MovieChat Forums > Sixteen Candles (1984) Discussion > Mean-spirited

Mean-spirited

posted 13 years ago by lizzyben04
85 replies | jump to latest

I watched this movie because I'm such a fan of Hughes' other films (Breakfast Club, etc.), but I was surprised by how mean-spirited & even offensive this movie was.

Racism - the "gong" whenever the Chinese guy is mentioned, endless jokes about his Chinese name, really over the top stereotyping, "a black guy??" etc.

Sexism - joking about rape, the 'hero' Jake giving his drunk girlfriend to a horny 14-year-old to drive safely home, w/the implication that he can score, Jake kicking the door closed on his girlfriend's hair & leaving her there, older sister turned into a fool at her wedding. There was a theme of humiliating/humbling the "blonde chick" throughout really.

General meanspiritedness - the periodic shots of a girl in a brace trying to drink, dance, etc, for laughs.

I don't know, this movie left a bad taste in my mouth. And this is from someone who likes Hughes movies, or even Farrelly movies. I'm used to un-PC stuff in comedies, but maybe the difference here was the general kind of meanness that seemed to run through the movie. Flame away, but I was wondering if anyone else felt the same way.

[–] jefgg 11 years ago

I grew up in the '80s and that seemed like one humiliation after another. School sometimes reminded me of a bad prison movie especially the cafeteria and gym class. That is in my rear view mirror. Whatever hassles I got at school did not bother me much. It was the hassles I got at home from family and so called friends that brought me down. Too often the people who should be pushing you up are the ones keeping you down.

[–] Aqquila989 11 years ago

the 'hero' Jake giving his drunk girlfriend to a horny 14-year-old to drive safely home, w/the implication that he can score

I don't think there was such an implication. Ted was at first very uncomfortable with Caroline coming onto him. Next morning, when he believes that they had sex and Jake sees them together, Ted is shocked; he crosses himself and says "Oh, my God, I'm dead." I think that makes it clear that Jake didn't give Ted any "permission" to sleep with Caroline.

[–] the sphynx 11 years ago

Maybe the Geek suddenly remembered that Jake had asked him to see that Caroline got home safe, and not be left in a parking lot. :)

[–] witster18 11 years ago

oh come on now... racial stereotyping? you just discredited 60% of the film industry. and the joan cusak character... you're missing another point - SHE WAS WEIRD! forget her physical handicap, and somehow Joan infused some sort of likability into the character.

jake didn't know he closed the door on her hair.

and she was the slut, remember the statment "she had to (*#$^%( about nine grades", and the way she acted... he was right to blow her off

besides these depict typical high school situations - often cruel... if they weren't made to look that way then they'd be 'unrealistic'.

[–] miss_anne 11 years ago

I wore a Milwaukee brace for four years and I loved Joan Cusack's scenes in Sixteen Candles. She really nailed the part!! I wore the "unimproved" brace where the object was to pull the head up as high as possible (as opposed to the "improved" brace where the neck ring was there to hold the neck in place). Joan's ability to show how painful it is just to sit or stand was so vivid that I started having flashbacks the first time I watched this film. The scene with the drinking fountains was spot on; that's what I dealt with every day in a world before bottled drinking water was popular.

The only things that weren't true to my life were her social isolation and inability to speak coherently: I went to school with kids I grew up with and getting a brace didn't affect my relationships with them (but that was the sixties and perhaps a gentler time). But other than that Joan's portrayal was very realistic and I loved that a Milwaukee brace was featured in the film.

[–] esskayess 11 years ago

The OP is yet another example of how we all need to work to end global WHINING.

[–] 11 years ago

[deleted]

[–] eightezzz 8 years ago

The OP is yet another example of how we all need to work to end global WHINING.

Hahahahahaha I love it ^

  Attn All Units!  

[–] screenscreams 11 years ago

I'm not making excuses. I'm just trying to explain. This was a different time in this country. It's apparent throughout history that morals evolve. We're at a better place now in this country. Just look at it as a part of history, of the way people used to think, and what people used to think was OK.

[–] jbaker1-2 10 years ago

We're at a better place now in this country.

That, my friend, is very much open to debate.

[–] desrozenko 10 years ago

The whole point of the movie is that it is NOT politically correct! It is full of stereotypes, some true and some not. That's what makes it so funny! A lot of 80's movies had that approach of poking fun at stereotypes.

Yes, the joke about violating a girl passed out is most definitely *not* funny. However, the way I see it is that this film was made 30 years ago. Societal behaviors about what is appropriate, and what is not, have changed and come a long way since back in the day.

John Hughes was a great filmmaker who made his movies in the time of an entirely different generation. When he died, I read how his films were aimed to deal with teen angst with humor. :)

Let me breathe, Let me see if my therapist is on speed dial.

[–] residentevil6901 10 years ago

This movie was made when things weren't so PC and personally I'd prefer it if movies went back to this concept. Nobody has a backbone anymore, it's just a movie and it's meant to make you laugh. So many crude movies have been made that offend people, I guess I'm not easily offended. I've probably watched at a minimum 800 to 1000 movies and not one has ever offended me. I mean do people watch it and take it like it's a reality? People really let a movie get them upset because the jokes are not what they want or expect? If so it makes sense why the country is turning out like it is. People really need some thicker skin, the thinner skin you have must make going through life completely challenging.