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Was the movie "Sixteen Candles" the cultural Big Bang of modern female hypergamy?

MatureDJ

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I was reading this, and it got me interested:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/06/AR2009080603039.html
Jake Ryan, Jake Ryan, Jake Ryan. Write his name in loopy cursive on a piece of loose-leaf notebook paper and pass it on. Even though it has been two decades since the release of John Hughes's high school comedy "Sixteen Candles," there are women out there in their late-twenties to mid-thirties (and even younger, including teenage girls today who weren't even around in that era) who to this day are still pining for a fictional character, the perfect high school crush.
"He's the whole package," says Andrea Danyo, 28, who does public relations work for National Public Radio. "Even just the name has become something. I swoon when I hear it. . . . For just about all of my friends, 'Jake Ryan' is a given moniker for the ideal boy, as in, 'Yeah, it was a good date, but he's clearly no Jake Ryan.' "
"You had to believe in him," says Amy Kramer, 34, a producer for "Good Morning America" based in Washington. "The world would have been a much better place if everybody had a Jake Ryan. That movie came out when I was 15, and imagine being a 15-year-old and you find out there's a terrific, handsome, popular, rich guy who breaks up with the bitchy gorgeous cheerleader and actually notices the quirkily smart but not exactly attractive redhead.
In the movie's happy ending, it turns out Jake (played by long-ago vanished model-actor Michael Schoeffling) has just as big of a crush on Samantha. He shows up at the end and takes her away to his big, rich house and gets her a birthday cake aglow with candles. This image of them sitting on top of the dining room table burned hot and permanent into the post-boomer female psyche.
"I mean, did anyone ever find a Jake? I have a terrific husband I love dearly, but when it comes to Jake Ryan . . . I'm speechless."
Actress Sarah Michelle Gellar told Cosmopolitan magazine in 1998 that "John Hughes killed high school for me" and Jake Ryan ruined her on love (this was before she met Freddie Prinze Jr., who falls somewhat short of Jakeness). Same goes for Jennifer Love Hewitt, who in 2002 told Rolling Stone, "My whole life, I've been waiting for Jake Ryan . . . to come and get me." And Moon Unit Zappa -- the ur-Valley Girl -- told the Times of London in 2000 that she used to carry around a photo of Schoeffling in her wallet, and even now: "I'd watch ["Sixteen Candles"] with anyone, even a stranger off the street. And if they don't like it, they're no friend of mine."
"I cannot over-explain or over-emphasize the importance of Jake Ryan and that movie," says Amy Kramer. "You go look in the Social Security database. Look at how many baby boys were named Jake by women who saw 'Sixteen Candles' in the 1980s. Or even Ryan. Go to a toddler park and count all the Jakes. If your kid's not named Max, he's named Jake."
my opinion: For men of my era, this movie has done more damage to the sexual schema than any other. :mad:
 

Poonani Maker

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I never really thought of the harm these jewvies did to the female/male relationship from there on out. I remember parachute pants and rolling up jeans, I'd say, "good morning, Sean, waitin' for a flood? haha" We were innocent and easily duped. Propaganda with the Russian/American cold war was elevated and nukes raining from the sky/the movie Red Dawn was to the forefront of our minds. So innocent, so harmless I was, with a mean brawler Marine dad. A lot of my friends' parents, so strict, stricter than mine. The 80s was a "strict" time. Russia has always Lagged behind our moving generations. Russia became 80s America 15-20 years ago. Now Russia is moving into 90s and 21st century America I fear Political Correctness on the way for them, where THEIR females get extremely uppity as ours have been for a while now 2 decades. It's sad.

We reap what we (or They) sow.

I really enjoy READING about the past, the Deep past from ancient Greece on up to/through the 19th century stopping at the 20th century, a century with 2 world wars (supposedly waged to end all wars fat chance). The 20th century left behind normal common sense thinking humans, people who would routinely say, "Who the Hell do you think you ARE???????" and "A man has a right to stand up for himself!" or "A Man has a right to his Opinion!!" We no longer say those phrases. We just OBEY, ALL Authority...Professors, Priests, and Judges..people wear silly dresses (robes from the Middle East and not pants and a shirt of which the original "Western Man" wore). It's sad that Intellectuals have tried to socially engineer us, and we've OBEYED them to the 'T' and 'i.'
 

corrector

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Interesting, I'm watching this movie right now. It's like a nostalgic time-machine back into the early 80's before there was any internet, smartphone, or any type of technology like that. I like this movie way better than Blockers (I lost attention with that movie 30 min in), and you really feel into the characters. I was a kid back then when the movie was made, likely in Grade 4, and these people would be in HIgh School, and I wasn't really interested in these types of movies until I was like in Grade 6 (i.e. around 1988), and it would be shows like Degrassi Jr. High/Degrassi HIgh.

I would say that our Degrassi has trumped any movies made like that, and a very popular teen TV-series would beat a single one-time movie anytime. Movie-hype tends to fade very quickly. However, iconic TV-series, especially those that are played up in classrooms in TV/16mm projectors during that time would be way more influential. Degrassi went on to re-boot the series in the 2000's with Degrassi - Next Generation, and the other sequels/movies after.
 

