I am a sucker for a great 80’s movie—okay, an 80s movie directed by John Hughes. My friends are definitely sick of me saying, “I wish my life was an 80s movie,” but, I’m not kidding. The plot lines, the characters, and, of course, the music leaves the audience in such a state of hope and whimsy. Movies such as Sixteen Candles, Pretty in Pink, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, etc. are timeless, but they’re also movies that I, personally, base some life lessons off of. They all have such beautiful messages.
It always brings me back to Olive Penderghast’s comment in the movie Easy A: “Whatever happened to chivalry?…I want Jake from Sixteen Candles waiting outside the church for me…Just once I want my life to be like an 80’s movie, preferably one with a really awesome musical number for no apparent reason. But no, no, John Hughes did not direct my life.”
In a time of sexual freedom, these movies from the 1980’s were surprisingly chivalric. That’s the first desirable trait of living in an 80s movie: true chivalry. Yes. Sixteen Candles—my favorite. Jake Ryan, besides being a beautiful specimen of the human race, is the most adorable and determined future/hopeful boyfriend to Samantha Baker.
Despite being much more popular and richer than Sam, Jake realizes that societal status doesn’t matter when it comes to finding the person you want to spend the majority of your time with. Even when Sam is in absolute denial, he still fights for her and helps her realize that anything can happen—the boy of your dreams actually can like you back. Furthermore, if this is the case, let him like you back.
Pretty in Pink gives a different desirable trait of an 80’s movie. While this movie also has the poor girl/rich guy dichotomy, it really plays on the importance of strong friendships. Duckie and Iona are such great examples of supportive friends. While Duckie may not have supported Andie’s relationship with Blane, especially at first, he only did so in a caring way. He was looking out for her and he was upset with the way Blane treated her, hence he wasn’t on board with their relationship at its origin. This care and attention Duckie shows toward Andie are qualities of a great friend. And he was right; Blane was a jerk. Duckie only accepted him when he really showed to Andie that he was serious and that he wasn’t embarrassed to be seen with her.
Iona, on the other hand, is the friend who was supportive of everything. She gave beautiful nuggets of advice, including this one (a personal favorite): “Listen, it’s after 7:00. Don’t waste good lip gloss.” Her advice and constant support is priceless, and often provides comic relief. Andie had two incredible friends, both serving a different purpose. One was absolute positivity and support, the other, more of a realist and the type of friend that would slap you across the face when you’re getting into something stupid.
Lastly, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off gives the sentiment of spontaneity and fun. When we are young, we often forget to live in the moment (or we do it too much…but that is topic for another article). This is especially true for the overachievers of the world. We are so concerned about life after college—the real world—that we really do forget to seize the day. Heck, we have it written on our university underpass: “Carpe Diem.” While he may not be a great role model, Ferris Bueller does get the Camerons of the world out of their moping and going through the motions and into living and experiencing.
His influence over Cameron, while slightly manipulative, is wholly necessary. This movie in particular strikes a chord with me. I am always scrambling around campus with a giant “To Do” list that when someone says “Hey, let’s go to NYC this weekend and catch a show,” I’m just visualizing that list of things I need to get done. My new outlook on life is to just say, “YES.” We are only this young and this free once in our lives. So, when incredible opportunities, like a giant parade, present themselves, we shouldn’t just watch the parade pass us by, we should get up, join in, and maybe even do some singing. Because, as Ferris Bueller says, “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.”
IMAGE TAKEN from answers.com