completely unrealistic - Radio Rebel (2012) Discussion

[–] poeboy7 12 years ago

I saw this documentary once about college life, and in it, the geeky fraternity beat the jock fraternity in the homecoming week competitions, using science and smarts and synthesizers. It was made in the early 19802 and I think it was called "The Nerds Get Revenge." So it can happen.

It's COO-pon, not CUE-pon.

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[–] Carly_fan 12 years ago

That was "Revenge of the Nerds" (1984), and it was NOT a documentary.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088000/

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[–] Poweranimals 12 years ago

Well it's not exactly like it's a new concept.

I've got a theory. It could be bunnies.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4W-AL8yRXgQ

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[–] Carly_fan 12 years ago

That's not the point. It's been used a lot. What I'm getting at is does anyone know where this has succeed in real life? Has a geek ever taken on the populars and won?

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[–] ferrisb1-1 12 years ago

It's MAKE BELIEVE and ESCAPIST FANTASY because the worlds portrayed in most U.S. high school movies are just that: Exaggerations. They aren't meant to be taken seriously at all...

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[–] Carly_fan 12 years ago

Yeah, I realize that - that's not the issue. I'm not sure if they're not meant to be taken seriously, since a majority of Disney offerings seem to be nothing but morality plays.

I just think it's ironic that Disney is always telling kids to stick up for themselves and stand up to people who treat them disrespectfully when that's not the case at all and very few kids will actually have the guts to do what's right. It's not a bad message, just highly unrealistic, and it makes me wonder why people watch things like this when they know it's not true.

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[–] Poweranimals 12 years ago

Is Star Trek realistic? No. Does that mean people shouldn't watch it?

I've got a theory. It could be bunnies.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4W-AL8yRXgQ

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[–] poeboy7 12 years ago

Are you sure it's not a documentary? Because I was sure it was. Even if it's not, I am POSITIVE it was based on a true story. POSITIVE.

It's COO-pon, not CUE-pon.

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[–] Carly_fan 12 years ago

check the link - that's why I posted it. it's a freakin' tits & ass 80s comedy

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[–] poeboy7 12 years ago

I disagree. I think it was a documentary. They just used actors to re-enact scenes, like on Unsolved Mysteries.

It's COO-pon, not CUE-pon.

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[–] Carly_fan 12 years ago

Another good unrealistic movie - "She's Out of Your League" where the geek guy gets the hottie girl. I'm sure it happens, but I've never witnessed it. I have seen it where the girl gets the hot guy in real life, but not the other way 'round.

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[–] kmp206 12 years ago

Not really but the thing about Geek Charming, was cliched and predictible is that the 2 leads made things work out to a point where you could buy the poular girl/geeky movie kid could end up together + the actors had tons of chemistry also which helped. With GC the movie was based on a book + the screenplay was decently written.

With Radio Rebel, she wasn't that much of a geek to me. She had supportive parents, 1 best friend and people liked her well except for the one popular girl but the Disney way went about doing so ended up being not that great. Something about this movie didn't work for me.

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[–] 12 years ago

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[–] kmp206 12 years ago

LOLed at the Hannah Montana part. I didn't have a problem with the tv show but when every other tween movie/show series started making similar plot lines I cringed and then HM started getting obnoxious instead of fresh and funny then it was all down hill from there.

I am all for the underdog too but something about RR didn't do it for so go figure. :/

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[–] 12 years ago

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[–] kmp206 12 years ago

I agree I loved the first High School musical and then it was crazy after that though Disney being Disney + milking that HSM cow for all it is worth.

Double agree with HM, Miley was that same, shallow teen pop star she accused Selena Gomez's character being but I kinda wasn't surprised. It was bound to happen some way + she was less and less grounded each season.

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[–] ferrisb1-1 12 years ago

I think you both nailed the underlying problem with RR.

It wants to be a underdog, fight-the-power movie... Except the lead is just a toned down version of every other tween "popular" girl except that she is shy.

How can you root for someone like that?

"Lemonade Mouth" was 10x better even if it was still cheesy at times. It, too, was also based on a book and while they did change some parts, the real underdog vibe is there and you buy the fact the kids in Lemonade Mouth (band) are outcasts because they aren't perfect and don't have perfect home lives.

