Just so anyone that didn’t get to watch this somewhat eccentric and hilarious movie back in the 80s understand, this is a FICTIONAL account of Albert Einstein and has almost nothing at all to do with the actual patent clerk that would one day become one of the most well-known men in the world. It seems that some folks, such as Betsy Bozdech of Common Sense Media, insist on ripping apart 80s movies these days and can’t be bothered to remember that they’re MOVIES, not to be taken out of context unless they’re said to be based on a true story. That being said, Young Einstein was one of those movies that you either loved or kind of went ‘meh’ and moved on from since it did have a great deal of comedy to it but in the 80s manner it was a bit cheesy sometimes and hard to really sit around for.
It was a good deal of fun though since it took a young Australian named Albert Einstein and created a story of how he didn’t want to be a part of the family business, which was apple farming, and wanted instead to invent things. The only problem was that his inventions didn’t always work and he seemed to be lacking something that suggested he was on the verge of a breakthrough but had yet to really find that special ‘it’ factor that would identify him as a truly gifted individual. When he discovers a formula that allows him to put bubbles in beer however it becomes an important new discovery that leads him on an adventure towards greatness and possibly glory, only to be derailed when the patent office refuses him and another man steals his formula and sells it to a couple of brewers.
After he’s committed for trying to get his formula back his love interest tries to get him to fight for what he believes in but at that point he’s kind of given up and doesn’t want to fight anymore. When she tells him what has happened and how the man that stole his formula is to be rewarded he eventually decides that it’s worth coming back and finds a way to get her forgive him while confronting the thief at the awards ceremony. The only problem is that the thief didn’t fully understand the formula and instead of making bubble-laden beer he’s made an atomic bomb instead. Now there are many ways in which this movie just gets downright silly, but the moment when he uses his guitar to somehow drain off some of the power to the bomb is one of those moments that makes you think you’re watching an episode of Looney Tunes instead of a live action movie. It only escalates when you see that he’s survived the explosion and has been turned black from the residue, something that many people might find horribly offensive in this day and age.
But these were the kind of movies we cared about back in the day. These were the entertaining shows that we happened to like and thought were perfectly okay. It’s true that some of the subject matter is kind of iffy at this point but a lot of it is still perfectly okay and should be seen as something that was popular back in this time period, not something that’s worth attacking simply because people don’t like it as of NOW. Too many people get their undergarments in a bunch these days because of old movies and the kind of messages they sent and the material they used to make people laugh, thereby insuring that those looking at it now might see it through their perspective and thereby vilify it even further. The ironic part of all this is that eventually as the world keeps spinning and people keep getting more and more sensitive to the things they see and hear they might come to realize that they’re stripping the very life out of the entertainment they cherish so much.
Young Einstein wasn’t perfect by any means and in some regards it was kind of a nutty and even dumb movie, but back then we didn’t care. At that time it was a fun bit of entertainment that people could take or leave, not something that was bound to be called out for its many quirks as another failed 80s movie that was bound to become obscure because of its many harmful themes. Yes the guy was painted black a couple of times, but this wasn’t done out of any racial motivation, it was a cartoonish attempt to show the effects of standing so close to an explosion when it went off. The more sensitive our society becomes to certain ideas within movies, especially movies that have long since come and gone, the easier it is to think that people need to grow up a little.
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