Essay On Sixteen Candles

Words: 1109
Pages: 5

Sixteen Candles is a delightful coming of age tale written and directed by John Hughes. It is one of my personal favorites and I wish I could say that John Hughes directed my life. It portrays many different social and emotional behaviors we learned about in class such as differences in gender, SES, and how cliques form in children with similar backgrounds (Berk, 2014). The film covers a wide range of developmental stages and goals in young adults. I will focus on the main character Samantha Baker and her relatable struggles. Samantha Baker turns sixteen the day before her sister gets married and everyone has forgotten (Hughes, 1984). Cue the teen angst, a crazy party, a cute guy and it is a fantastically wild ride from start to finish as she discovers who she is, the importance of family, and …show more content…
Self esteem is a major player that is palpable in every scene. The movie opens with Sam intensely scrutinizing herself in the mirror for minute changes in her physical appearance to prove she is no longer fifteen. Muttering a need for a more attractive figure and a great birthday she leaves the house sulky and upset (Hughes, 1984). A good portion of her day after this is spent in concern over how a guy like Jake Ryan would never be attracted to someone who looks like Sam. The outside influences in her life include family, friends, and peers (Berk, 2014). High school is a huge deal and an extremely key point in adolescent development (Berk, 2014). Not only does Sam compare herself to her sister, she compares herself to her friend and her peers. After a gym class, Sam and her friend are observing Jake's girlfriend Carolyn in the shower. Creepy and a little strange, it still exhibits that when you hit puberty really does determine popularity amongst peers. Carolyn is very popular with lots of friends and the hottest guy in school is her boyfriend. While comparing herself to her friend is