Plot Summary
High school sophomore Samantha (played by Molly Ringwald) wakes up the morning of her sixteenth birthday expecting that her family members will remember that it’s her special day. Unfortunately, in the frenzy over her older sister’s upcoming, the entire family has forgotten. The film then cuts to scenes from her high school life, an excellent opportunity for the viewer to reconnect with 1980s fashion. She has a crush on a gorgeous senior, Jake, (played by Michael Schoeffling) but he already has a girlfriend, a curvy blond who seems ready to take up life as his suburban wife. Samantha is pretty sure that Jake doesn’t recognize that she exists. Meanwhile, Samantha is being hotly pursued by a character known only as “The Geek” (played by Michael Anthony Hall). For her sister’s wedding, Samantha’s grandparents have taken up residence in the family home, creating even more chaos for the household. One of her sets of grandparents has brought along their exchange student, Long Duk Dong, which leads to a whole string of ethnic jokes at his expense. (A gong sounds every time he enters a scene.) Many absurd scenes ensue including a lengthy house party with home-wrecking and car crashes, followed by a wedding scene in which the bride struggles to walk straight down the aisle. However, this is a comedy, and there is a happy ending in which Samantha, aided by “The Geek” gets to finally meet her crush.
Evaluation
Anyone who came of age in the 1980s who wants to revisit the fashion and music of this time period might consider watching Sixteen Candles. It’s a reminder of our own adolescent angst which might help clue us in to teenagers today. The stereotypes are abundant in this film, which could yield interesting conversations about humor and the line between good-natured, equal opportunity mockery and straight up offensiveness. The stereotype of Long Duk Dong as a nerdy, sex-crazed Asian exchange student would make for particularly rich conversations about this question.
Information about the Director
(See Breakfast Club entry)
Genre
Romantic Comedy/ Teen Movie
Curriculum Ties
This would be a great movie to watch to discuss the portrayal of adolescence in the US and/ or stereotypes.
Why Included?
This is a classic 1980s teen movie that I wanted to revisit!
Plot Summary
The Breakfast Club, directed by John Hughes, came out a year after Sixteen Candles and follows many of the same subjects as the earlier film. This time, five high school students, each representing a certain persona or stereotype, have been flung together for the day to serve a Saturday detention. Like animals in a cage who have been trapped together (not unlike high school students throughout much of their school days!), these five are initially snappy and distrustful with each others. There’s the weird girl, played by Ally Sheedy who won’t talk to anyone and compulsively shakes her dandruff onto the table. There’s the pouty prima-donna, played by Molly Ringwald, who brings sushi for lunch. Next is the nerd, played by Anthony Michael Hall, the rebel played by Judd Nelson, and finally, the athlete played by Emilio Estevez. The students’ task is to write a letter to the principal. The group that starts out so snappish with each other changes its tone after smoking pot that the rebel brought with him.
Critical Evaluation
Some of the character changes, especially that of Ally Sheedy who begins as a silent outcast, seem a bit unbelievable, but aren’t dramatic transformations what high school movies are all about?! Watching the Breakfast Club can be a great experience for those who came of age in the 1980--it’s a good reminder of one’s own former angst and terrible (or stupendous?) fashion which may help an out-of-touch thirty-something get a finger on the pulse of teens today. And, like Sixteen Candles, the Breakfast Club raises interesting questions about stereotypes. Where do they come from? What do we do about them? When do they become hurtful? These are always good conversations to have with teenagers.
Information about the Director
According to the site biography.com,
"Director, writer. Born John Hughes, Jr. on February 18, 1950, in Lansing, Michigan. Hughes graduated from Glenbrook North High School in Northbrook, Illinois, in 1968. After spending his youth in Detroit, he moved to Chicago, Illinois, with his family at the age of 13. Hughes and his family lived on the outskirts of a wealthy suburban neighborhood, which created a sense of loathing toward the rich.
In 1968, he graduated from Glenbrook North High School in Northbrook, Illinois, and moved to Phoenix to attend Arizona State University. Hughes dropped out of college his junior year, and returned to Chicago to begin his career as an ad copywriter. During this time he also attempted to write comedy, which led him to write a story inspired by his family trips as a child. The story, "Vacation '58", earned him a job at National Lampoon Magazine. The piece later became the basis for the film, National Lampoon's Vacation (1983). The film became a major hit, putting Lampoon back on the map.
In 1984, Hughes made his directorial debut on the film, Sixteen Candles, starring a then-unknown Molly Ringwald. Hughes' realistic depiction of high school life was a hit with teens, winning popular praise and critical acclaim. The film led to a multiple-picture contract with Paramount for Hughes, as well as the creation of Hughes' own production house. Sixteen Candles became the first in a string of Hughes films set in or around high school, including The Breakfast Club (1985), Pretty in Pink (1986), Weird Science (1985) and Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986).
...
