Bouncing Around the Truth

By Luke Legoski

The movie, Take Me Home Tonight, directed by Michael Dowse takes place over the span of one evening, a very action packed night to say the least. One scene takes place midway through the movie and involves the two main characters, Matt Franklin and Tori Frederking. They went to high school together, but had never really been part of the same crowd. By lying, Matt was able to get this one shot with Tori, his high school dream girl. The whole night culminates at the trampoline scene where the truth finally comes out.

Matt puts his sexual desires for Tori before his integrity and honesty. He blatantly lied about his job in hopes of getting his chance with his high school dream girl. This shows that men put sex before everything. Matt realized he would not get his chance with Tori if he had told her at the beginning he works at Sun Coast Video. By lying, and saying he worked for the investment bank, Goldman Sachs, he kept his shot alive. The film represents men as animalistic and wanting sex more than anything.

This scene reinforces the common stereotype that women are after one thing, a man’s money; it is one thing the want, even more than love. Is this why Tori was interested in Matt? She is attracted to Matt because she is under the impression that he is a successful MIT graduate who works at an investment bank. In the essay, “Becoming Members of Society: Learning the Social Meanings of Gender,” Devor suggests that men who display success and high status are more masculine and thus more desired by much of the female population. Tori may have started to develop real feelings for Matt as their night adventure continued, but the real reason she was interested in him in the first place was because he said he was successful and had his whole life figured out.

It is Matt’s daring and adventurous spirit that attracts Tori. Matt and Tori go “yard hopping” in hopes of getting away from the hustle and bustle of the party they were attending. Tori is somewhat nervous and scared, but she is willing to follow Matt because he is carrying himself confidently at this time. He is being daring and this aura of mystery surrounds him. She must wonder, have I really found the right guy? Can he really be who I think he is? Matt, who by no means has a body that women throw themselves at or the charm that attracts women is able to make up for this by being daring. As Harvey Mansfield states in “The Manliness of Men,” manly men are “daring” about women; unmanly men are “cautious.” Although, Matt is impressing Tori with his bravery, he is also winning her over with his romantic gestures that he consistently displays throughout the night. In this scene it appears it doesn’t matter what the consequences of his actions will be, he just wants to further impress Tori.

Also, Matt only told Tori the truth after he got what he wanted. The night culminated to the trampoline scene where Matt and Tori had sex. The moment seemed perfect and everything was going right. Unfortunately, Matt decides that right after they have sex is the best time to tell Tori that he doesn’t work at a bank, but rather a movie store. She doesn’t believe him at first because Matt had done such a good job proving to her that he was something he wasn’t. Only after a couple minutes does she believe it and becomes extremely angry at Matt. It ends with her getting off the trampoline and asking Matt if he felt good that he had finally got with his high school dream girl. Matt didn’t have the intention of lying to Tori to have sex with her, but in the end that is what happened. He lied because he wanted to spend time with her and knew she wouldn’t give him the time of day if she knew he worked at a video store. This reveals sexist claims that men can dupe women into sex with a little creative history. Men leave this film thinking this is an effective strategy, and that girls are dumb and easy. This is a poor portrayal of the reality of things because this type of occurrence does not happen often.

The scene started with Matt’s daringness, but ultimately ended with his demise. He went from being on top of the world, to being crushed when Tori ran away in anger. It may seem Matt got what he deserved, but he really did not see his actions leaving him in this situation. Actually, he didn’t know where his actions were going to take him, he was just living in the moment, attempting to fulfill his dreams with Tori. Tori too can be analyzed from the perspective of why is this stunning girl with such an average looking guy? What appealed to her was Matt’s ambition, high-status, and his drive for the future. She didn’t really even know Matt, but because he portrayed himself as a successful man she was willing to give him a chance. Both men and women have become corrupt in their ideas of the perfect companion. A man is never going to find a girl who is perfect, and likewise a girl is never going to find the perfect man. Growing up in a society that values status and money, instead of hard work and morals is quite sad. This scene exemplified what many encounters between men and women have become, one big lie.