Problems/Issues I have with this film 28 years later.
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Archived from the IMDb Discussion Forums — Sixteen Candles
JohnQ1127 — 13 years ago(April 27, 2012 09:15 AM)
I remember seeing this film when it came out and I was still in high school. I also remember being a big fan of this film when it was shown on cable and later on when it came out on VHS during the 1980's. I watched this the other night on HBO and was kind of shocked that it wasn't the sweet comedy I remembered in my youth. Maybe I'm just older, smarter, or more mature or maybe we're a little more civilized then we were 30 years ago. I think I was most shocked by the casual treatment of rape and treatment of Caroline the Prom Queen.
I was troubled by 15 themes or incidents in this film:
1-Farmer Ted/Date Rape? This is something that people just didn't talk about back in '84 but Farmer Ted essentially rapes Caroline in Jakes father's car. She's inebriated and unable to give consent yet Ted has sex with her.
2-Rape is Love. The morning after the date-rape incident the Prom Queen admits that she actually "enjoyed" it and is now in love with the geek. Was there a bizarre date-rape fantasy theme in 80's movies because I seem to remember this similar theme repeated in several 80's films.
3-Caroline/Misogyny. Jake essentially "gives" the inebriated Caroline to a total stranger (Ted the Geek) and tells him to basically to "have fun" and "take her home" wink, wink. Jake also tells the inebriated caroline that Ted is really Jake thus it's okay to have sex with him. I guess In this film It's okay to have the Geek rape her because she's the prom queen and a bitch.
4-Jake the romantic hero? Jake tells the geek referring to Caroline, "I could violate her 10 different ways if I wanted to" WTF?? Wow, what a romantic guy. He's the hero? He gives his inebriated girl-friend to a total stranger and implies that he can have sex with her as long as he gets her home?
5-Long Duck Dong. This has to be one of the most racist characters in film during the last 50 odd years. His character is like some cartoon version of an Asian person from the 1940's. I guess he's supposed to Chinese but his name is Vietnamese and there's a point in the film when he's in a tree wearing a Japanese samurai outfit yelling Banzai?? Also not to mention they give him a name that's the sounds like a large duck's penis in English.
6-"A Black One". This didn't seem that bad back then but it's kind of awkward today.
7-The Rizchecks- The "Oily Beau-hunk" is Italian so of coarse in this film that means that his father is involved in organized crime/mafia.
beep retarded". I guess were more sensitive about these words today.
9-There's a weird scene at the end of the wedding were Mr. Rizcheck pays the reverend to kiss his wife?? There's also a disturbing part were Grandpa Fred is "encouraging" Rudy to get his granddaughter into the back of the limo.
10-"Chinamon". Even the little brother refers to Dong as "Chinamon"
11-25 year old Jake.
12-Cinderealla Myth. Usually in the classic Cinderella myth the girl/woman goes through some kind of drastic transformation in order to get the prince to notice her and win his hear. In this film, Sam doesn't change at all yet we are to believe that Jake becomes head over heels in love with her because she's just an average girl who secretly wishes to have sex with him.
13-Rescue the princess/Slay the dragon. Usually in the classic rescue the princess/slay the dragon myth the boy/man has to do some kind of extraordinary courageous deed in order to win the heart of Princess/Queen. I guess by the 1980's all you had to do was trick the queen or get her drunk and then you could just rape her.
15-Shallow Sam. Why does she love Jake? Because he's cute and rich? That seems rather shallow. And what if he gets "bored" with her as well? What happens if she gets drunk at a party? Will Jake "violate" 10 different ways?
Not to mention the plot is ridiculous. Rich good looking Seniors don't "suddenly" drop their gorgeous Prom Queen girlfriends in order date some average Sophomore. Senior Prom Queens don't fall in love with Freshman geek hipsters that date-rape them. -
discotrash1119 — 13 years ago(April 29, 2012 02:42 PM)
This was one of my favorite 80s movies, but yeah, I just watched it and have all of the same problems with it!
I also hate that Sam just ditches her sister's wedding reception to go on a first "date" with a boy she has never even spoken to beforeand her dad is okay with thiswith his youngest daughter missing the wedding reception of this oldest daughter. Just strange.
All the rape stuff is beyond creepy. Jake always reminded me of the guy I had a crush on in high school, looked just like him, which was one of the reasons I think I really liked this movie, but you are so rightthis would never ever happen in real life, and they don't even have any real story to make us believe that it might happenSam does nothing to attract Jake's eye, other than just exist. In real life, a normal looking sophomore would never ever even catch the eye of a guy like Jake. -
JohnQ1127 — 13 years ago(April 29, 2012 06:00 PM)
@dicotrash1119, Yeah, I mean there is no rhyme or reason why Jake thinks he can have a supposed "real relationship" with a girl he doesn't know or a girl he hasn't even talked to. The same thing for Sam, she doesn't know him or what he's about or anything. There's nothing really remarkable about Sam and all she does through the first half of the movie is complain and bitch that her family forgot her birthday.
