SIXTEEN CANDLES

Sixteen Candles is one of my all-time favorite 80s films! I am actually a huge fan of almost all of the films produced in the 80s by John Hughes. He had a talent for capturing the spirit of a teenager, and portraying that accurately on the big screen. Sixteen Candles, for those of you in a cave, chronicles Samantha Baker's 16th birthday - a day her family completely forgets due to her sister's impending marriage to an "Oily Bo-Hunk." Samantha is in love with the older, more popular Jake Ryan who she believes doesn't realize she exists. She is also being stalked by a freshman geek, to make her day even worse. Sixteen Candles is a great film in its comedy, as well as in its realism, but also in it's suspension of reality. It's a fairy tale. In real life, we, unfortunately, don't always "get" who we want - especially in high school when it's the most popular person in school! But that is what makes this film so great. John Hughes knows how to capture the spirit of a teenage girl - even the ones watching the movie who are rooting for Sam because they see themselves in her. Everyone loves a happy ending!

What follows is some of my favorite Sixteen Candles quotes!

Father (referring to the Oily Bo-Hunk's parents): "Are we still having dinner with the rice chex?"

Samantha (referring to the note her friend Randi lost that said she'd like to "do it" with Jake Ryan): "I hope whoever has it doesn't know I wrote it. I'd sh*t twice then die!"

Randi (friend): "Quit feeling sorry for yourself - it's bad for your complexion."

(Geek accosting Samantha on the school bus)
Geek: "So what's your story? You got a guy, or...?"
Samantha: "Yes, three big ones and they lust wimp blood, so quit bugging me or I'll sic them all over your weenie a*s!"

Geek (still bugging Sam): "A girl with a hat is just so...vogue."

Sam's brother (referring to his bunkbed and grandparent's exchange student Long Duck Dong): "I have to sleep under a Chinaman named after a duck's dork!"

(introducing the geek to her friends at the dance):
Samantha: "This is Farmer Fred."
Geek: "Ted."
Samantha: "Oh, I'm sorry, Farmer Ted."
Geek: "I'm not a farmer. I'm a freshman."

Samantha (talking to the Geek in the garage): "It's really human of you to listen to all my bullsh*t."

Geek (talking to Samantha in the garage): "This information can not leave this room. It would devastate my reputation - as a dude."

Geek (still in the garage with Sam): "I'm not embarassed. Fresh breath is a priority in my life."

Sam (after giving Geek her underwear as compensation for telling her Jake asked about her): "I can't believe I gave my panties to a geek!"


Sixteen Candles is a Universal Pictures film, Copyright 1984, Universal City Studios, Inc.

Compiled by Kelly

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