SW15

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Bumping this because I mentioned "Sixteen Candles" in another thread.


my opinion: For men of my era, this movie has done more damage to the sexual schema than any other. :mad:
In 2018, you posted an article published on Valentine's Day 2004 by a male staff writer (Hank Steuver) about Jake Ryan, the male heartthrob from "Sixteen Candles". Side note -- as of 2024, Steuver still writes for the Washington Post.

"Sixteen Candles" was released in May 1984 and filmed in Summer 1983. When the movie was released, I was an infant. I didn't watch it until the early 2000s, when it was already considered a classic.

Steuver and I agree that a male with a new-ish red Porsche 944 (first model year of the 944 was 1982) was not going to be pursuing a mid looking female like Molly Ringwald's character. He wouldn't dump a pretty cheerleader for a mid female. I agree with @MatureDJ that it set an unrealistic, hypergamy precedent for the women of Generation X. I doubt that the early Millennial women who I've mainly dated over the years considered Jake Ryan in "Sixteen Candles" to be a major influence. I think a fair amount of Millennial women eventually saw the movie but other things in pop culture were far more influential.

Jake Ryan did give a lot of hope to a lot of mid-tier looking women.


They’ve been alpha widowed by an 80s movie Chad.
Jake Ryan would have been considered a Chad in that setting. This was a portrayal of an upper middle class to upper class suburb in the mid-1980s. The fact that a teenager has a red Porsche indicates wealth. The 944 was considered a lesser model at the time to the 911. This was also before Porsche started making non-pure sports car models. Even though Jake Ryan has the lesser Porsche, it was still an awesome car for a 17 year old to have.

He is considered good looking as he was portrayed by a guy who was a male model prior to that movie. The male model had a listed 6'0" height.

Jake Ryan would not have been considered a buff manual laborer Chad, but he would have been considered an in-shape, upper middle class type Chad who would have gone to college and had a solid white collar career Chad. He would have been a 1990s-2000s sales rep or finance professional in the 90th percentile + in income and/or net worth if he were a real life human.
 
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LTG71

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If my memory serves me right, that movie was just an example of people chasing after who they desire and have no chance getting. Molly wanted Jake and Anthony Micheal Hall wanted Molly. Molly puts Jake on a pedestal because he is high status and the geek puts Molly on a pedestal because she has a vag!na. The best character was the Asian guy that gets the Amazon chic with zero effort, Long Duk Dong. In the end, Jake leaves his hot girl friend and chooses mediocre Molly which is a Hollywood pipe dream. Wouldn’t say it is a big bang moment but definitely a prime example of social dynamics. The geek (simp) gets Jake’s hot girlfriend in the end, another pipe dream but definitely better looking than Molly so we cheer him on. Of course, she is completely drunk and it would be considered an assault charge these days. But hey, it was the 80’s and all done in good fun.
 

DoofusDonutDude

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Good movie but Jake Ryan was a bit of a stereotypical bore, dunno why the ladies even wanted him...looks i guess. Even the drunk nerd had more personality than him.
 

RickTheToad

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I never really thought of the harm these jewvies did to the female/male relationship from there on out. I remember parachute pants and rolling up jeans, I'd say, "good morning, Sean, waitin' for a flood? haha" We were innocent and easily duped. Propaganda with the Russian/American cold war was elevated and nukes raining from the sky/the movie Red Dawn was to the forefront of our minds. So innocent, so harmless I was, with a mean brawler Marine dad. A lot of my friends' parents, so strict, stricter than mine. The 80s was a "strict" time. Russia has always Lagged behind our moving generations. Russia became 80s America 15-20 years ago. Now Russia is moving into 90s and 21st century America I fear Political Correctness on the way for them, where THEIR females get extremely uppity as ours have been for a while now 2 decades. It's sad.

We reap what we (or They) sow.

I really enjoy READING about the past, the Deep past from ancient Greece on up to/through the 19th century stopping at the 20th century, a century with 2 world wars (supposedly waged to end all wars fat chance). The 20th century left behind normal common sense thinking humans, people who would routinely say, "Who the Hell do you think you ARE???????" and "A man has a right to stand up for himself!" or "A Man has a right to his Opinion!!" We no longer say those phrases. We just OBEY, ALL Authority...Professors, Priests, and Judges..people wear silly dresses (robes from the Middle East and not pants and a shirt of which the original "Western Man" wore). It's sad that Intellectuals have tried to socially engineer us, and we've OBEYED them to the 'T' and 'i.'
The only problem with your theory is that no one from sixteen candles was Jewish.
 

SW15

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Good movie but Jake Ryan was a bit of a stereotypical bore, dunno why the ladies even wanted him...looks i guess.
Looks + parents with money. How else is a high school guy going to have a new Porsche?

geek puts Molly on a pedestal because she has a vag!na.
That's a super beta move that didn't even work then. That was realistic about the movie.

In the end, Jake leaves his hot girl friend and chooses mediocre Molly which is a Hollywood pipe dream.
That was unrealistic.
 
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