I think had they made Tara's home life a little more traumatic, or made her less Debby Ryan and more Tara... I think this movie would have worked better because there would be real empathy for her character...

Versus how it is now where it's like Disney was afraid to do another "Lemonade Mouth" and make the main character's life more gritty and realistic and instead played it safe. They treated the whole story in a much lighter and fluffier tone than something like this should have been done in considering the subject matter e.g. The First Amendment; Class warfare (Rich vs. Poor), etc...

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[–] kmp206 12 years ago

This. Great point about Lemonade Mouth also, I hear it was based on a book as well like Geek Charming. These 2 movies are cliched and chessy but it is Disney so we expect that but it is very real for a tv film made that just says basically that life isn't shiny or great all the time.

With Radio Rebel another problem was that it didn't have a strong cast to me. Even Stuck In The Suburbs, High School Musical, Geek Charming, Lemonade Mouth, Wizards movie etc casted some great disney kids. Noone really stood out tbh and I don't think Debby Ryan is a terrible actress or anything like alot of fans do but maybe it was the writing that didn't agree fit with her choices. Basically what you said, toning DR down and I have this problem with Jessie also. The show is okay with decent parts but it is like watching DR featuring DR.

+ The movie didn't give her a real reason for doing the radio show. I get that she wanted to be a voice and be heard while gradually letting go of her shyness but it could have been a outlet because her home life sucked so bad or something like that.

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[–] Carly_fan 12 years ago

my main question still stands - I'm not talking about a movie - when have you seen an underdog win in real life? when has anybody ever seen a bullied geek stand up for themselves and walk away a winner?

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[–] poeboy7 12 years ago

This story is true, but not that exciting.

In high school, I was the youngest in my class, and the smallest. I didn't weigh 100 pounds until I was a sophomore. here was a guy in my class that spent a crazy amount of time picking on me every day. I usually ignored him. But one day, after gym class, he cornered me in front of everyone and started laying into me with his lame insults and some light shoving. Then he said, "How come you never fight back, you little p*ssy?" Me, being a natural-born smart aleck, answered, "Because I don't fight girls." He goes, "Wha-psh-fa-" then everybody started laughing at him. He walked away. And that was the last time he ever picked on me.

I was a legend in my school for about a week because I was the only person to ever stand up to him in any way. I wasn't really a geek, but I wasn't a popular kid, and I won, in a away.

It's COO-pon, not CUE-pon.

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[–] steve_browning 12 years ago

Poeboy, good for you! (I mean that honestly / not sarcastically)

Good for you that you stood up for yourself

School bullies typically are just junior versions of people who grow up to be "serious" predators (people who rape/rob/kill, etc)

But they are still predators, its just their skills and abilities aren't as well developed yet.

And there is ONE thing that defines almost all predators, of any age, is that they always go after the weak. Just like lions or wolves chasing a herd of animals, they dont go after the fastest, strongest, they try to pick out the ones who are the slow, weak, easiest to pick off. The "easy kill"

So really, you just need to make sure you aren't seen as being an easy target. They (the predators) are often lazy, they dont want to work too hard.

Lots of times, especially in school, just standing up to a bully is enough. But, sometimes it isn't, and y'know what?? most people dont realize that if you do get in a fight with a bully, you dont have to win, you just have to put up a good fight. Hell, you can get your butt kicked pretty good, and as long as you "take it like a man" and dont cry about it, no one thinks that badly of you.

And even if you do get you get your butt kicked, if the next time you see that bully you stand your ground, that alone tends to earn a lot of respect with that bully not to mention everyone else

Now, I know this doesn't have a whole lot to do with this movie necessarily, i just wanted to respond to that post

Also, I know things can become different when you talk about bullies that have knives, guns, etc, where the possibility of death / permanent harm is quite high. But still, What i've learned is, if someone pushes on you, push back a little. if they push harder, you do same

If they push and you fall over..... well, they will just keep pushing and pushing and pushing.........

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[–] kmp206 12 years ago

I haven't seen to many bullied geeks or see them rise up in life but I have seen people around beat the odds regardless of circumstances in the small town I am from. It wouldn't qualify as the underdog winning but it isn't completely unrealistic there are loads of films and books based on every day making being successful in life all the time. RR had cliched elements because Disney made it so.

