A Dumb '80s Comedy Predicted The Evolution of Dating Apps
When you think of '80s comedies, you probably think of Beetlejuice or Fast Times at Ridgemont High or the musical career of Bruce Willis. One movie that never quite cracked the pantheon; Amazon Women on the Moon, the 1987 sketch-based farce featuring a wide assortment of surreal vignettes such as "Son of the Invisible Man," a parody of an old Universal monster movie starring Ed Begley Jr. as a scientist who thinks he's cracked the formula for invisibility -- but just ends up running around town with his junk hanging out.
Anyone who's seen the movie (which also includes skits featuring funeral home roasts and magical porno tapes) probably wouldn't describe it as prophetic, exactly. But amazingly, one scene inadvertently predicted a recent headline.
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In the sketch "Two I.D.s," Steve Guttenberg is about to take Rosanna Arquette out for sushi when she asks him for "a credit card and a valid driver's license," which she proceeds to run through the DATE-TEL 1000, a mysterious computer that allows her to check her date's background. Arquette then gets a printout of unusually specific details about his relationship history, including how he's "selfish in bed" and lies about loving Meryl Streep movies -- a joke that still somehow works in the 21st century.
But what played as a gag in the '80s is becoming a reality today. This week Tinder announced that they are adding a background check feature that will "will allow users to view public records information of prospective dates using their name or mobile number." While the device in the movie was comically granular, Tinder's background checking platform, Garbo, was founded by women and is specifically tailored to ferret out "reports of violence or abuse." This move is likely in response to "reports has failed to support victims " and also means that the company's own ex-CEO may have a hard time using Tinder in the future ...
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Top Image: Universal Pictures, solenfeyissa/Pixabay
