Very few movies from the 80s will hit modern audiences the way they did when current, but I disagree with this part of your assessment that Claire being attracted to Bender is "unrealistic." There is a long history of men who are mean, rude, demeaning, or even dangerous, also being simultaneously very attractive to women. Especially at that age. In fact, in the 90s, there was an ugly fad of some particularly nasty men writing books about how to attract beautiful women by being disrespectful and cruel to them. One of these was pretty famous. I forgot the name of it, but it was a pretty awful thing many men in their 20s picked up on. It was called... something like "the System" or the "Method" or something like that, I can't remember. But I do remember as social norms and awareness changed, the guy who wrote it went from talk-show guest to persona non-grata pretty fast. And the whole idea of men doing this on purpose really opened a lot of eyes and spurred some growth for both men and women.
Bender, on the other hand, wasn't behaving that way "on purpose," as in a calculated approach. It was more a situation of him reaching out the only way he could, the way that came naturally to him, as an anti-social "bad boy." Bender had an inferiority complex that made him mean. He was attracted to Claire, so he attacked her to keep her at a distance and create a reason for her not to like him (a built-in excuse for him). But he was definitely attracted. And he was also attractive. Claire was a member of a higher wrung of society (didn't he call her "princess" in a disparaging way?). Her life had pressures that left her reserved, nervous, and uptight. To her eyes, he was wild and free. That's attactive. A relationship with Bender might not be wise, but to a girl like Claire, it's freeing. In exactly the way he says, too. That is, her parents will hate him. That's attractive.
Anyway, I think it would be more unrealistic from a behavioral perspective, if Claire showed the awareness this article suggests should be obvious. Nothing is that obvious when you are sixteen exceot the way you feel.
