Writing About

It is said that the kind of person one becomes depends a lot on experiences and environment; it is also said that high school is a time when a person undergoes the greatest amount of personal growth. Therefore, the kind of person one becomes depends a lot on those early high school experiences. Success with life after high school has a lot to do with the interpretation of these high school experiences, as one can easily cling to the past and fail to learn from those experiences. However, one can also learn from high school experience and use it to move on with their life. In Napoleon Dynamite, Uncle Rico is an example of someone who has failed to learn from high school experiences and move on with their life after graduating high school; similarly, in Sixteen Candles, Ginny, is someone who has failed to learn from their high school experiences and apply it to life events (in her case, relationships). In contrast, Jake and Samantha are examples of people who are promising candidates for learning from high school experience and not wallowing in the past. 
 

Uncle Rico shows his failure to learn from his high school experience quite often throughout the movie Napoleon Dynamite, and it often takes the form of his inability to move on from the past. As we learn throughout the movie, Uncle Rico never seemed to get over the fact that he was a football star in high school, mainly because of how close his team was to being state champions. His reasoning was that if his team had won the state championship, he wouldn’t be where he is now, which is living in a camper van. He even goes as far as to say that he might be playing in the NFL as a professional athlete, and his high school girlfriend wouldn't have left him had it not been for that championship loss. We also observe his unhealthy and immature behavior through his attempting of get-rich-quick schemes, throwing footballs while recording himself on camera, and attempting to go back in time using a supposed “time machine” he got his hands on (it is inferred that he would probably have used the time machine, had it been real, to go back in time to change the outcome of the championship game, and therefore keep his girlfriend). All these examples point to someone that never learned from their high school experience; in Uncle Rico's case, this experience happens to be failure. He never learned how to handle defeat and move on with life, and we see the consequences of that throughout the movie.

Similarly, Ginny has trouble with relationships due to her immaturity and recurring high school mentality. We learned that she previously hasn't been able to keep a relationship for longer than six months. Now that she has finally met someone who she has been with for longer than six months, she wants to get married to him. Her line of reasoning is, “I really love Rudy. He is totally enamored of me. I mean, I've had other men love me before, but not for six months in a row,” which seems like a very immature view regarding relationships (Sixteen Candles). This is worsened by the fact that her fiance, Rudy, appears to be very obnoxious and immature, although Ginny cannot see it. Ginny also abuses muscle relaxants on her wedding day, and is barely able to stand up throughout, constantly having to be assisted by her family and fiance; this is a reflection of absence of responsibility and ignoring of consequences. Ginny is an example of someone who never moved on after high school, much like Uncle Rico. We see her exhibit behavior in the movie that shows she never learned from her high school experience, such as her immature, adolescent interpretation on what love is, and irresponsible behavior during her wedding day.

Jake and Samantha are both high school students that develop and mature throughout the movie Sixteen Candles, making them, in the audience's eyes, examples of people who will move on and not let high school experiences bog them down. At the beginning of the movie, Jake is dating Caroline, an attractive, popular senior girl. However, Jake soon tires of her party going behavior and develops an interest in Samantha. This display of maturity is shown by his transition from constant partying to actually pursuing someone he can have a real relationship with. This contrasts starkly with Ginny's perspective. Samantha similarly learns that things like her parents forgetting her birthday, and the crush she develops on Jake, aren't unforgivable or unattainable things. We see her maturation throughout the film, highlighted by the apology and conversation she has with her father, the apology she accepts from her mother for forgetting her birthday, and her apology to Ginny on her wedding day. In the end, she does start dating Jake Ryan, and one can assume she has learned from this experience as well, and developed a more positive outlook on life than she had before.

In conclusion, in the films Napoleon Dynamite and Sixteen Candles, there are characters that show that life after high school has a lot to do with the interpretation of high school experience. Uncle Rico is an example of someone who has failed to learn from high school experiences and is therefore stuck in his past, where he was a football star with a future. Ginny is also someone who has failed to learn from their high school experiences and as a result, is having trouble with relationships. Jake and Samantha, however, are examples of kids who will most probably learn from their high school experience, and will live out positive and healthy lives. It is important that one displays the maturity and growth shown by Jake and Samantha, rather than the immature thinking of Uncle Rico and Ginny. These positive displays of learning can lead one to a successful, fulfilling life.