MovieChat Forums > Weird Science (1985) Discussion > Joss Whedon really hates this movie.

Joss Whedon really hates this movie.

posted 13 years ago by Darwinskid
62 replies | jump to latest

While a lot of people happen to like this movie, a billion dollar director and writer, and general comic book enthusiast, by the name of Joss Whedon frankly detests it.

Article right here-
http://www.filmcritic.com/features/2008/01/titular-movie-t/
Actual quote-

"I hate Weird Science not a little," he said. "I find it offensive. The boy fantasy of building a girl. Obviously, we were doing the nasty version of it, because I find it grotesque."

To be fair, while the concept is juvenile and a teen boy's fantasy, Hughes did give the boy creation personality and didn't just have her pose for the camera every ten seconds. Give him credit for that.

Thoughts?

...SPOON!

[–] 13 years ago

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[–] JannTosh 13 years ago

well that seems like a dumb reason to hate a movie. I like some of Whedon's stuff but he has this sort of feminist/white knight mentality that is kind of annoying

[–] 13 years ago

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[–] mattsf 13 years ago

Whedon should take that titanium rod out of his ass.

First, to say that Gary and Wyatt "build" Lisa is stretching things. Yes, she says they created her, but magic lightning had a lot to do with it.

Second, though they say they want to create a "girl", they turn out to create a mature, sophisticated woman. Big difference there.

Third, they treat Lisa with respect at all times.

Finally, and most importantly...

Yes, the idea to build a girl is juvenile. But this is a movie *about* juveniles. Most young teenage boys *are* well-meaning but deeply immature dolts, and I say this as one who was one once, and isn't ashamed to admit it, because we all have to start somewhere. Except for Enlightened Joss, of course, who was born a perfectly mature saint, and who never once had a teenage sexual fantasy about a skinny girl that wasn't both tastefully female-empowering and full of quirky quips.

[–] Darwinskid 13 years ago

Well said mattsf.

...SPOON!

[–] 13 years ago

[deleted]

[–] Can_a_bitch_get_a_donut 10 years ago

A-fookin-men.  Joss can go fook himself.

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Boopee doopee doop boop SEX

[–] Alfabeta 12 years ago

PC overreaction and then some.

[–] Galagatron 12 years ago

Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Firefly, The Avengers... I've never cared about anything this guy has done anyway.

[–] 12 years ago

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[–] infinity8 12 years ago

I can see Whedon's point. Gary and Wyatt are a bit young to realize the full implications of building a woman for a sexual plaything, but John Hughes is older and he didn't see fit to give Lisa her own aspirations. I mean, geez, the lady's beasutiful, as smart as Einstein, and able to create anything that she wants and her aspirations in life are to make Gary and Wyatt happy and to teach gym class? Okay, it's nice that she wants her "fathers" to be happy, but it would be nice if she had some desires for herself beyond parties.

[–] mattsf 12 years ago

infinity8, I appreciate your thoughtful defense of Whedon's offense, but again, I've got to disagree with it. For starters:

"her aspirations in life are to make Gary and Wyatt happy and to teach gym class?"

We don't know anything about her life span, or whether it's at all finite. Maybe spending even a few *years* looking after Gary and Wyatt is equivalent to an hour or so of our time - hardly a demanding or limiting exertion. In short, just about any criticism of the movie as demeaning to women is based upon assumptions that just aren't grounded in what the movie itself says.

Also:

"John Hughes is older and he didn't see fit to give Lisa her own aspirations."

Of all the characters in Hughes' teen movies canon, Lisa is the only non-human one, and just about all the actual human girls in that canon, Deb and Hilly included, are written with considerable depth and insight.

In short, while I, too, would have been interested in seeing Lisa's character developed a bit more, and can totally understand people not liking the flick for such reasons, I hardly think there's any cause for vitriol. It's a silly, harmless movie about some immature young kids in which the two human love interests are treated respectfully.

[–] gabby_bm 12 years ago

Who the hell is Joss Whedon? Why haven't I heard of him?

As far as Lisa goes, she is a three-dimensional character, defined by 2-dimensional traits. And it's not like the boys set out to create a woman. They set out to create a computer program that they could ask questions and maybe learn a bit more about females. They hadn't really figured that hooking up the doll was going to create a life-sized beauty with magical powers. They just got lucky.

My "#3" key is broken so I'm putting one here so i can cut & paste with it.