As I am want to do I peruse the movie channels in the afternoon while my kids are napping or at school. Yesterday I happened across one of my favorites, “Weird Science”.

I’ve adored this movie since I first saw it when I was a pre teen. I have always been a fan of Anthony Michael Hall. Like, an unabashed fan of his. I defend him in arguments with friends and family. I have always had a crush on Kelly LaBrock. I like Bill Paxton(RIP). And I am a John Hughes(RIP) fan. I like most of his movies, but “Weird Science” is, to me, his masterpiece. It is quintessential 80’s. It has all the tropes, but it does them better than any other movie from that era. There, I said it. But yesterday was the first time I’ve watched it since I’ve had kids, and been a husband and father. And I noticed something that had never dawned on me, and it made me happy.

Before I get into it, there are problematic elements in this movie. Some of the language used is vulgar and offensive, some interpretations are off and it goes way off the rails at times. But, it was the 80’s, and as Rick James(RIP) put it, “cocaine is a hell of a drug”. I needed to say that before I drop this bomb of a take on everyone.

After watching the movie from start to finish yesterday, I think that “Weird Science” is a movie, in its whole, that is feminist at its core. Now, before you yell at me, or say I’m “mansplaining”, one of my least favorite terms, just hear me out. Yes, Lisa(LaBrock) is created by two nerds. And she is a bombshell that horny high school dudes would come up with. And there may be a million other sexist things in the movie. But, when Lisa shows up on screen, she is the immediate star and carries the movie. She is pure confidence. She exudes it. She is willing to go anywhere, hang out with anyone, call out assholes and get these two dorks to finally be confident. Case and point, when she wants to go out, she takes the kids to a bar filled with older, and gruffer people. When the kids push back, she lets them know that they’re all people, and that a business won’t turn away paying customers. And she’s right, and it makes for some of the best scenes, and everyone has a great time. She lets the boys know that people are just people. Don’t judge before you get to know them. As for hanging out with anyone, well, we have the bar. She also invites all of the school to the big party she throws. She includes everyone. She talks and mingles with everyone. She sets time aside for all the people that were able to come to the party. Be it jock, bully, nerd, she talks to everyone, and everyone talks to her. She is the life of the party. She’s so cool, people thought it was her party and her house. Not the nerds.

As for fighting and standing up to bullies, there’s at least two occasions that come to mind. She doesn’t let Anthony Michael Hall’s father, who’s a real jerk, speak to her like she’s lesser than him. She stands up to him and calls him out right to his face. That is another great scene in the movie. It’s also very funny. She’s keeps telling the other nerdy kid to stand up to his bully of a bigger brother, played by Bill Paxton. She wants Wyatt to be tougher and more assertive. She’s constantly telling him that. Robert Downey Jr and his buddy, two of the biggest bullies in the movie, she doesn’t then give them an inch. They think they can get any girl, that they can be mean and they will still get their way. Well, Lisa totally calls them out for the phonies they are, and proves that they aren’t as tough or cool as they may think they are. The way she blows them off at the mall is classic.

As for helping the two nerds find their confidence, she is the driving force in getting them to stand up to the motorcycle gang that crashes the party. She gets them both to come out of their shells and, not only stand up to hardened criminals, but also get the girls in the end. Kelly LaBrock is truly wonderful in this movie, and is amazing in the role. It was great to see it with real adult eyes. I’m married to a total badass independent woman, and after seeing LaBrock in “Weird Science”, it makes me appreciate my wife that much more.

Another thing, you have to look at when this movie was made, 1985, and think of how awesome, and ahead if its time it was to make the female lead this incredible. We have more movies now, still not enough, but more that let women shine. You can see it in “Frozen 2”, “Wonder Woman”, “Bridesmaids”, “Bad Times at the El Royale”, “Widows” and so on, where the women rule the day. So, for “Weird Science”, and Hughes and LaBrock, to have made and been in a movie this forward thinking almost 35 years ago is astonishing.

I know this may be a weird take, and some may think I’m wrong, but I’m going to stand by this until the day I die. I feel that “Weird Science” is one of the first true feminist movies made.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. After watching “Weird Science”, Ty thinks this Robert Downey Jr kid may have a future in Hollywood. Anybody know what he has been doing these last thirty years?

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