MovieChat Forums > Sixteen Candles (1984) Discussion > Birthday presents?

Birthday presents?

posted 10 years ago by cobnut
9 replies | jump to latest

I was born in 1986 and I'm English, so maybe I'm missing something about 1980s culture in the USA. But once they realised they'd forgotten, shouldn't Samantha's family and friends have given her birthday presents and a cake? Or at least told her that she would get them, as soon as her sister's wedding was out of the way? It seemed more like 'oops lol our bad, oh well you'll just have to wait until next year'. Her best friend knew it was her birthday and didn't even give her a card! And don't Americans usually make a big fuss over the sweet sixteen birthday?

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[–] 10 years ago

[deleted]

[–] eviljanet 9 years ago

I think only rich people with something to prove make a big deal about sweet 16 birthdays (a la that lame reality show that was on MTV)

[–] adresher-1 9 years ago

I have to disagree. My school had people from pretty much all income brackets. There were kids who were from ultra high net worth families and there were kids who were on full scholarships and could not even afford their own books and had to borrow a set. It was quite random who did and did not have a sweet 16 party in my class. The richest girls in my class did not have one, seemed it was more of the middle class girls who had the party. I do not know much about them, since I grew up in a household of three boys, but seemed that they were a much bigger deal for girls from Catholic families.

[–] AllEighties 8 years ago

No really. I remember being invited to a few sweet sixteen parties and the girl's families were hardly 902010 rich, just regular old middle class.

Obvious it wasn't that ridiculous stuff with riding on tigers and parading elephants and crying when you got a 'lame' Benz instead of a cool BMW though haha.

[–] dancing_star 8 years ago

I think they skipped the presents and promises to make the ending scene with Sam and Jake kissing over a birthday cake more romantic. It's more interesting to get a cake from the boy you've been drooling over than your parents.

[–] AmyJolamb 8 years ago

I just saw the part where the father comes down and tells Sam he knows they forgot her birthday. I'm surprised he didn't at least say "We will celebrate it as soon as the wedding is over." Or something like that.

As for making a big deal out sweet 16 depends on the family. I have a 20yr old, 16yr old and 15yr old. Many of our friends have kids similar age. Some have thrown sweet 16 parties and some haven't. Our family hasn't. We like to keep birthday parties simple.

[–] brewerrkj 8 years ago

I kind of get the impression that her parents will make it up to her for forgetting her Sweet Sixteen once they get the hustle and bustle of Ginny's wedding & reception out of the way. Brenda to Samantha the morning after: "Oh Sam, Sam I am so sorry about your birthday." Samantha: "It's okay, I'll recover." Brenda: "It's important to you. And yesterday morning you were trying to tell me." Samantha: "It's okay Mom, these things sometimes happen." Brenda: "Honey, I just feel miserable." Samantha: "You'll feel better."

[–] detataandrea 8 years ago

I don't think she got any presents from her parents but Jake got her a birthday cake which made it extra sweet. Winning over Jake was probably the best gift she could ever hope for that year... :)

[–] liscarkat (18429) 2 years ago

Most parents, even in the U.S. in the 1980s, would feel terrible when they realized they had forgotten their daughter's birthday, and they would make it up to her as soon as possible.

Some Americans make a big fuss over sixteenth birthdays, and some don't. Mine didn't (I'm a guy), and I didn't really care. The only big thing that day was that I got my driver's license. Many Mexican-American parents make a huge production of a daughter's fifteenth birthday, spending thousands of dollars on dresses, parties, professional photographers, etc.