Oh The 80s

     My parents simply do not realize how lucky they were to grow up in the 80s!! I love 'em to death, but they wasted a precious era. My parents both graduated in 1987. Do you realize how perfect that is? That means they spent all their precious teenage years in the 1980s, and being a teenager was the best age you COULD be in the 80s. Believe me, if I were in my Mom's place, I would have gone to the movies every single weekend, and had about a million mix tapes and read 17 Magazine. Well, okay, so my Mom did do a lot of that, but not the movies part. I can't even imagine that! The 1980s gave us some of the most amazing movies in the history of film, especially on the front of teen movies. Who can deny that The Breakfast Club is one of the most iconic movies in all time? And my Mom didn't even see it until it came on TV like two years later!
     Anyway, it's not my parents' fault that they were kind of clueless and square in the 80s, but I do so wish I could have grown up when they did. They totally had the best of three worlds: childhood in the 70s, teenage years in the 80s, twenties in the 90s. Perfect!

The boys from Stand By Me kind of remind me of the kids
from The Lord of The Flies.

     All that aside, there is one 80s movie in particular that I want to talk about today, and that's the movie Stand By Me. Anyone who knows anything about movies should know what a phenomenal director Rob Reiner is, and in my personal opinion, Stand By Me is one of--if not the-- best films he's made.
     Every single decision that went into the making of that movie was brilliant, from the writing, to the soundtrack (which is totally awesome) to the choice of actors. One those brilliantly chosen actors from this movie is the late River Phoenix, brother of Joaquin Phoenix. I found a quote about River Phoenix the other day on--guess what?--Tumblr that really summed up everything I thought about River when I watched Stand By Me: "Every once in a while, you’ll come across a young actor who seems to intuitively grasp all of the intricacies of acting, and you’ll stand in awe of their ability to master something that adults struggle with for years. River Phoenix is the perfect example of that rare creature: the genuinely talented child actor…"

That's River on the left.

     Guess what happened to that genuinely talented child actor? He killed himself. I don't think I'll ever be able to fully understand why things like that happen. I don't think anyone can, but it's a tragedy. Someone like River Phoenix was so incredibly rare--to be able to have the key to touching people through his acting. And we don't get to experience it anymore because of something so dark and horrible that brought his short life to an abrupt stop.
     I think it's really important that we cherish and respect the work he did get to accomplish before he took his own life, because it truly is some of the most amazing film work in the world. Stand By Me is one of the best movies I've ever seen.
     Here's a clip from one of my favorite parts:


Enjoy the snowy day! I'll try and do the 25 Things About Me tag tomorrow.
                                                   -VaughnDL