I do not give a single fuck if there is a commercial every ten minutes. If Martha Coolidge's 1983 movie "Valley Girl" with a young Nicolas Cage comes on TNT or TBS or the most, worst channel ever, I am, like, oh my God, totally in! Nic's fucked up, pre-veneered teeth alone are worth it and something to behold, as is his perfect nasally delivery of the cool bad-boy punk named Randy.
And like every "right and wrong side of the tracks" story, such as The Outsiders, Far and Away, or Rebel with a Cause, there has to be a bad boy to make Deborah Foreman's female protagonist Julie's world catch on fire. And for the valley girl Julie, it was a punk, unwilling to don an Izod shirt or Members Only jacket. Randy, our male protagonist, wore fingerless gloves, leather, ripped shirts and pants, makeup and hairspray. He was badass and hot as fuck, tempting and luring the sweet and demure Julie out of valley conformity and into his world.
Apparently, there is a 2020 remake of the movie Valley Girl out there. But honestly, it would be impossible to capture the brilliance and sublime silliness of the original valley girl era, where aging hippies became parents, raising daughters who donned white boots and jelly shoes and sons who popped up their collars, wearing their pants pegged at the ankle.
Like every other formulaic love story movie, Julie and Randy fight all odds to be together, but not without some sex, drugs, and rock and roll along the way. Pivotal scenes occur at a fictional nightclub called The Central, staged at the Hollywood strip club Filthy McNasty’s later known as the infamous Viper Room. And did I mention the kick-ass indie/punk/glam rock soundtrack featuring the likes of The Plimsouls, Josie Cotton, Psychedelic Furs, and Modern English? Watch this movie; I promise you will melt with Randy and Julie as their previous world crumbles, making way for their new existence together. It’s totally awesome!
Margo Griffin is like, totally in love with old school movies and televsion. She has worked in urban education for over thirty years and is the mother of two amazing daughters and to the love of her life and best rescue dog ever, Harley. Soem of Margo's words appear or will appear soon in Drunk Monkeys, Roi Fainéant Press, A Thin Slice of Anxiety, Twin Pies Literary and Bear Creek Gazette.