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Yeah it's all good except for that, and definitely touches on some pretty cutting edge concerns as you mention. I didn't remember the Ben stuff either. I hadn'
by scrumper 5y ago
Yeah it's all good except for that, and definitely touches on some pretty cutting edge concerns as you mention.
I didn't remember the Ben stuff either. I hadn't seen it since I guess age of 10? Put it on for the kids to watch with them a couple months ago and I spent most of it praying that Ben wasn't the thing they'd remember. If you have a reason to watch it again then I'd do so, it's amazing how uncomfortable it'll make you feel with modern eyes!
I think the filmmakers recognized how crap that was anyway, he's barely in it and does nothing for the story.
- bena 5y agoHe's the main character in the sequel though. So while he was Steve Guttenberg's comic sidekick in the first movie, I don't think we can deduce that the filmmakers thought Fisher Stevens's character was "crap". We're just going to have to accept that we were a bit tone-deaf back then. No one blinked twice at Fisher Stevens dipped in bronzer and doing his best Ghandi impression. Not as bad as Soul Man however.
- scrumper 5y agoI'd forgotten entirely about SS2 - he goes to the big city and learns about rock & roll and dancing? Completely agree on different standards back then. Definitely an area in which I think we have collectively improved.
- bena 5y agoThe sad thing is that I do like both movies. I was at the right age for that whole quirky robot comes alive schtick to really hit. I try to rationalize it by saying that Ben isn't really a negative portrayal. The dude is smart, witty, kind, and all around a good dude.
- scrumper 5y agoRight? That's fine, surely, I at least am not saying that we need to hate the films now. Society is better, is all. He was certainly the hero of 2.