John Hughes died yesterday. For those that don't know, he was responsible for iconic films of the 1980s that defined a generation of teenagers, as well as reinvented the coming-of-age film forever. He embraced teen angst and created a whole new kind of icon in the 80s. The Breakfast Club, Sixteen Candles, Pretty In Pink, Some Kind of Wonderful, Ferris Bueller, National Lampoons, Home Alone, Weird Science, and this classic:
Uncle Buck.
Here's a quote of his we found regarding his interest in teenage angst, "When you're 30, you forget that at 16, sex was not your primary motivation; you were much more interested in having a boyfriend or girlfriend."
It's amazing how the things you value the most are the things you didn't value so much when you were at that age. Being young is one of the most amazing things that happens to us, especially when you get older. You realize how great things were, wish you could do something about it back then, but can't, so instead the vitality of your youth decides to rebirth in your later years. 2009 has been that year for many of us. It is sort of the 1968 of our generation. All these amazing & important things happened this year, from the presidency of Barack Obama to the death of Michael Jackson, and the passing of many important people of our generation, it all seemed to strike a cord that reminded us that we might just be getting old. Maybe now is our time to do something great, something that we could be proud of. And it's a strange but beautiful reminder that we don't live forever, and that we should always live life like in the movies. For some, it might be the movies of John Hughes. And for others, it might mean living a movie of their own.
Either way, life should be like the movies, meaning a life that is full of content, where an intro happens, a character gets established and a story develops, a life where we learn about this character, know everything he does and everything he wants for the next two hours. Soon he runs into a problem and through out the film, the problem gets more and more difficult as all these twists and turns occur. But near the end he finds a way to solve the problem and in most cases the solution is one that involves a meeting a soon to be love interest who ends up being the support system throughout the film. He & her both embark on this journey and finally get to the problem that needs fixing, and somehow through an intense fifteen minute action sequence, blood, sweat and tears are shed and he & her emerge victorious and have fallen in complete love with each other. Then at the end of the film, life returns to normal until suddenly at the last moment, a new problem occurs which leads he & her (and in some cases a son or daughter) to start their journey all over again. The credits roll & the audience applauds and anticipates the sequel. This might be the cliche for any Hollywood blockbuster film, or not. It could be a comedy, or a drama, or a horror film, but in movies there are usually two kinds of stories, a love story, or a revenge story. In the rare cases, it could be both (see Oldboy).
We're not sure what we're trying to get at with all this, except for maybe the simple fact that we should live our lives to where we feel just as good as when we see a film we love. We should always strive for that feeling of joy in the 2 hours sitting in a theatre, because that's what it's all about. Feeling good. After all, every day that passes, we get old. So what's it gonna be after we finish writing about this, love or revenge? Maybe a love story that involves getting revenge, but with the use of comedy, a little bit of drama, and a good amount of action sequences. But less Rush Hour and more Point Break.
:)
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