RomComs - "What's happenin', hot stuff?"
First of all, and this must be completely understood, I think we can all agree that the best thing about this movie is Anthony Michael Hall as Farmer Ted (or "The Geek," as he is credited). John Hughes clearly knows the rule about meaningful secondary characters in a romantic comedy. Moving on.
Sixteen Candles
Surely every girl who has ever been in high school and NOT been the superglamorous popular type can sympathize with Samantha Baker in this movie. It's ostensibly about everyone forgetting her birthday, and that's enough to get us on her side, but the real interest of the movie begins when she fills out the sex test and it falls into the hands of Jake Ryan.
This movie plays very differently for me now than it played when I was actually a member of the target audience. :P We're obviously meant to root for Sam, and I still do. And I'm still pleased as punch when Jake shows up at the church in his fancy red car to give Samantha a real birthday. But as an adult, I can't help wondering what happened after the movie ends.
You see, there are two underdogs in this movie - Samantha and Ted. Samantha is the main character, and we feel the unfairness of her birthday situation acutely, so of course we root for her. But for me, Ted is a more appealing underdog in a way. While Samantha spends most of the movie pouting and staring wistfully at Jake, Ted (in his own very embarrassing way) is not afraid to go after what he wants. And he has fairly realistic goals. True, he is only a freshman, but he's not making googly eyes at some curvacious homecoming queen. He's besotted with a girl just barely older than he is, who has "smallish tits" and smells good. And he seems to truly care about her, as evidenced by his endearing threat to Jake, should his intentions turn out to be less than honorable.
So I can't help wondering what happens a couple of years later, when Samantha is a senior, Jake is away at college, and Ted has turned into a full-fledged hunk. With a car. Especially since Molly Ringwald actually dated Anthony Michael Hall for a bit after making this film (there's a very cute pic of them that I sadly could not find). Perhaps I would have felt differently if I had EVER seen this photo or the deleted scene it appears to be from before today.
But am I the only one who giggles when Jake is explaining the transfer of his affections from Caroline to Samantha? You know that part - where he says that Caroline's beautiful and built and all that, but he wants a serious girlfriend? I sure hope he didn't try to express that to Samantha - "I don't want a beautiful girl; I want YOU."
I love this movie, though. It's a staple of 80s culture (the opening credits are like a time capsule) and a charming wish-fulfillment love story. :D
Great Moments in Dialogue:
Jake: I'll make a deal with you. You let me keep these, I'll let you take Caroline home. But you've got to make sure she gets home. You can't leave her in a parking lot somewhere. Okay?
Ted: Jake, I'm only a freshman.
Jake: So? She's so blitzed she won't know the difference.
Ted: Jake, I don't have a car.
Jake: You can take mine.
Ted: Jake, I don't have license.
Jake: I trust you.
Ted: Jake, I'd love to... I can't.
Jake: You sure?
Ted: Positive.
[cut to Ted, behind the wheel of Jake's father's Rolls Royce]
"Awwww!" Moment: Sam's talk with her dad. Even though the dad is merely regurgitating passages from the Dad's Handbook, it's still very sweet.
Sixteen Candles
Surely every girl who has ever been in high school and NOT been the superglamorous popular type can sympathize with Samantha Baker in this movie. It's ostensibly about everyone forgetting her birthday, and that's enough to get us on her side, but the real interest of the movie begins when she fills out the sex test and it falls into the hands of Jake Ryan.
This movie plays very differently for me now than it played when I was actually a member of the target audience. :P We're obviously meant to root for Sam, and I still do. And I'm still pleased as punch when Jake shows up at the church in his fancy red car to give Samantha a real birthday. But as an adult, I can't help wondering what happened after the movie ends.
You see, there are two underdogs in this movie - Samantha and Ted. Samantha is the main character, and we feel the unfairness of her birthday situation acutely, so of course we root for her. But for me, Ted is a more appealing underdog in a way. While Samantha spends most of the movie pouting and staring wistfully at Jake, Ted (in his own very embarrassing way) is not afraid to go after what he wants. And he has fairly realistic goals. True, he is only a freshman, but he's not making googly eyes at some curvacious homecoming queen. He's besotted with a girl just barely older than he is, who has "smallish tits" and smells good. And he seems to truly care about her, as evidenced by his endearing threat to Jake, should his intentions turn out to be less than honorable.
So I can't help wondering what happens a couple of years later, when Samantha is a senior, Jake is away at college, and Ted has turned into a full-fledged hunk. With a car. Especially since Molly Ringwald actually dated Anthony Michael Hall for a bit after making this film (there's a very cute pic of them that I sadly could not find). Perhaps I would have felt differently if I had EVER seen this photo or the deleted scene it appears to be from before today.
But am I the only one who giggles when Jake is explaining the transfer of his affections from Caroline to Samantha? You know that part - where he says that Caroline's beautiful and built and all that, but he wants a serious girlfriend? I sure hope he didn't try to express that to Samantha - "I don't want a beautiful girl; I want YOU."
I love this movie, though. It's a staple of 80s culture (the opening credits are like a time capsule) and a charming wish-fulfillment love story. :D
Great Moments in Dialogue:
Jake: I'll make a deal with you. You let me keep these, I'll let you take Caroline home. But you've got to make sure she gets home. You can't leave her in a parking lot somewhere. Okay?
Ted: Jake, I'm only a freshman.
Jake: So? She's so blitzed she won't know the difference.
Ted: Jake, I don't have a car.
Jake: You can take mine.
Ted: Jake, I don't have license.
Jake: I trust you.
Ted: Jake, I'd love to... I can't.
Jake: You sure?
Ted: Positive.
[cut to Ted, behind the wheel of Jake's father's Rolls Royce]
"Awwww!" Moment: Sam's talk with her dad. Even though the dad is merely regurgitating passages from the Dad's Handbook, it's still very sweet.