As most of us know, rarely in the real world does the geek get the girl. Yet, when it comes to current Hollywood comedies, the dork is the new dreamboat, while the good looking hunk is the target for every punchline. We have gone from jocks going for a laugh or two at the expense of geeks, to trying to give the geeks their due. While we are still striving to find a balance between the hotness factor and the guy/gal with the good personality hook-up, movies have always made the case for love conquering all—or at the very least, conquering romantic comedy expectations.
Such is the geek/girl comedy, She’s Out of My League (now on DVD and Blu-ray from Paramount). Instead if the geek being brushed aside—in this case mild mannered airport security worker Kirk (Jay Baruchel)—gets a chance with the girl, a sexy party planner named Molly (Alice Eve). What happens next is mildly entertaining, but largely aggravating. Generally speaking, the storyline is so unbelievable, few will relate to it. Put simply, Eventually Alice embraces the geeks of the world when she discovers they are far more genuine than the alternative.
You know, While this may seem like a relatively new approach to comedy, it’s actually something that the genre has been playing around with for decades. The only difference now, is that today’s geek isn’t necessarily a bucktoothed, bow-tie wearing buffoon (you know, the type of character that helped to make Jerry Lewis a legend). Today’s geek tends to be more socially inept, (think Spiderman’s Peter Parker) and sometimes a bit grungy (almost any Judd Apatow character), but underneath all that is a good looking guy waiting to be discovered by a hot looking babe.
In the spirit of She’s Out of My League, I decided to take a quick look at five examplesof films where the geek gets the girl.
5. Can’t Buy Me Love (1987)
Ronald Miller (Patrick Dempsey) is a typical high school nerd. He makes a deal with popular cheerleader Cindy Mancini (Amanda Peterson) to spend $1,000 of his savings to replace a suede outfit Cindy damaged that belonged to her mother. In return, she agrees to pose as his girlfriend for a month, and never reveal the pact.
When Ronald defends another school nerd from an onslaught of jocks and points out they all used to be friends, Cindy finally sees the truly sweet side of Ronald. She ends up choosing him over her shallow, popular friends.
4. Loser (2000)
A college student named Paul (Jason Biggs), branded a loser by his roommates and booted from the dorm, falls in love with a coed Dora (Mena Suvari) who has eyes for their professor.
3. American Pie (1999)
Jim Levenstein (Jason Biggs), is a sexually frustrated teen who finds it very difficult to communicate with girls. On a quest with friends to lose his virginity before high school graduation, pursues Nadia (Shannon Elizabeth), an exchange student from (the former) Czechoslovakia. While he catches Nadia’s eye, he ends up having sex with Michelle (Alyson Hannigan) a fellow nerd, who also happens to be sexually voracious. A totally funny, crazy, film!
2. Trojan War (1997)
Brad (Will Friedle) thinks he has found the girl of his dreams, Brooke Kingsley (Marley Shelton). On the big night, he runs into a problem…No condom. On his search to find a Trojan he realizes that maybe it isn’t worth the trouble. Brad is robbed, beaten up and arrested among other things, trying to get just one condom. His best friend Leah (Jennifer Love-Hewitt) is disgusted at his behavior because she wants Brad all to herself. Will Brad find what he wants or will Leah get what she has always wanted – Brad?
1. Zombieland (2009)
In a world overrun by zombies, Columbus (Jesse Eisenberg) is a big wuss—but when you’re afraid of being eaten by zombies, fear can keep you alive. By the end of the movie not only has he grown a pair he gets the hot girl, Wichita (Emma Stone)