Since 1994, Hughes remained largely removed from the public sphere. He moved to Wisconsin, and avoided interviews or photographs. Hughes passed away on August 6, 2009, from a heart attack while taking a walk in New York City. He was 59 years old. He is survived by his wife of 39 years, Nancy, two sons, and four grandchildren."
Genre
Teen Movie, Rebel Yell
Curriculum Ties
This would be a good film to watch to discuss stereotypes.
Challenge Issues
This film could be challenged due to its representation of drug use. If this film were challenged, I would turn to ALA's Strategies and Tips for Dealing with Challenges to Library Materials.
Why Included
This was a classic film from my teen years that I wanted to revisit!
Summary
This is a road trip movie that dives deep into the American family psyche. As the film opens, the mother of the family, Sheryl (Toni Collette) is retrieving her brother Frank (Steve Carrell) from the psychiatric ward where he is recovering from a suicide attempt. Her husband (Greg Kinner) is trying to publish a self-improvement/ get-rich quick book, but his publisher seems to be backing off. Meanwhile, their teenage son Dwayne (Paul Dano) refuses to speak to anyone in the family, while their seven year old daughter Olive, a chubby, bespectacled little girl, dreams of becoming the next Little Miss Sunshine. Finally, the grandfather seems to be the only one paying attention to Olive, that is, when he’s not snorting heroin. The family embarks on a road trip together when Olive learns that she has been selected to participate in the Little Miss Sunshine competition which is just days away. They all take the trip together and encounter countless mishaps along the way (for example, their mode of transportation is a Volkswagen van that won’t stop honking, an untimely death occurs, and Olive’s show, which neither of her parents had seen before, is a bit, well, surprising). Of course, like all good journey stories, they all learn something along the way and grow and change as individuals. The teenage son finally finds a reason to break his silence, and the suicidal uncle/ brother finds a reason to live.
Critical Evaluation
There are many hilarious moments in the novel, but there are also some very poignant exchanges that illuminate the extent to which family members often fail to see each other. The father, a self-help guru without a flock, is full of quick aphorisms but seems blind to his teenage son’s suffering and does little (or nothing) to try to break through that. The teenage son does his best to scream his frustration through silence, but ultimately, it takes being stuck with his suicidal uncle on a road trip for him to finally speak. Perhaps some of the healing begins when the two recognize each other as fellow sufferers who have finally been seen--and needed--by another.
Genre
Road Films/ Dysfunctional Family Drama
Challenge Issues
Strong language and drug use. If the film were challenged, I would turn to ALA's Strategies and Tips for Dealing with Challenges to Library Materials.
Why Included?
This is one of my favorite films, and while it is not specifically a teen movie, it looks at the ecology of an entire family, and I think the teen narrative within it is quite compelling. It also has my favorite combinations of being funny and moving, and this is why I included it.
Summary
Fans of Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight series got to watch the film version when director Catherine Hardwicke’s movie hit the big screen in 2008. The film mostly stays faithful to the novel, chronicling the trials of Bella Swan who has recently moved to small town Forks, Washington where she falls in love with a vampire, Edward Cullen. Much of the first half of the film shows the repressed desire the two have for each other. The first notable moment of the seething passion show Edward storming out of Biology class when Bella is assigned a seat next to him in lab. Little does Bella know that the reason Edward gives her the cold shoulder is that he is overcome with desire for her but doesn’t want to harm her with his desire for human blood. Still, Edward can’t help but show his concern for Bella, rescuing her from harm on more than one occasion using his superhuman powers (notably strength and speed). The two finally declare their love for each other, and Bella takes the gamble of dating a repressed vampire. The tension in the novel centers on Edward’s need to keep his mouth from sinking into Bella’s delicate neck and a tribe of non-"vegetarian" (as Edward refers to his adoptive family) vampires who are wreaking havoc in Forks and circling impatiently for Bella’s flesh. Will Edward be able to protect her?
Critical Evaluation
The most enjoyable part of the film for this viewer came in watching the setting of the film. Shot on location in the Pacific Northwest (mostly Oregon), the director does an excellent job of capturing the green lusciousness of that saturated landscape. The opening scene hints at danger ahead with a depiction of a deer running through the dense forest trying to escape a predator, and the reader is welcomed into the tension of the story and the habitat of the light-fleeing vampires. One of the most beautiful scenes depicts Bella and Edward climbing and flying through enormous pine trees giving a great sense of the scale of the forests there. One off-note, however, was in the director’s choice to make the student population at Bella’s Forks High School a multi-cultural dream mix. Rural Washington may have gorgeous forests, but an abundance of African-American and Asian-American students it lacks, and so that aspect of the setting rang false to this viewer.
Annotation
Fan of the Twilight series? See how the film compares!
Challenge Issues
Portrayal of vampires. If the movie were challenged, I would turn to ALA's Strategies and Tips for Dealing with Challenges to Library Materials.
Why Included?
The Twilight series is a pop-culture sensation, one that many teens adore. I was curious to see how the film version compared to the novel and wanted to be able to talk about it with patrons.
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