I’m back again with Deep-Fried Friday and serving up a series on High School Halls. Today I’m thrilled to welcome Coleen Patrick, contemporary young adult author, whose blog I love and whose burgeoning friendship I treasure. (Follow this gal! She’s awesome.) Coleen and I are talking about the influence of movies on high schoolers.
That Was Then
Movies have the capacity to both express youth culture and impact it. If anyone asks me what the quintessential 80s high school movie is, I answer The Breakfast Club (1985). It was right in the middle of the decade and had all the features that made it so perfectly high school and so perfectly the 80s—actors from the “Brat Pack” (Emilio Estevez, Anthony Michael Hall, Judd Nelson, Molly Ringwald, Ally Sheedy); dealing with standing out and fitting in in high school; and made by John Hughes (my generation’s Joss Whedon). But it was by no means the only movie that defined Generation X.
J: Coleen, you were born a couple of years after me, so we grew up around the same time. Which movie(s) would get your vote for most representative of our era?
C: The Breakfast Club would be my first thought too, although Karate Kid stands out for me a lot. I’m always inspired by a great underdog story! Oh and romance, gotta have that too.
J: I liked that movie too–especially Elizabeth Shue’s character.
There are several movies from my generation that I never saw. Among them are Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982), National Lampoon’s Vacation (1983), The Goonies (1985), and Heathers (1988). What defining movies did you miss that you wish you had seen? Why?
C: I don’t think I’ve ever seen Fast Times or Heathers either. Both seem to get referenced a lot to this day and whenever they do I think, I need to watch them! Vacation is hysterical. I saw it dozens of times one summer when it was repeating on cable. I still quote it. Goonies was a favorite too.
Rob Lowe in Class
J: Some of the high school hunks at the time included Judd Nelson, Andrew McCarthy, Charlie Sheen, Matthew Broderick, Tom Cruise, C. Thomas Howell, and Matt Dillon. Did you have a picture up of any movie star from that era? Who did you have a crush on? I’ll admit to having a photo of Jason Patric, who starred in The Lost Boys (1987).
C: I loved the Lost Boys! I did have a lot of pictures and posters up in my room—Rob Lowe was one of my favorites. I remember waiting for everyone (read: my parents) to go to sleep so I could watch Class. 
J: You know, Rob still looks pretty good these days.
Slasher movies became popular in the 1980s with the continuation of the Halloween (1978) films, Friday the 13th (1980), A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984), and Child’s Play (1988). Were you ever a fan of Michael Myers, Jason, Freddy Kruger, or Chucky? Which, if any, was a favorite?
C: I saw Friday the 13th for the first time at a friend’s house when I was 13 and I imagined Jason hiding under my bed for weeks after. Freddy however, was the most fascinating and terrifying to me. A monster who can infiltrate your dreams? *shivers*
J: In case you’re wondering, my level of scary were movies like Poltergeist (1982) and The Gremlins (1984). Speaking of which, can you name the three rules for keeping a gremlin?
C: Poltergeist is probably in my top 5 for movies I still quote. “Don’t go into the light . . .” As for Gremlin rules, let’s see . . . no water, no feeding after midnight and no bright lights? Are those right?
Before the rules are broken
J: Those are exactly right. Proving that you are a Child of the 80′s!
Musicals also made a comeback in the 1980s. The era was likely kicked off by the success of Grease in 1978, but the 80s also saw the release of Flashdance (1983), Footloose (1984), Purple Rain (1984), and Dirty Dancing (1987). Do you remember any others? Do you have a favorite musical or scene from one of these?
C: I’ve never seen Flashdance or Purple Rain (had the soundtrack though!), and I just saw Footloose a couple of years ago, but Dirty Dancing was a fave—gotta love the water lift scene!
Jennifer Grey & Patrick Swayze
J: I had forgotten that scene! It’s really great, though.
Blitz quiz here at the end! See if you can fill in the following movies with a quick hint:
- 1.21 gigawatts of power in the flux capacitor? Back to the Future
- Tom Cruise in a dress shirt and socks lip-syncing Bob Seger? Risky Business
- Duckie has a serious crush on Molly Ringwald’s character? Pretty in Pink
- Two geeks, two bras on their heads, one awesome computer, and Kelly Brock? Weird Science
- Wax on, wax off, and you’ll learn martial arts? Karate Kid
- Singing The Beatles “Twist and Shout” from a parade float? Ferris Buehler
Coleen, you are awesome! An A+.
This Is Now
Now onto to today’s movies for teens!
J: Harry Potter and Twilight seem to have gotten the most teen audiences in the last decade, but do you think these movies define the current generation?
