That’s the question that is kind of being asked by the folks at Now This News, as they’ve given us this mash-up of the trailer for the critically-acclaimed Spike Jonze love story Her and the John Hughes classic Weird Science. Obviously, it’s a fair question. Both films deal with artificially-created women and the geeks who use them, and they also feature sex symbol actresses in their primes. Still, it’s hardly a slam dunk comparison, but you can watch for yourself and decide.
(Some mild Her spoilers ahead, in case you haven’t seen it yet.)
For starters, the glaring difference is that in Weird Science, Wyatt and Gary create an actual woman using a computer, a dial-up modem, a Barbie Doll, the embarrassingly easy access to government servers and two old bras, among other things. In Her, Theodore Twombly’s girl is basically just a voice that he interacts with, as he, unlike Wyatt, cannot have a physical interaction with her, and it causes all sorts of problems. Additionally, Lisa felt obligated to serve her creators, while Samantha was in love with a bunch of other people, so clearly Lisa was way better in every aspect.
Hell, she even helped inspire Wyatt and Gary to not only overcome their issues with confidence and poor self-esteem and ultimately steal Ian’s and Max’s babes, but also take on an entire gang of mutant bikers. And that kind of stuff only happens in suburban Illinois like once or twice a month.
Finally, as enjoyable as Her is, it doesn’t hold a candle to Weird Science’s grasp of technology, which was decades ahead of Hollywood and actual science.
(H/T to reader Brian)