A Lawyer Explains All The Laws Broken In These Iconic Movie Love Scenes

A lawyer explained all of the laws that were broken in these iconic movie love scenes

Remember when you watched Sixteen Candles as a kid and thought it was a cute, kinda goofy romcom? Alright, now let’s fast forward to 2018 and take a look at how horrendously problematic it was. A lawyer sat down with Buzzfeed and broke down all of the sexual assault crimes that occurred throughout the film. She also looked back on some other iconic movie love scenes and pointed out all the laws that were broken there, as well.

Prepare to feel extremely nauseous.

Okay, let’s start with Sixteen Candles. Remember when Jake Ryan handed his blacked-out girlfriend Caroline over to “The Geek” and basically just told him to have fun? Well, “The Geek” had sex with her, which constitutes rape. “Make no qualms about it, she was a rape victim,” Diana Aizman, a criminal defense attorney, said. “And it was all orchestrated by someone she trusted – her boyfriend.”

Even as a kid, the movie Revenge of the Nerds made me feel super icky. Rewatching clips now, I completely understand why. In one scene, the main character Lewis dresses up as Darth Vader, tricks a woman into thinking that he’s her boyfriend, and she has sex with him. Aizman explained that this was, in fact, rape. “The law protects victims from having sex with someone who is pretending to be someone else,” she said. “…It isn’t consensual sex.”

So, Wedding Crashers is a fun, lighthearted romp of a comedy right? Well, not quite. There’s a scene that features one of the main characters, Jeremy, tied up to the bed by one of the other characters, Gloria, with his mouth literally taped shut. “You’re supposed to understand that they go on to have some sort of sexual adventure against his will, seemingly,” Aizman said. “That is a crime…at the very least it is false imprisonment, sexual assault, definitely.”

Remember when Edward kept breaking into Bella’s room in Twilight? Yup, that was a crime. “We call that stalking and there’s nothing romantic about it,” Aizman said. “You can’t just go into a girl’s house and sneak into her room to watch her sleep…over the last COUPLE OF MONTHS. No. That’s illegal.” She noted that the vampire would likely be charged with aggravated trespassing.

If your stomach isn’t already churning, wait until you watch this James Bond clip. He throws a woman to the ground, ignores her protests, and forces himself on her. That, Aizman said, qualifies as battery, sexual battery, and Bond might have to register as a sex offender for the rest of his lifetime.

So, that was completely, completely repulsive. Aizman also noted that there were literally zero consequences for any of the perpetrators in these films and, given the current climate, she hopes that we’ll start to see some significant changes on-screen.

“I’m hopeful that filmmakers will be more careful with what kind of messages they’re sending to young girls and young boys about what is appropriate behavior,” she said. “…Really what we want is for the media and films to reflect [the #MeToo movement], to not glorify these actions that unfortunately victimize a lot of women and men across the country.”