The other day, I was sitting in the carpool line at my son’s school when “Don’t You (Forget About Me)” by Simple Minds came on the radio. This song instantly transports any child of the 80’s to Shermer High School and that fateful day of Saturday detention for the Brain, the Athlete, the Basketcase, the Princess, and the Criminal.
I must have heard this song thousands of time in my life, but at that particular moment it dealt me a serious blow to the nostalgia bone. Somehow, at some point in time, I had evolved into the role of the parent in that movie. All my life, I had felt like one of those high school kids sitting in Principal Vernon’s detention that Saturday. Those kids were my friends and I was theirs — we all had stupid teenage problems that we had to deal with in our own way. Now, I have kids, and I can see myself saying the same things to them as the parents of those Shermer High parents. I think I may have even told my kids that if they messed with the bull, they’d get the horns! Aagh! When did this happen?!?
Are there any particular movies or scenes that affect you like this? Anyone else starting to feel a little creaky?
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This week, the League of Extraordinary Bloggers is wondering when we got so…
Ah good call! Two movies that come to mind are The Money Pit (buying an old home) and Mr. Mom.
I feel creaky every time i get together with old friends to go drinking, and I have 2-day hangovers instead of 1…
I’ll be 30 this year
Hey, at least they haven’t tried to make a fraudulent sequel to The Breakfast Club over twenty years after the original for some kind of cheap name recognition cash grab unlike the recently announced “Mrs. Doubtfire” sequel.
Once they start remaking/rebooting films that were made originally during my lifetime, then I’ll know I’m old (and sadly many such projects are already in production, so I can only be in denial for so much longer).
You mean a sequel like this: https://www.coolandcollected.com/the-breakfast-club-where-are-they-now/
I’d be okay with a sequel, but definitely not a reboot. If it was done well, it might be fun to see where those kids ended up in life.
Feeling creaky? Like on old wooden rocking chair left out in the rain.
This feeling old thing is hitting me hard. It’s pretty sudden too. Everything seems to be celebrating it’s 10th, 20th, or 30th anniversary, shocking me into the realization that this music, movie, or tv show I like isn’t as recent as it feels (experiences in mind are not as close as they appear). I’m referred to as sir more often than I’d like. Also, the recent episode of Toy Hunter that had Jorden digging up “vintage” items from the 90s didn’t help. Chronological perspective is cruel. I’m turning 40 next month and I don’t like it one bit. But as they say, it’s better than the alternative.
Yeah, we’ve reached a good vintage haven’t we. 😉
It is amazing to think how many of our favorite things are celebrating these milestones. I don’t feel old, but this sort of thing is starting to make me feel a little ancient.
One of my favorite 80s movies! As a teacher I sometimes catch myself sounding like old principal Vernon, I’ve had similar thoughts cross my mind where I’m saying to myself “wait a minute I’m one of the kids not the grouchy old principal!”. I guess that’s why I love my toy hobby so much. Kids at heart!
Pretty soon the biggest perk to being a teacher will be upon me! SUMMER! It’s as close as I’ll ever get to being a kid again 😉
Ha! I bet this movie hits you pretty close to home. 😉
Enjoy your break!
Oh man, I love that song. Oddly enough, I think one of its most effective uses was in a Futurama episode several years ago. I almost tear up whenever I see that episode.
I always start feeling old whenever I watch Jurassic Park or Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. I can still remember going to see those movies in the theater when they first came out. Jurassic Park really bothers me, because in the time since that movie came out, we’ve discovered that dinosaurs were most likely feathered, and that the Brontosaurus didn’t even exist. The world needs to stop changing, darnit!
No lie, I watched Jurassic Park yesterday on a big screen, and I was happy to see that it holds up really well! There’s a reason these movies are classics. The dated effect on the dinosaur facts didn’t bother me too much, but I’m not a huge dino-phile. (is that a word?)
It is amazing how good that movie looks, even now. I think it actually holds up better than the sequels, though I think they used a lot more cgi in those.
Oh man, that’s a slap to the face.
I’ve tried to be a good nostalgic Jedi to my young padowans, but just the other day my oldest (who’s 9) reffered to a cassette tape as a record. FATHER FAIL!!!
Ha! My kids wouldn’t know what a record was if they saw one. I think I might have to show them one and see what they think it is. come to think of it, they might not even know what a CD is… man, this world is changing too fast!
Any old movie or tv show from the 70s or 80s makes me feel old anymore lol.
Here’s a test for all of us. If you answer wrong, you are afraid of getting old and/or you can’t believe how old you actually are:
Fast as hell, In less than three seconds, just looking at the numbers: What is the answer of 2014 minus 1993?
The fast right answer is more than 20.
The fast wrong answer is around 10.
I faced this problem when trying to count how many years passed since 1993. Me and my friends (all of us older than 25) answered wrong because we can’t believe there are more than 20 years since early 90s!!
Aaaaaahhhhhhhh!!!!!11!1
I do this ALL the time! The 90’s are a lost decade to me.
I was 6 when I first saw Star Wars…
in the theater…
not the Special Edition, the original.
I might have been sitting next to you. 😉
Ahhh, a classic. every summer my big brother has an outdoor movie fest in his backyard and we all sit outside and watch movies at night. This past summer we sat our kids down to watch The Breakfast Club. even they each identified with one of the kids in that detention. My son even recognized his dad as the Criminal from his early days. we had a lot of laughs at ourselves. It is a classic that never loses relevance.