C: I think so. Neither of my kids are big movie goers (shocking to me), but between the two of them they’ve seen all of these.
J: My tween/teen are not big movie watchers, and right now they are into James Bond films, so I don’t have anything to add on that count!
What other movies or franchises have you seen teens excited about?
C: For my daughter that would be the horror ones like Final Destination or Saw. Too gory for me! But she also can watch Mean Girls again and again.
J:I guess slasher movies never go out of style.
What topics do you see being addressed by movies today that appeal to teens?
C: Romance comes to mind first.
J: From Romeo and Juliet to Edward and Bella to Gale and Katniss and on and on.
Who are the movers and shakers among today’s teen actors? Do you think these are good or bad role models for high schoolers?
- Jennifer Lawrence in
The Hunger Games
C: Maybe the actors of Twilight like Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart and Taylor Lautner or the ones from The Hunger Games? As far as role models, that’s a good question. For my own teenagers, I know I get concerned depending on the “product” that celebrity is selling. So for movie stars it would be the message in the film more than their personal life, because that’s
what the kids are buying into.
J: I’m partial to Emma Watson from Harry Potter myself. From what I’ve seen, she’s terrific on and off screen.
What topics are timeless for teens? What kind of movies would teens of almost any era like to see?
C: I think bullying is a topic that is timeless and movies that get you rooting for the underdog.
J: I agree. One of my favorites that I didn’t mention was Lucas (1986), starring Corey Haim, Kerry Green, and Charlie Sheen, about a socially inept high school kid. It’s definitely an underdog story.
Thanks for coming by, Coleen! It’s been a pleasure to chat about movies that define our generation.
Now what movies do you recall from your high school years? What young actor or actress was your teenage crush? What movies or film franchises appeal to teens today? What topics do you think movies for teens should address?
From Coleen: I write contemporary YA. I have two projects I’m working on—one is closer to the finish line than the other, but you can check out both of my storyboards on Pinterest.
I live in Virginia with my husband, our two kids and three two fish. My secret power is well secret, but I have no problem quoting my old diary on my blog. You can also find me on Facebook and Twitter (@coleenpatrick). Come say HI!
From high school? I always thought Pump Up The Volume was powerful. The boys on my wall were Kirk Cameron & Christian Slater.
Oh I was a big Growing Pains fan!!
Me, too! Who could resist such a love able rascal as Mike Seaver…
I never saw Pump Up the Volume, but I remember it coming out. Good addition!
Thanks so much for having me here Julie! It was a lot of fun to reminisce. I had no idea I had all those movie facts still in my memory stores. Funny how I can remember Gremlin rules, but not what I walked into the kitchen for!
Happy Friday.
My pleasure, Coleen! I enjoyed it too. I was pleasantly surprised that you had those Gremlin rules down. I guess I can get you one for Christmas after all.
Great Interview that brought me back to my childhood! An actor I thought was awesome in the 80′s was Eddie Murphy. Coming to America, Beverly Hills Cop, 48 hours, to name a few…while those movies didn’t really address the romance or hunk factor, they were really entertaining…at least for us guys.
Eddie Murphy was hilarious, but you didn’t mention my favorite of his: Trading Places! I also remember enjoying Beverly Hills Cop. And he sang pretty good too.
I loved Pump up the Volume. Talk hard! LOL
Back in the day, I liked River’s Edge an awful lot. Aside from the killing, these kids seemed the most realistic to me. I also was intrigued by Fresh Horses, which starred Molly Ringwald and Andrew what’s-his-name from Pretty in Pink. Oh,and Christine. Loved that. And Less than Zero. Remember that?
My movie star crush…hmmm. River Phoenix? Keanu Reeves? Sean Penn. And I thought Jason Patric was hot, too. Did you know he’s the grandson of Jackie Gleason?
I had no idea! Wow. And River Pheonix was so crush worthy!
I never saw Fresh Horses either. I do recall Less than Zero. And no, I did not know that Jason Patric was Gleason’s grandson! But I agree that River Phoenix was easy on the eyes, Catie.
Great walk down memory lane for me with all those movies. I’ve seen most of them but would love to watch them again. Thanks.
Yes, it was super nostalgic for me too! Julie picked a fun topic.
We should have a movie watch party!
I was a child of the 80s, but not a teen yet. So my crushes were the COREYS!!! They were a little older than me and so so cool back then.
Great post!
Feldman & Haim? They were definitely cool. Thanks, Emily!
