistic.  I think that
high school aged kids are, for the most part, more intelligent than film
makers credit them, and would respond well to films that included a more
serious level of moralizing.  We all face difficult moral situations in
day to day life that don't magically resolve themselves when we realize
``Hey, nerds are people too!''.  Can't this be reflected in the movies?

    Scott R. Turner
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