Sixteen Candles
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Sixteen Candles is a 1984 coming-of-age film starring Molly Ringwald, Anthony Michael Hall, and Michael Schoeffling. The film was written and directed by John Hughes, and is often credited with the beginning of the Brat Pack film movement.
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Plot
Samantha Baker (Molly Ringwald), a high schooler, has a terrible crush on Jake Ryan (Michael Schoeffling). On the eve of her sister's wedding, her entire family forgets her sixteenth birthday. To make matters worse, Jake does not notice her. Further complicating the day, a foreign exchange student, Long Duk Dong (Gedde Watanabe), has come to live at the Bakers' house. Her crush has a girlfriend, Caroline (Havilland Morris), and a geek, "Farmer Ted", (Anthony Michael Hall in a scene-stealing performance) is hounding her.
To win a set of floppy disks, "Farmer Ted" promised his friends that he would sleep with Samantha—but eventually, to make it seem like sexual activity took place, Samantha gives the geek her underwear. She also tells him about her crush. This prompts "Farmer Ted" to tell Jake, whom he also gives the underwear (after a peep show—which charged one dollar's admission). Jake loans the geek his car, as well as his girlfriend. Meanwhile, Samantha's family apologizes about forgetting her birthday.
After a wild night with the drunken Caroline, "Farmer Ted" and she wake up in a church parking lot—in each other's arms. In the end, Samantha gets Jake. Presumably, "Farmer Ted" gets Jake's old girlfriend.
Influence
Sixteen Candles launched the film careers of Molly Ringwald, Anthony Michael Hall, John Cusack, and Joan Cusack as well as that of director Hughes; several of these young actors became core members of the so-called "Brat Pack" and went on to star in several other comedy and dramatic films, many directed by Hughes.
Long Duk Dong
The character "Long Duk Dong" was portrayed by Gedde Watanabe. He is supposed to be a visiting Chinese exchange student with a rather thick accent. Most of his appearances in the film, and most mentions of him by other characters are announced by the sound of a gong. There have been many complaints that the character is a preposterous Asian stereotype.
Tim Hibbs has claimed that Long Duk Dong is similar to the character Xgung Wo in John Hughes' short story for National Lampoon magazine "Christmas '59".[1]
References
- The Donger
- Testing my "A-dar": Trying to pick out who is what by Harry Monk (mentions Long Duk Dong in connection with "backlash" against Asian-Americans)
- http://ochenta.nocillatv.com/fichas/09.htm
Quotes
Watanabe's portrayal of this character has become a stereotype of people of Asian descent in the US. Many of his lines have become some of the film's most memorable:
- "Wassa happening hah-stuff?"
- "No more yankie my wankie. The Donger need food."
- "O, sexy girlfriend."
Sequel
In 2005 Ringwald said she was considering starring in a sequel to the film.