I was born in 83, but I remember The Goonies (85) being a hit even on my teenagers years …
Well, any dancing movie is, I think lol
Oh, Dirty Dancing … as a former ballerina, that movie is super especial for me
Honestly, I’m trying to remember movies that left their mark on my teenagers years and the only one I can clearly remember is Titanic. I had the VHS (2 tapes!) and watched it every single day. I knew the lines by heart … I still do hihi
If I had been a teen in the 90s, I would’ve been memorizing lines from Titanic too!
A former ballerina, huh? How fun to see Dirty Dancing & Flashdance with that history. Titantic is another great movie that featured teen idols.
LOL, the Breakfast Club is the first that came to my mind, too! (I was totally the Basket Case!) And of course, Footloose! Never saw the remake, so I don’t know how it compares. I was more into music than movies, so my teen celebrity crush was a guitar player: Alex Lifeson of Rush.
I was probably most like Ally Sheedy’s character too!
I related to the Basket Case too. (And, for me, you didn’t have to say Rush. Alex Lifeson was enough for me to know who you were talking about. LOL.)
My heart swelled big time at the sight of Gizmo. I think I’ve had a near life-long fur crush on the cutie. Remember when McDonald’s gave Gremlins garb in their happy meals? Not that I ever ate fast food or anything. ;-P
From high school I remember Silence of the Lambs, Seven, Dirty Dancing and Grease. LOL Fantabulous post, Coleen. Thanks, both of you!
Gizmo was super cute! And the original Grease movie? I think I memorized every line in it.
I don’t recall McD’s Gremlins promo! And Grease is the word.
This was such a fun post! I’m a 90s kid myself but I’ve seen a couple of the major 80s films you mentioned (Pretty in Pink, Dirty Dancing, & The Karate Kid.) As for my teen years, me and my best friend were completely obsessed with the movie A Walk to Remember, starring Shane West & Mandy Moore. I own it on both VHS and DVD just in case one stops playing
If I’m thinking of the right movie, I cried and cried at A Walk to Remember!!
I think I saw A Walk to Remember. If not, I need to head to Netflix!
Dirty Dancing and Sixteen Candles were my favs! I could watch (and have watched) them dozens of times. My crushes were definitely River Phoenix and Kirk Cameron. Oh, happy memories…
I’m laughing thinking about the foreign exchange student. Long Duk Dong??
Auto-moBILE!!!
Ah, River Phoenix. What a cutie!
Nice post Coleen. I was surprised no one mentioned E.T., When Sally Met Harry, Good Morning Vietnam, Witness and Ghostbusters. I don’t dare mention the movies I followed in my teen years as I will date myself. Let’s say it was the ending era of the big movie productions. I lived for the theater and big musical productions.
I loved Harry & Sally! It’s another movie I quote, I even have the soundtrack.
And Ghostbusters was of course a fave too.
I watched Ghostbusters so many times that I can quote half the movie! Love that one.
you ladies are awesome. probably the movie that defined my high school years was any of the elvis ones (they were mostly interchangeable). no age jokes, please
Elvis movies are great! He was quite the hunk back then.
So many good movies here. Made me want to run to the living room and get my Molly Ringwald on! Favorite scene in Pretty in Pink is when Duckie lip synchs “Try a Little Tenderness” in the record shop. Awesomesauce!
And you forgot one of my generation: American Pie!
I have never seen American Pie. Ever.
So many memories! Sixteen Candles was one of my favorites. Lost Boys, Indiana Jones, Nightmare on Elm Street, and Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, too. Fun stuff!
Well, Raiders may actually be my favorite movie ever (released 1980). I absolutely adore Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones. Good one, Diana!
Thanks for the enjoyable interview. I din’t see many movies but I guess Easy Rider would be the one.
My best friend and I watched Easy Rider in college, and we were amazed by it. It was definitely a movie that defined a generation.
Great idea for a post! I watch those John Hughes movies every time they’re on tv. They never get old!
They don’t get old, do they? John Hughes tapped into universal teen themes with cliques, belonging, bullying, parent-child relationships, etc.
You have both GOT to watch Fast Times At Ridgemont High! Thanks for a fun interview
Love the trip back in time. Almost all mentioned were high on my top lists in my tween/teen years. Loved 16 Candles, Pretty in Pink, St. Elmo’s Fire, Breakfast Club and I LOVED Freddy movies.
I watched Heathers – several times in high school. Pretty in Pink still gets me when I flip the channels and see it’s playing. I don’t do horror movies at all.
No Fast Time? Or Purple Rain? Or Flashdance?? That was actually when I saw movies so I’m cracking up because I was actually on top of all these. Tiffany White and Amber West would be so proud.
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