“That’s why they call them crushes. If they were easy, they’d call ’em something else.”
– Jim Baker
SYNOPSIS: A girl’s “sweet” sixteenth birthday becomes anything but special, as she suffers from every embarrassment possible. – via IMDB
Alright, so we know that John Hughes is like super popular and all these things, and I have watched some but not all of his movies. I love The Breakfast Club while I completely loathe Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, so I was figured I should check out another one of his movies that I have heard so much about but never actually watched. Now I have. And, well… okay.
I wasn’t a fan of this. I didn’t hate it, and it had moments, and let me tell you, having your family forget your sixteenth seriously blows (true story, I actually know this feeling). Hughes captured the complete teenage-ness of Samantha and her life, and I think Molly Ringwald was totally the right choice to play sullen, sulky Samantha.
I have always heard a lot of bitching about a rapey angle of this between Jake and the Geek and Caroline, and let me tell you, now that I have watched it, I get it. That arc was so not cool. Basically like giving the girl away like she was a commodity, not caring what happened, all that. I don’t want to get into it too much, but just know that the whole situation was just not cool man. ICK.
John Cusack is adorable, as always, and I could totally have done with more of him. In fact, the most entertainment for me came from the interactions between Bryce, Cliff, and the Geek, even if at times they were a touch inappropriate. Then there was the silly but fun story line of Long Duk Dong. What an unexpectedly crazy character to make his way into this.
Anyway, I thought that Sixteen Candles to be an alright watch, maybe not the best of all time, but it wasn’t bad. There were aspects that I liked and aspects that I didn’t, and while it won’t be something I will be checking out again (probably), I don’t regret having ticked it off my watch list.
The Sporadic Chronicles 
I quite like this… apart from the horrible rapey storyline. It reminds you of how recently that kind of stuff was totally open and acceptable.
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That storyline was dodge man. So true!
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It’s amazing how times have changed. This reminds me of the “romance” arc between Deckard and Rachael in Blade Runner, which made me VERY uncomfortable, especially the way Deckard initiates it. Obviously different movie, but the problem is the same. Yet not much has been made out of that I have noticed. I have never seen this movie, but i bet that angle you mention would also make me react in a negative way, too. Thats how it was back then. Not how it is now. And it never should have been that way.
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It has always surprised me that not much was said about Deckard and Rachael – my husband and I both thought it brutish and very forceful.
I am pretty sure you would have reacted the same way, especially as how you feel about the section of Blade Runner.
It really should never have been that way ever, and shouldn’t now 😦
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