From ‘Sixteen Candles’ to ‘Eighth Grade': 17 Cringeworthy Moments From Coming of Age Movies (Photos)
Bo Burnham’s debut feature film “Eighth Grade” is earning acclaim for its realistic and touching portrayal of growing up today. Of course, Burnham’s movie builds on a long legacy of movies that deal with the awkwardness of coming of age, from John Hughes classics like “The Breakfast Club” and “Sixteen Candles” to more recent successes like “Lady Bird” and “Call Me By Your Name.” Take a look at some of the most cringeworthy moments from these movies below.
The Graduate (1967)
In this classic coming-of-age story from Mike Nichols, Benjamin Braddock (breakout star Dustin Huffman) has a lot of cringeworthy moments with Mrs. Robinson (Anne Bancroft). In one scene, he confronts his soon-to-be lover about her strange behavior and then delivers the famous line: “Mrs. Robinson, you’re trying to seduce me… aren’t you?”
Fast Times At Ridgemont High (1982)
This classic (and raunchy) teen comedy took on teenage sexuality and a whole lot more. In one cringeworthy scene, Mike Damone (Robert Romanus) offers Brad Hamilton (Judge Reinhold) a five-point plan for getting with a girl. The plan goes as follows: (1) “You never let on how much you like a girl,” (2) “you always call the shots,” (3) “act like wherever you are, that’s the place to be,” (4) “whenever you order something, find out what she wants and order it for both of you,” and (5) “when it comes down to making out, whenever possible, put on Side 1 of Led Zeppelin 4.”
Sixteen Candles (1984)
In the earliest of John Hughes’ iconic coming of age movies, Samantha (Molly Ringwald) pines after older boy Jake and avoids nerdy Ted (Anthony Michael Hall), while her sixteenth birthday gets overshadowed by her older sister’s upcoming marriage. In one cringeworthy scene, Ted accosts Samantha on the dance floor and starts dancing in front of her — only for Samantha to literally run away from him to cry, leaving him to awkwardly dance by himself.
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