I felt bad for him, he was constantly getting in trouble at school and being verbally and physically abused at home. But that didn't give him a right to act out and harass innocent people...
Well I have to point out that none of them were "innocent." They all looked down upon Bender and I think that's what made him react the way he did. He wanted to take them down a peg and show them all of their weaknesses.
In this day and age, a kid like Bender would have a law suit on his hands for the way he talked to Claire. And the situation with Andy? That would be cause for some serious jail time.
Back in the 1980s...well obviously it was a different time.
I thought the comments he made were done to get under her skin. Part of it was his attraction to her (make her feel uncomfortable-Bender is ironically a tease), but a part of it was also him dishing out what she gives to others. Claire is the kind of gal that likes to talk about others behind their back, back stab, etc....
I was not attracted to Bender when I first saw this film. I thought he came off as very intimidating.
I thought Bender was a realistic and complicated character though, I appreciated the screen writer's effort to make a realistic teenager. I knew plenty of Benders when I went to school.
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adresher-1
8 years ago
Good points! I also knew a few Bender types when was in high school. High School's simply did not know know how to deal with those who acted out and needed attention since their home life was screwed up in the 80s and 90s. I knew several people who were expelled or not asked back due to their behavior. In each case their was something off with their home life i.e. loss of a parent, one was adopted and her parents were never home, etc. Today it is likely the school would have figured out there was something wrong at home and gotten them the help they needed.
As you said Bender's verbal abuse and Andy beating up that kid in the locker room (taping his butt cheeks together) would end up with an expulsion and probably law suit this day and age. My friends and I laugh about how when we freshmen there were a couple seniors who if we saw coming our way we turned around and walked away. Even if our classroom was less than 10 feet away, we figures it was safer to take to long way to class. Pretty much every guy I know would have some sort of lawsuit against someone if what happened to them in high school in the 80s and 90s happened to them today. And I am not just talking about the unpopular kids, the popular kids actually got it worse. As a football player the seniors beat the living you know what out of you on numerous occasions.
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Felixthecat34213
8 years ago
Indeed. I had a similar high school experience. Most little things tended to go unnoticed.
Today with the internet and social media it's just easy for even the smallest thing to blow up and escalate into a huge issue.
I read a blog awhile back where some lady posted some outraged response about her down syndrome kid not getting invited to someone's birthday party. My heart goes out to the kid, but if no one wants him there...isn't he better off? I would never want to be where I'm not wanted.
It's really parents who are hijacking the internet and trying to speak for kids. It'll be interesting to see how these kids turn out.
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