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[–] Carly_fan 12 years ago

I haven't seen to many bullied geeks or see them rise up in life but I have seen people around beat the odds regardless of circumstances in the small town I am from. It wouldn't qualify as the underdog winning but it isn't completely unrealistic there are loads of films and books based on every day making being successful in life all the time. RR had cliched elements because Disney made it so.

Everybody who's ever become a success has overcome adversity and hard times. It's not the same as being bullied then being able to stand up to those who've targeted and hurt you deliberately. If you wouldn't qualify it as the underdog winning, then your example doesn't apply.

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[–] heinously 10 years ago

My senior year of high school, some friends and I decided to choose homecoming court, because it was expected that some obnoxious cheerleader girls would win because they were the ~popular~ kids. Voting for court happened during Ethics class (it was a Catholic school), and that day we had ethics 3rd period of the day. We got most of our class to vote for the same 5 girls (one of the cheerleaders boyfriends and a few of his friends were in our class) and passed it around to the next four periods. Not everyone was into it, but our school was pretty small, and our senior class only had about 100 people, so even getting about half of each class to vote for the same person meant a decent majority. in the end we only filled 4/5 spots with our picks, but one of our girls got queen :) it helped that our picks were well-liked people. it wasnt like the nerdiest kids in school, but still a far cry from the popular crowd. i remember one cheerleader remarking "what is this, revenge of the nerds?!" when winners were announced lol.

i say this knowing my school wasnt typical high school. we would always joke that hugh school movies with all the crazy cliques and evil cheerleaders were actually written about our school. i mean, you know that scene in mean girls where the girls all go to the gym and have to say nice things and apologize and stuff? we did that. every year. administration was concerned about how divided and cliqueish our class was lol. anyway, my point is that jts not unrealistic for these sorts of things to happen. it isnt probable that these things happen, but that doesn't mean its nit possible. its just not common.

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[–] ferrisb1-1 12 years ago

I know this is an old thread, but...

The main issue isn't that overcoming adversity isn't unrealistic. It's the way that process is portrayed that can be "unrealistic".

RR falls into that latter category for all the reasons previously discussed a.k.a. it's just not a very good version of the typical underdog story vs. "Lemonade Mouth", or "Geek Charming".

That's just how it goes; not every movie that tackles a particular subject is going to do it well. Just look at the on life-support Rom Com (Romantic Comedy) genre as proof of this. Nine out of ten Rom Coms suck, but there is at least one that takes the genre and puts a new spin on it creating something new at least in terms of execution if not theme (message; what the movie is saying)...

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[–] patskywriter 12 years ago

i think it's okay for "radio rebel" to NOT be about the nerdiest kid vs the most popular girls. it's somewhere in the middle. and it's still possible to picture the main character as an underdog. she's not WOEfully out of step with the other kids--she's just not part of the "in" crowd. i actually think that "radio rebel" is somewhat more realistic simply because the characters aren't taken to the extreme.

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[–] jesi_flora 12 years ago

There is a reason it's called a MOVIE! It might not happen so often in real life than in movies but movies are supposed to make people believe in themselves at least a little bit or for a short time. It's not like every kid would stand up for themselves but it's a good message. I don't get it why people want a movie/series to be something super realistic. Like, you live in reality all the time! Movies are supposed to help you escape the reality for a while! I would sometimes be like: "Hey, that's so unrealistic!" But then I'm like: "Hey, it's a movie! It's not supposed to be realistic!" Like, if you want realistic, go watch Discovery or something like that!

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[–] yeley 11 years ago

Sure it was unrealistic, but it was a cute movie. That is how we wish suburbia really could be...all the problems are minor problems and at the end...everybody gets along!

Where were the kids on drugs? Where was the kid thinking about suicide? How about the kid with such a bad home life that he had to live on the street? Where were the kids spiking the punch at the PROM? I didn't notice any really poor kids who didn't get enough to eat. I also didn't see any jocks who were driven to a nervous breakdown by their overzealous parents living through their kid's athletic prowess. Where were the kids hoping to get into college...worried about grades and how they would make it? Where were the kids who had no friends? Where were the bullies? Where were the victims of bullies? Where were the ugly kids...that can't get a date?

They aren't in this movie! This is how we wish it could be!

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[–] 11 years ago

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