Friday, June 6, 2014

They Effing Forgot My Birthday!


I was sitting on the couch last night flipping channels.  
Nothing was on.
I was about to shut it down and go read or write or do something..productive…
but then I saw Sixteen Candles...

I love this movie!
And, although I've seen it a few hundred times, I stopped...
and decided to watch it again.

You remember what it's about, right?

Sam is turning 16…no one remembers…the geek loves her…she loves the stud muffin…
lots of funny lines…a character named Long Duk Dong and a happy ending.
  
What I may have to remind you of is that it was made in 1984…
let's see…I was about to be a freshman in High School.  

My gawd…that was 30 years ago.

And, just like the movie…that is silly and funny.

A simple-minded story of a girl turning 16…
her sweet-sixteen…which is anything but.

We can all relate to her, right?  
Use her as a springboard for our own remembrances...
I think the best part of re-watching it was seeing 
things of the not so distant past on display…
the headgear, leotards, bad hair, bad clothes, floppy disks.

They did have an epic party…pizza spinning on the record-player…
the place is a complete disaster..
a parent's worst nightmare.  
I forgot how much I hated the part where Jake finds Anthony Michael Hall underneath the small glass coffee table.
Do you remember?  
Ugh.
Thinking about it is making it hard to breathe.  

High School…thankfully, just a phase…
and it's all easily forgotten as time marches on.

Let's also be thankful for the simple truth Facebook wasn't developed back then.

I don't need to remember what I looked like in braces, bad hair and weird clothes.

I will say while I was watching it…
I was thinking that things do matter more when you're a teenager,
because you're experiencing it all for the first time.
Shit becomes a big deal.

The entire movie she is pining away for the Senior jock.

Jake Ryan.

What girl among us has never been in love with 'that guy'…that man…
you know the one…
the one who didn't even know we existed.

A crush.

Everyone's had one.  
It didn't even have to be the hottest guy in school.

I like this line Sam's dad says,
"That's why they call them crushes.  If they were easy, they'd call them something else."

Crushes.  

But, maybe why I love this movie so much…is because her crush comes through.
I mean…she got Jake Ryan! 

I can't even list all the other reasons I like it…
except AMH is the best played geek --
maybe EVER.
His voice even cracks at all the right places.
He is really quite adorable.
No wonder he gets his happy ending too.
I would have nominated him for an Oscar…I would have. He is that good.

Seriously, if my boyfriend is reading this…
On my next birthday, I want a cake with candles…
sadly, there will be more than 16…
but, I want us to sit indian-style 
on a big table with the lights down low…
just the blaze from the 44 candles burning…
then…quietly…whisper to me…
make a wish…
and, I'll get to say…
it already came true…

*sigh*

Perfect ending to a perfect movie.
In my humble opinion.

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