Sixteen Candles might be one of John Hughes' seminal cinematic classics, but that doesn't
mean every aspect of the movie has aged well.
In fact, there are a lot of scenes in the movie that are more likely to make you cringe
than laugh.
Sure, it was a product of the era, but some of the movie's moments of cultural insensitivity
are just plain hard to overlook upon a modern review.
Here are some moments from Sixteen Candles that will land a whole lot differently with
modern movie audiences.
Body shaming bonanza
One running theme of Sam's ill-fated sixteenth birthday is how often people make comments
about her body.
First, there's her brother, who pokes fun at her modest bra size.
"She's only eating carrots to increase the size of her breasts."
Then her own grandparents get a little carried away with the comments on her bosoms -- or
lack thereof.
"She's gotten her boobies."
"Oh, hahaha, I better go get my magnifying glass."
"Oh, and they are so perky!"
Grandma even cops a feel without permission.
"I can't believe my grandmother actually felt me up."
Considering her whole family is more likely to make fun of her figure than wish her a
happy birthday, it's no wonder Sam's so self-conscious.
Of course, she's not so innocent herself.
Sam and her best friend Randy stare down Caroline in the locker room and take their own shots
at her for having such a developed figure.
"Unbelievable.
I swear to God Caroline Mumford had to flunk about nine grades."
Social slurs
Plenty of '80s movies deployed racist stereotypes, but Sixteen Candles might have most of them
beat.
"Are we still having dinner with the Rice Chex?"
"Ryszczyks."
The most blatant example of racism in the film is the depiction of foreign exchange
student Long Duk Dong, who's basically a walking stereotype of Asian culture, and whose name
mention is usually accompanied by the sounding of a gong.
[Gong]
It's pretty hard to make a person a full-on punchline, but here they have, and it's cultural
awareness that takes a hit in the process.
"The donger need food!"
Meanwhile, the movie is also pretty offensive to members of the LGBTQ community, since even
the "good guy" characters aren't hesitant to sling gay slurs at one another throughout
the movie.
"Just answer me one question."
"Yes, you're a total f--."
Mister misogyny
If there's one theme that seems to run strong throughout the film, from start to finish,
it's that the male characters in the movie are absolute cartoons of toxic masculinity.
For example, Sam's younger brother kicks things off on sour note by making fun of his sister's
wedding day dilemma.
"She got her period.
It should make for an interesting honeymoon, huh?"
"Where are you learning that stuff?"
"School."
"Good."
Of course, Mike isn't the only one who has terrible things to say about members of the
opposite gender.
Jake calls Sam a "child" because she's not an outright sex object.
And then there's this....
"I catch her looking at me a lot.
It's kinda cool the way she's always looking at me."
"Maybe she's retarded."
Outright harassment
The film's resident nerd, Ted, constantly harasses Sam throughout the movie.
"Come on, what's the problem here?
I'm a boy, you're a girl, is there anything wrong about me trying to put together some
kind of relationship between us?"
On the bus, in a car -- where ever he can try to put the moves on her, he does, even
if she makes it clear she's not interested.
And what's even worse than that is the way Jake Ryan, the supposed dream boat of the
whole movie, treats the idea of assault against his girlfriend Caroline with such a blithe
attitude.
"I could get a piece of a-- anytime I want.
S---, I got Caroline in the bedroom right now passed out cold.
I could violate her ten different ways if I wanted to."
Not only does he give her the cold shoulder just because another girl has shown interest
in him, but he even encourages the desperate freshman Ted to take her home because he's
trying to step out on her with Sam and predicts she'll be too drunk to tell them apart anyway.
"Jake, I'm only a freshman."
"So?
She's so blitzed she won't know the difference."
So, yeah.
He's basically setting his own girlfriend up to be molested in his dad's car, and we're
supposed to think he's some great guy worth all of this trouble.
Gross.
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