Oppression in Weird Science and Early American Literature

Though Weird Science is in no means a direct or easy comparison to early American literature, it does have some surprising similarities.  Both watchers and readers will see that the film and the writings deal with the struggle of an oppressive powerful figure.  One early American text that connects to the theme of being oppressed as shown in Weird Science is Benjamin Franklin’s The Autobiography.  In his story, he describes various people superior to him that he had to deal with.  One example is his older brother who mistreated him and looked down towards him.  In Weird Science Chet, the older brother, is constantly beating up Wyatt and taking advantage of the boys.  Additionally, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” is yet another early American writing that relates to the oppression from a bigger figure.   In his sermon, Jonathan Edwards tries to scare people into converting to Christianity.  This fear mongering can again be related to Wyatt’s oppressive older brother Chet.  Chet tries to scare the boys into becoming submissive teenagers that do whatever he wants them to do.  Moreover, Hector St. Jean de Crevecoeur’s “What is an American?” shows oppression from a higher power on a much larger scale.  Crevecoeur, in his writing, talks about how America is now a free nation and no longer associated with Europe.  In the movie, Lisa acts similarly to Crevecoeur.  She begs to Wyatt and Gary to improve their lives by standing up to their fears. Connecting 80’s pop culture to rich early American literature is an amusing thought when examined on the surface; however, interestingly enough, connections between the themes both the film and the writings use can be made by looking in-depth at the message they all are trying to convey.