In the beginning...

In the beginning was the word...

Tonight I am watching Real Genius (1985) with my children. I love this movie. I always wanted to meet a really cool smart person like Val Kilmer plays. In a lot of ways, it reminds me of being in the Honors College at UCA with Jenn, Craig, Willie, Carl & company. I tell my students in my Honors classes that it really does not get any better; the real world is a let-down. (And it is not as though I don't have a good life because I do.)

But back to Real Genius, this movie shows smart people as something other than objects of derision. Unlike the John Hughes films, others perception of them never changes. The characters are who they are and we see them as people, as individuals, not as sterotypes.

Of course the underlying theme that youth are smarter than the corrupt authority is a little heavy-handed, but does provide a plot. And the higher authority is in place to protect us from the evil ones. The deus ex machina overrides the evil professor in the end...