16 Candles: John Hughes Romantic Comedy
- Jasmin Rowcliffe
- Apr 24
- 3 min read
Updated: Apr 29
Samantha Baker is the main character of Sixteen Candles, and the story revolves around her sixteenth birthday. Samantha’s family is preparing for their oldest daughter's wedding and forgot about Samantha’s birthday. Patty is the bride-to-be and prepares for her wedding in the way she sees fit, however it goes all wrong. Ted, the geek in the film, takes special interest in Samantha. However, after being rejected on various occasions, he decides to go after Caroline. Jake Ryan has taken an interest in Samantha since the beginning of this film and uses Ted as his wing man. In the end, Samantha and Jake have a happy ending together, as a couple.
Sixteen Candles had a few different types of storytelling and some of the storytelling techniques are questionable. For instance, they really defined the stereotypic teen dynamics in the film. Ted was shown as this geeky nerdy character in love with popular girls and tries to make himself seem cool to impress everyone. Jake was defined as a popular jock who is dating Caroline who is also popular. Another type of storytelling they used in the film was using Samantha as a relatable character. Samantha was seen as just an average high school girl that is in love with a popular boy.
Teenage love was an enormous theme of this film. Early on, Samantha writes her love interest on a piece of paper to hand to her best friend. Little did she know, her love interest snatched that paper up. Throughout the film, Ted flirts with Samantha. Although, the flirting between Ted and Samantha was one-sided. At the end of the film, Samantha and Jake Ryan celebrate her birthday together and kiss.
Betrayal plays a role in the themes. I mean, what's a teenage love story without a little bit of betrayal and drama? Ted shows a bunch of boys Samantha’s underwear to make himself seem cool. This incident embarrasses Samantha. However, Jake Ryan gets his hand on her underwear and returns it to her. Some may say another taste of betrayal was when Ted flirted with Jake Ryan’s girlfriend in his father's car. Third of all, family drama was a theme that held the movie together.
Family drama was a theme that held the movie together. Samantha’s family completely forgot about her birthday, which made Samantha feel unimportant to her family because it’s her special day. However, Samantha’s older sister is getting married the day after her birthday and that’s the reason why everyone overlooked her birthday.
Critics believe that Sixteen Candles is more mature than other romantic/comedy films that defined this era and respect it for that specific reason. Critics also believe that it’s filled with numerous gags and enjoy the hilarious scenes in the film. However, some critics believe that some scenes work and others that don’t make the movie less enjoyable. In the end, critics gave this film an eighty-one percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Sixteen Candles influenced traditions culturally. They influenced a birthday tradition by showing sixteen candles on the cake and how each candle represents one wish. Another tradition they influenced was how important it is to spend time with your loved ones during your special day.
So, do I believe 16 Candles works today? I don't believe it doesn't necessary does. 16 Candles had the right idea but put it together wrong. It's like having all the ingredients for a cake but not putting it together. The remake,16 wishes, is way better than the original. Although, 16 Candles had potential.
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