The Main Attraction story
High school jock Brad Bender, in the running for Prom King and feeling too cool for the nerdy and persistent Shirley Crater, is hit by a meteorite during a meteor shower, giving his body magnetic properties. Directed by: Matthew Robbins. Story by: Steven Spielberg, Brad Bird and Mick Garris.
12 total · 9 major · 3 minor
| Theme | Level | Motivation |
|---|---|---|
| coping with unwelcome romantic attention | major | Brad used all his guile and cunning to evade Shirley's amorous advances. |
| dumb jock stereotype | major | Brad and his buff hanger-on were stereotypical high school jocks. |
| infatuation | major | Shirley was besotted with Brad. |
| ironic twist of fate | major | Brad was chased by Shirley who was besotted with him. After using all his guile and cunning to evade her amorous advances, through an ironic twist of fate, both became struck by separate meteors which turned them magnetic. When they then met again they quite literally became attracted to one another, much to Brad's horror and Shirley's delight. |
| the desire for fame | major | For high school jock Brad Bender, popularity was everything. The girls who doted on him thought so too. |
| the nerd stereotype | major | Shirley Crater was a stereotypical nerdy high school girl (big goofy glasses, braces, socially awkward, unpopular). |
| unrequited love | major | Brad used all his guile and cunning to evade Shirley's amorous advances. |
| what if my life were different | major | Brad's life was turned upside down when a meteor strike left him magnetized. |
| what it is like in high school | major | The story is a parody on the American high school. |
| mother and son | minor | Mrs. Bender brought her son, Brad, breakfast in bed. |