MovieChat Forums > One on One (1978) Discussion > I found Janet and Malcolm offensive

I found Janet and Malcolm offensive

posted 13 years ago by Justin C
13 replies | jump to latest

Janet was quite the arrogant, "intellectual" shrew. She's intellectually arrogant, condescending, and insulting toward Henry, at least in the first half of the movie. Malcolm was a lot worse. They had no right to treat Henry the way they did. They act like they think they're Harvard students (or even more intelligent than Harvard students), yet they're at a low-ranked college in the West. The worst was the scene where they team up to insult Henry's intelligence. I actually felt sorry for Henry because of them. At least Janet ultimately saw the error of her behavior, ditched Malcolm and sided with Henry.

Or was it common for "above average intelligence but nothing special" college kids in the 70s to act as arrogant, insulting and condescending as Janet & Malcolm did in this movie? I never encountered any behavior like this in college in 1999-2003, and I actually went to a high-ranked school. I did encounter a few slightly arrogant professors, but no arrogant, condescending, insulting people like Janet and Malcolm. Yeah, Malcolm's a professor in this movie, but still.

[–] balboa76 12 years ago

Good points, they were very insulting to Henry, two snobs, who thought their shi! didn't stink. The fact that Janet does a complete 360 and ends up moving Henry in, sleeping with him, and becoming his girlfriend is complete movie fiction, that would never happen in real life.

[–] eastcoastguyz 11 years ago

Actually this is much more likely to occur in smaller unknown colleges where some people think they can struct around like they are something special and get away with it. Because if they do that at a larger prestigious college, they would get laughed at because everyone there is a smaller fish in a huge pond. This is from personal experience having attended both of these kinds of colleges. It's the same thing working in a tiny nothing company and working in a large Fortune 100 company. The tiny company is much more likely to have know-it-alls there than in the larger one, because in the larger one they get shutdown for acting like they are more than they are, because there are tons of people ready to replace them if needed.

I find it laughable that anyone in any kind of college would try to insult Henry this way, after all, they are just students themselves they have not lived. All they know is what has been told to them in class, from friends, parents and what they read, they've not experienced actually lived yet to have real knowledge. Even if you don't like sports at all, you can appreciate the effort and skill someone puts into things and that would only come from having real knowledge gained from experience of the world and living.

[–] phoenixandrew 10 years ago

eastcoastguyz wrote:

"Actually this is much more likely to occur in smaller unknown colleges where some people think they can strut around like they are something special and get away with it."

Being that this movie was filmed in a real-life small unknown college (Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado), the arrogant couple came off real.

[–] eastcoastguyz 10 years ago

Yes, of course. That's what I was explaining.

[–] jeffyoung1 10 years ago

Remember this, Justin. Former economics advisor to Pres. Obama, Mr. Jonathan Gruber, was secretly caught on videotape, calling out the American people as too stupid to know better for themselves and that non-transparency in duping the American people would be a good thing. This is after Obama promised total transparency during his 2008 campaign. Worse, in the videos, you can hear Gruber's evidently sympathetic left-wing liberal audience laughing aloud when Gruber calls the American people stupid and that they need (and deserve) to be deceived in order to get legislation passed, ostensibly for their own damned good. Liberals are the worst bigots on the planet.

[–] jaystarstar 10 years ago

Except for Faux Fascist Noise dupes.

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4) You ever seen Superman $#$# his pants? Case closed.

[–] sjbradford 9 years ago

But you didn't refute anything that the previous poster said. You just name-called like a little girl. You don't seem very bright.

[–] tightspotkilo 9 years ago

The university they went to was supposed to be UCLA without naming it as such, at any rate hardly a "low-ranked" university.

And dood, put your hands in the air and step away from the bong, you've had enough, because you were SUPPOSED to find these characters offensive. That was built-in as part of the plot.

Get the facts first - you can distort them later!

[–] davidjanuzbrown 9 years ago

I have not seen this movie in years, but what I remember was no one ( even Henry Steele ( Robbie Benson)) was that nice. Remember he took illegal gifts like the car. Malcom was even worse then Coach Smith ( G.D. Spradlin) because he was a total fake ( remember the scene where he beat Henry up? ). Not exactly a peace loving individual. That was the scene where Janet (Annette O'Toole) turned against Malcom and for Henry. As for Janet, it helps to have played big time College Sports or be a College Sports fan to understand Janet. In Big Time Sports Programs the Athletes are to a large extent segregated from the General Student population ( The Lasch Building @ Penn State for the exclusive use of the football team is an example of this). So the " Dumb Jock" stereotype who does not belong in a University that Malcolm puts on Henry is believed ( especially when his grades are below average). But when she interacts with him more, lets him move in with her, and sees how much effort he puts into the Academics as well as the Basketball, she eventually falls in love with him. The final scene shows Henry and Janet on a playground playing basketball with an African-American kid which really shows the difference between Henry and Malcolm ( Henry treats people as equals while Malcolm looks down on others). There is little doubt that Henry will finish out the year then Transfer ( because of what he showed in the Game after sitting out a year, he can go almost anywhere except an Ivy League School or say Stanford) and because of examples like that ( despite their age differences) Janet is going with him.

[–] IcySpoon 9 years ago

Malcom never physically attacked Henry. He interjected himself into Janet and Henry's conversation and was condescending and rude however it was actually Henry who tried to attack Malcom-he was stopped by Janet. She then asked Malcom to leave.

I think your assessment of the movie is fair but a bit simplistic.

"Eventually, all things merge into one, and a river runs through it." Norman Maclean

[–] davidjanuzbrown 9 years ago

I will defer to you on the Henry/Malcolm confrontation (its been many years since I saw the movie). I do not know how my ending is simplistic. If Henry wanted to remain on the team he could have, just like he could have had lots of girls (Star football & basketball players do). But he chose to walk away from the team, and did not chase skirts, instead his girl remained Janet. I remember him explaining to Janet that it is not basketball but the people involved in it that are the problem. Keep in mind, he was the Top Recruit (at a Top University (which is hinted at being UCLA although the movie was filmed at Colorado State)), so it is entirely possible that because of his skills, in the future, Henry could end up in the NBA. But even if he does not, basketball (along with Janet) will be a part of his life (which is why the final scene showed him and Janet playing with the kid, which is similar to the beginning where he sees the other kids playing basketball). For Janet, she sees the effort that Henry puts into basketball, then his studies, and she knows he will put the same effort into their relationship (which because of the temptations out there (such as women), and the age difference, requires more then simply two people loving each other).

[–] IcySpoon 9 years ago

This was the whole point of their characters. The scene where you feel sorry for Henry and later Janet learning that she had misjudged him? That's the screenwriter doing his job.

"Eventually, all things merge into one, and a river runs through it." Norman Maclean

[–] davidjanuzbrown 9 years ago

There is no question that the point was to bring Henry and Janet together. But what they did not have to do is keep them together (Exhibit A: Lea Thompson and Tom Cruise in 'All The Right Moves' where he basically outgrows her, and she lets him go (as a Lea fan, I would never have let Lea go that is for sure)). It's important to note that Henry involves Janet with the hoops and training, so they can share it together (unlike in 'All The Right Moves'). So Janet becomes a keeper, instead of essentially a stepping stone for Henry.