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May 20, 1984 - Image 8

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Text
Publication:
Michigan Daily, 1984-05-20

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ARTS

The Michigan Daily

Sunday, May 20, 1984

Page 8

'16 Candles' burns dimly

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By Gordon Jay Frost
I N THE LAST few years Hollywood
has seen fit to move from blaxploitation
films to sexploitation films and finally,
and perhaps most profitably, the teen
sexploitation genre.
The characteristics are obvious to
anyone who has had the unfortunate
luck to view Porky's, Hot Dog or Up
The Creek. This vein is wearing out its
commercial welcome, however, and
now films such as Sixteen Candles are
beginning to take their place.
Not very far removed from its
forerunners, this new release seeks to
soften the sexual edge and increase its
credibility through characterization.
Unfortunately, this effort is impeded by
other stereotypes and stylizations.
The film begins on Samantha's
(Molly Ringwald) 16th birthday. Her
family, in the rush to prepare her ob-
noxious sister's wedding, have forgot-
ten all about it.
The major subplot revolves around
Samantha's attraction to a handsome
and popular boy at school. That night
there will be a school dance and a
senior party, all of which, Samantha
hopes, will change her life. One would
think that such a premise couldn't go
too wrong ... but it does.
There are extensive faults in the
film's attempt at slapstic comedy. Joan
Cusack, listed in the credits as Geek
Girl #1, wears a back/neck brace and is
forced to constantly embarrass herself
on screen. Is it funny to watch an un-
comfortable young woman having dif-
ficulty drinking water from a fountain?
Undoubtedly the director, John
Hughes, who also wrote the screenplay,

has never worn such a device.
Gedde Watanabe, trained at the
American Conservatory Theater, plays
a demeaning stereotype of the Chinese
exchange student Long Duk Dong. His
persistent use of cliche Americanisms
like, "What's happening hot-stuff,"
along with gong sound-effects, is only
surpassed in its stupidity by his ob-
session with tall American women and
large breasts.
In the end, he is portrayed as
an ungrateful, lazy drunkard. This
choice of a Chinese exchange.student is
ironic: there are no Chinese exchange
students in U.S. high schools - it is
against Chinese law.
In addition to these two offensive two-
dimensional portrayals, the Italian
community gets it share of barbs by
depicting the fiancee of Samantha's
sister, and his family as unmannered
womanizing mafiosos.
Adults and other teenagers in Sixteen
Candles are portrayed as incon-
siderate, irresponsible and selfish.
Samantha's family forgets her birth-
day, usurp her room, "feel her up"
because she is developing breasts, for-
ce her to take Long Duk Dong to the
school dance, turn her male fantasy
away on the phone and leave her behind
after her sister's wedding.
Samantha's father, as he is more un-
derstanding than the rest, becomes a
sympathetic figure. But he doesn't
really do anything to deserve such
recognition - his is simply the first to
admit some of his mistakes. This
technique is used often in Sixteen Can-
dles - withholding emotional interac-
tion from the audience; interpersonal
relationships are equated with feeling.
There is a false sense of affection
created when the other teens talk or act

01

Samantha (Molly Ringwald) finally settles down to a normal moment on her
sixteenth birthday in the overly-offensive 'Sixteen Candles.'

on love. The rest of the film is devoid of
healthy emotional outlets.
Technically, Sixteen Candles is a
product of an inactive imagination. On-
ce again, a perennial problem in ex-
ploitation films is the microphone
boom. It is particularly annoying to
spend $4 to see a film where the editor
lacks the ability to properly cuta scene
where this third, unscripted character
bobs down from the ceiling into the ac-
tion.
The director of photography also
must have enjoyed himself since it does
not appear that the director was ever.

behind the camera or helping to plot the
sequence of shots. The only way to
describe the camera work is as dull.
Without a doubt, however, Molly
Ringwald and Anthony Michael Hall
were superb in their performances, of-
ten exceeding the stagnant nature of an
uninspired script. As Samantha,
Ringwald makes sense out of the con-
stant asides used to explain to the
audience what is deficient in the
narrative.
As a girl of 16, she is impeccable -
insecure, three-dimensional, in-
telligent and thoughtful. Not only does
she give her lines an honest reading,
but her body also adapts to the contor-
tions of a budding beauty. Anyone who
may have seen her in the dreadful
Spacehunter: Adventures In the For-
bidden Zone or The Tempest would un-
derstand this observation.
As the Geek (or Farmer Ted), An-
thony Michael Hall is on target. The
coolest of the uncool guys, he has sex on
his mind - but admits that it's just a
status quest. Obnoxious and yet sen-
sitive, Hall gives his reading a free-
wheeling and truthful performance.
Together Ringwald and Hall feed off
each other in a remarkable way: they
understand the game that they are
playing and still maintain enough in-
tegrity to pursue their dreams without
being untrue to themselves. Their life is
not an ideal one but they make the most
of their predicament.
Sixteen Candles could possibly be
viewed as an enjoyable film. Its im-
plicit message, however, does not differ
drastically from other films made for
this target audience. Aside from a sen-
sitive and mature performance of two
slightly immature teens, and two ab-
stract but strong supporting roles, this
film seems to reach for the same
pocketbook as the screenwriter's last
two errors: Mr. Mom and National
Lampoon's Vacation. Hopefully, this
"writer" will focus his future efforts in
the most successful direction of Sixteen
Candles - sensitivity and
camaraderie.

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Poor Samantha, not only does her family forget her Sweet 16th, she also must deal with Farmer Ted, the nerdy
admirer who just won't leave her alone in 'Sixteen Candles.'

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