Common Tropes in Weird Science and Early American Life

At first glance, John Hughes’ 1985 movie Weird Science and a collection of early American literature have no connection whatsoever. However, with some strenuous mental gymnastics, it’s possible to conjure some common threads between the two. While superficially Weird Science and early American life seem unrelated, beneath the surface there are many common themes. The first document with a connection to Weird Science is John Winthrop’s speech A Model of Christian Charity. Delivered in 1630 to moralize the 900 congregants on his ship to North America, John Winthrop outlined some basic values that people should follow to keep their colony running smoothly. Some of these values overlap with some themes in Weird Science. Prominent among these is the value of giving. In Weird Science, Lisa helps Gary and Wyatt get back on their feet socially. She’s always there to help and guide, and even organized the house party that got them on the map and gave them chances to prove themselves by summoning a mutant biker gang (for lack of a better description). This is in accordance with John Winthrop, who wrote “We must be willing to abridge ourselves of our superfluities, for the supply of others’ necessities,” (Winthrop, 3). The document with the strongest connection to Weird Science is Jonathan Edward’s 1741 sermon Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God (which I’ll abbreviate to SITHOAAG). The first connection to Weird Science within SITHOAAG is the cautious approach to life. In Weird Science, Gary and Wyatt tread carefully in their social lives in an effort to not appear “uncool”. In SITHOAAG, Jonathan Edwards advises that his parishioners stay away from sin at all costs, lest God casts you to helThe second connection between SITHOAAG and Weird Science is the disownment. In Weird Science, Gary’s father refuses to recognize his son after Lisa talks to him about Gary’s life outside school. In SITHOAAG, being cast to hell is essentially disownment, as God is turning his back on you. In conclusion, Weird Science appears to share a lot of similarities with early American life and literature. Of course, this all needs to be taken with a grain of salt; these two are hardly related at all, and it’s only through the powers of mental stretches that these two can be even considered for an essay.