This week I watched the episode of Biography that featured John Travolta. Now, John seems to be the brunt of quite a few jokes these days with his Scientology background and his new and not so improved hair rug. Well, poke fun if you must, but let us not forget the many ways in with Mr. Travolta has enriched our lives. If you are a child of the 80's like me, your life would not, could not be complete without the movie Grease. Maybe it's just a girl thing, but there is no denying that this movie shaped my childhood. On any given day I wanted to be either Sandy, Rizzo, or Marty Maraschino..."You know...like in Cherry?" And when I wasn't hoping I could one day set the gym on fire with my cool rendition of the Hand Jive, then I was secretly hoping that I could one day have a nice upstanding citizen like Zucko or Kinicki...okay, maybe even Doody to bring home to mama.
There's also Saturday Night Fever. Now, I was too young to see this movie when it came out (I was three), but my mom owned the album and like all children of the 80's I would sit with it for hours on end HUGE headphones trapped to my ears, and stare at the huge foldout album jacket. I did the same with the Grease album too. So, even though I didn't have images from the actual film running through my head, I still had those still images from the album artwork to use as a point of reference. Oh John...in all of his glory, white tux and disco stance. Where would the late 70's have been without John and The Bee Gees? Nowhere! Nowhere I tell you!!!
And this got me to thinking about the films that have shaped my life and/or our generation as a whole. Grease, Saturday Night Fever, all of the John Hughes films, but mostly the trifecta-Pretty In Pink, Sixteen Candles, and The Breakfast Club and then a few others that led to many afternoons of imaginative play with various cousins-Star Wars, The Goonies, and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.
Now, don't get me wrong, there are many other great films from many great decades, but this isn't about film reviews or the greatest films of our century. What John Travolta sparked in me was this really wonderful sense of how this medium, film, has really and truly created much of what my reality has been throughout my life time. I mean...just think about it. What kind of world would it be without these movies? They stand out and stand up through time because of something special: MAGIC! Timing. Casting. Every single element was just so. Change any single one of the actors, the costumes, the director or touch even one hair on anybody's head...and I guarantee that the whole thing would have come tumbling down.
My question is...what are the movies of the 90's and the new millenium that are going to feed these follow up generations in the same way? Who are little girls wishing they could be? Who are they crushing on? I had Jake Ryan. Top that. What imaginary worlds are kids getting lost in these days? I guess that one is a bit easier...there's Narnia and the Harry Potter world...but those kids are "special" and have magical powers. The Goonies were just like US! I'm not dissing movies of today or saying that this generation doesn't have what mine did, I'm just saying that if they do...I don't know what it is.
It will be interesting to see what happens in another 20 years. I know that those John Hughes films are still standing up today and filling in the gaps for these next few generations. In this genre at least...there is no substitute for those films. It's sad, but a the same time...it's awesome cause we can all still be on the same page...even if we are a few generations apart.
So back to John Travolta. Thank you dude. Thanks for being the most awesome Vincent Vega that ever could be (cause let's face it...the world wouldn't be the same if someone else had tried). And thanks for making me realize how much I not only enjoy film, but how much I really and truly LOVE it and how much a part of my life this art form is. And how important your job as an actor is too! Cause if you didn't take your job seriously, then...those movies would have sucked and my whole entire childhood would be ruined. And if I hadn't been crushing on Vinnie Barbarino, things could have turned out much worse.
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