Sarah Krise
Mr. Dilbeck
ENGL1100
20 November 2013
Final
Draft
In both Napoleon Dynamite and Sixteen
Candles the characters and their relationships change from the beginning of
the movie to the end. In the beginning of each movie the characters seem unsure of themselves,
especially when it comes too dating. In Sixteen
Candles, Sam Baker and Jake Ryan aren’t the
average couple the students in their high school would imagine. Jake is Mr.
Popular and Sam is just the average girl wishing she had a chance with him.
However in Napoleon Dynamite, when
Napoleon first talks to Deb, Napoleon himself doesn’t think that he would ever
like her, but during the movie their friendship starts to turn into more than
just a friendship. The couples in each movie experience growth in each of
themselves and in their relationships throughout the movies.
In Sixteen Candles, Sam and Jakes relationship goes from
non- existent in the beginning, to him giving her a birthday to remember. Sam,
the main character just turns sixteen, she doesn’t have the best birthday though;
she looks in the mirror realizing she doesn’t look the way she would like. She
thinks nobody will ever pay attention to her, not to mention her family forgets
her birthday altogether. Sam has a crush on the high school jock, Jake Ryan.
She thinks in her head that she would never have a chance with him. Her crush
starts to become even more real when he does start to notice her. He says he
isn’t interested in what most guys his age are interested in; he wants to get
to know her. He asks around about her trying to learn more. Sam does not know
that her crush who she thought didn’t even know she existed, was trying so hard
to get to know her. The growth of their relationship starts when she realizes
that he does notice her. This isn’t until toward the end of the movie, the
whole beginning of the movie shows him trying to get to her but everyone
stopping him, such as Caroline, thinking that they together, and
the Geek, Ted, lying to him about Sam because he likes Sam too and doesn’t want
Jake to have her. Sam is too preoccupied trying to learn how to get Jake’s
attention she doesn’t even realize that she already has it. During this all
Jake is growing and changing on his own. He isn’t actually the big jock that
stereotypically uses girls and never lets it affect him. Instead he is ditching
Caroline and doing all he can to get to Sam. In the end of the movie Sam’s
family, once again, leaves her to go to her sister’s wedding reception. When the
cars pull away Jake is standing there waiting for her; what they have both been
waiting for. Jake and Sam have that connection that has been between them all
along and they both can feel it while standing in front of each other. After
this he takes Sam to his house and has a birthday cake for her, showing that he
didn’t forget her birthday, even if her family did. This could have made Sam
realize that she didn’t need to feel so insecure and that Jake had a crush on
her too. They
aren’t officially ever dating in the movie, the movie leaves it with the
audience using their imagination to determine whether it works out in the end
or not.
In Napoleon Dynamite, Napoleon first meets Deb when she comes to the door,
trying to sell him things for her at home photo shoot business. Napoleon
doesn’t think anything of it at first, and neither does Deb. The school dance
is coming up and Napoleon and his friend Pedro know exactly who they want to
take. Napoleon ends up going to the dance with Trish, not Deb. Although they go
to the dance together Napoleon knows that Trish isn’t the girl for him. The
growth in the relationship between Napoleon and Deb starts more when they
become friends and start hanging out. They don’t acknowledge the fact that they
actually like each other at first. The audience can tell by the looks that are
given between them and some of the body language. Just like in Sixteen Candles this does not start to
happen until the middle of the movie and more in the end. Deb, Pedro, and
Napoleon all become friends because they need each other’s help in Pedro’s campaign
for class president. Deb has her own photo shoot business that could benefit
Pedro. During their friendship Deb and Napoleon start to realize that they may
like each other, but it is not officially acknowledged. At the end it,
Kip, Napoleon’s brother gets married and at the
wedding, Deb is there waiting for Napoleon
who rides up on a horse for his brother which just lets the audience know that
they are still interacting and with each other and again, like in Sixteen Candles, lets the imagination
determine if they work out or not. Their relationship also went from them not
interacting, even after attending the same school, to them becoming more than
just friends.
Both
couples grow throughout the movies by not even knowing each other in the
beginning to ending up together. Also they are viewed differently in their high
school social status because of their relationships and interactions. Sam was
out with one of the most popular guys in the school, so people will view her
different after. Napoleon will also be viewed different after Pedro’s campaign
speech and skit. Although both couples experienced growth throughout the
movies, they were in similar and different aspects. Both Napoleon and Jake had
other girls in their lives before Sam or Deb came into the picture. Jake was
with Caroline although he was not interested and Napoleon went to the school
dance with Trish. However, Sam and Jake didn’t interact personally very much
throughout the movie, it was all through other people and events, whereas Deb
and Napoleon were friends and worked together to help Pedro throughout most of
the movie. Both couples in Sixteen
Candles and Napoleon Dynamite
grew and became more comfortable with each other; they went out of their
comfort zones. They are each with someone they thought they would never be with,
but certain events and situations led them to each other.
Napoleon
Dynamite. Dir. Jared Hess. Perf. Jon Heder, Efran Ramirez,
Jon Gries. Fox Searchlight, 2004. DVD.
Sixteen
Candles. Dir. John Hughes. Perf. Molly Ringwald, Anthony
Michael-Hall. Universal Pictures, 1984. DVD.
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