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Paul Combs Makes Me Feel Like an 80’s Teen Failure
What was I doing during high school when I should have been watching movies?
The great Paul Combs of extreme Springsteen fandom fame is also a master of popular films. When his recent My Five Favorite Teen Movies of the 1980s (Part One: ‘80-’84) hit my homepage, I couldn’t click fast enough.
I was a high schooler in the early 80s. I couldn’t wait to see which of my favs he had picked.
Imagine my surprise when I realized I have only seen one of the five movies. Four decades later and a lifetime of cinema-going, videotape rentals, cable tv, and Netflix, and I have seen 1 out of 5 early 80’s teen classics — as determined by the fine mind of Combs.
I am an 80s teen failure.
Spoiler alert: Go read Combs’ story linked above if you want to maintain the edge of your seat suspense for his five favs because I intend to spill all.
This moment has brought me to a crisis of personality. Who was I as a teenager? What does my failure say about me? Not only did I not watch the key teen movies when they were new and fresh like me, but I have also apparently resisted them for decades since. Why?
The one I have seen, and multiple times I assure you, is War Games. Having a…