Yeah that the father would be okay with his 16 year old daughter missing his eldest daughter's wedding reception so she can go out on a first date with some strange boy in a porsche is just ridiculous.
Also the Homecoming Queen falling in love with the Geek after he essentially raped her is equally ridiculous and kind of disturbing.
I'd seen the film about a dozen time but I hadn't seen the film in about 15 years. I was troubled at the way Jake just picks up his barely conscious girlfriend and throws her into his Dad's car so a total stranger (Ted the Geek) could have his way with her. And he actually encourages Ted to have his way with her no less!!
There's also a disturbing bit of dialogue regarding Caroline that goes something like:
Jake: I'm not hard up for a piece of ass, I have Caroline upstairs passed out and I could violate her 10 different ways but I don't want to.
Ted: What are waiting for!!!
So Jake is basically bragging that he could rape his girlfriend but he doesn't want to and Ted is astonished that he doesn't jump at the chance.
I'm in my 40's now so I see things in this film I didn't see when I was 18 plus I think we're more civilized/educated as a society as far as date-rape is concerned. I really don't even think people considered this rape back in 1984. -
laeyisoracle — 13 years ago(September 20, 2012 09:32 PM)
The whole Sam ditching the wedding reception didn't come across as being as bad as some of the other points the TC talked about. Within context, Sam's family DID forget about her 16th birthday(which, I hear, is supposed to be a special thing for girls I'm a guy, so my 16th kinda meant squat). Also, her sister was kinda a bitch. She really wasn't compassionate when Sam came to her about her feelings(though, every time Sam tries to tell her family about her birthday, they are always interrupting her, so I guess it runs int he family). She finally told her dad at night regarding Jake Ryan, which is why I think he let her go(that and feeling like a total dick that he forgot his own daughter's birthday). Though, given the amount of muscle relaxers the sister took, I doubt she'd even notice Sam was missing.
Meh, Pretty In Pink was a better movie. -
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TeaBunny — 13 years ago(July 05, 2012 09:53 PM)
"Let me guess, you're female and you have a problem with everything."
Oh, drop that "female" crap. I am female and I have no problem with the movie.
"Love means never having to say you're ugly." - the Abominable Dr. Phibes -
boxerrebellion — 11 years ago(October 25, 2014 11:56 PM)
I agree somewhat. If a woman who has been drinking cannot give consent, then how can a man who has been drinking be responsible for his actions? By the same token, if she can't give consent, is she responsible if she kills someone while DUI?
It's a fantasy, from the sophmore girl's POV. Much like Twilight reads like a pubescent girl's fantasy date with David Cassidy in the 70s; you know, like a diary entry. Except this is much more entertaining. Part of the point is the stupid reverence of wealth in the 80s. Look at Risky Business or St. Elmo's. -
tchr88 — 13 years ago(July 27, 2012 10:03 AM)
My interpretation is that this movie was an exaggeration of the teen angst of the time. I guess the movie seems a little outdated nowadays, just like "American Graffiti" was outdated in 1985.
Am I right or am I right or am I right? Right? Right?? ~~ Ned Ryerson -
maixiu — 11 years ago(November 08, 2014 12:26 PM)
It wasn't sending out any "messages", you uptight killjoys. Why is it so difficult for people to grasp what this movie was about? It wasn't made in the PC-soaked climate of today. Although such restrictions on humor/thought/speech were already a gathering storm on the horizon in 1984, it was still possible to make a movie where sh-t just happened and nobody got uptight about it. You either watched it and enjoyed it, watched it and didn't enjoy it, or ignored it altogether. Whichever of these options you chose, you moved on and didn't get your panties in a twist about some g-ddamn message that wasn't there to begin with.
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EmmaPopell — 11 years ago(January 21, 2015 02:54 PM)
Amen, maixiu. These over-analyzations of old movies by newer Humans are amusing. I still love alot of movies made before everyone got so butt-hurt over slurs about this or thatJeeez~~ This OP is a perfect example of someone dissecting a film that does not need to be examined any further.
16 Candles: It is what it is. And I love it. -
ohsorry — 13 years ago(August 14, 2012 02:57 PM)
This has always been my favorite movie, and as I get older, I just let the Jake beep slide.
I will say though I always thought that the Geek and Caroline didn't actually have sex, they both just thought they did because they were wasted. They wake up with all of their clothes on. -
JohnQ1127 — 13 years ago(August 22, 2012 07:45 AM)
The Geek and Prom Queen have sex at the end of the movie. He, essentially rapes the prom queen at the end of movie and it's summed up as "Rape is Love". The whole "Rape is Love" was disturbingly though somewhat popular theme in a lot of those 70's-80's teen movies.
Schrodinger's Cat walks into a bar, and doesn't. 