Jake's Expectation Of The Teacher In The Film

The only teacher in the film appears at the beginning and is only present for a miniscule amount of screen time. On the chalkboard behind him, there are insults written about him, presumably from the students in his class. This type of disrespect is only seen in suburban school films and would have serious repercussions if students in urban settings were to partake in such activities. The teacher is not looking at the class; the class is noisy and unruly. This representation perpetuates the idea of an uncaring, incapable teacher in the suburbs. The students are not at fault for their disrespect and the teacher is portrayed as the one to blame due to his lack of energy and involvement. The teacher is so briefly present in the film that it would

The movie seems to imply that since Sam is a teenage female, she is only concerned with male approval. The concept of male superiority and white male privilege occurs throughout the film, especially when alcohol becomes involved at a school dance. A geek, named The Geek, finds Sam alone and continuously attempts to come onto her despite her various rebuttals. Later, at a party at Jake’s house, Jake’s girlfriend is blackout drunk. He and The Geek get into an argument about garnering female attention and Jake says that his girlfriend is drunk and he could “violate her ten different ways” if he had wanted. The same drunk girl is later driven home by The Geek and they end up having sex together, but she apparently enjoyed it, voiding The Geek of all inherent

In “16 Candles” Sam’s grandparents are hosting a Chinese exchange student, whose name is Long Duk Dong. This name is intended to be humorous, but it belittles a culture and simplifies the character. Long Duk Dong is portrayed as ignorant and uncultured. Every time he has an idea, a gong is played in the background and at the beginning of the movie, he is shown eating with the back ends of a fork and knife as if they are chopsticks. He flirts with girls from the high school and this is supposed to be considered funny, since he is not supposed to be considered attractive by the audience. By having an exchange student in the movie, the directors of “16 Candles” had an opportunity to portray the diversity and complexity of a culture. However, they opted for a caricature of a character. Long Duk Dong is intended to be humorous, but is in reality a dangerous simplification and appropriation of a cultural