Earlier tonight I was flipping through the channels and Valley Girl (1983) was on. It's long been one of my favorite movies so I started watching it. My bf admitted he's never seen it so he watched with me.
If you've never seen it before, it's a cute 80s rom-com about a "cool" preppy girl from The Valley and a "hot" punk rock guy from Hollywood who meet and fall in love despite their complete opposite social groups and upbringing. A young Nic Cage plays Randy, while a cute (not as well known) Deborah Foreman plays Julie.
I can't believe I never realized it before, but my current relationship almost mirrors the relationship between the characters in the film, except that my bf is the cool popular athlete who grew up in a wealthy area, while I am the one who was a social misfit from a very much less affluent place. He is conventionally attractive while I'm...not. 🙁
While we were watching the movie, I would get really excited about my favorite scenes- the ones that show the two characters going on dates in their separate worlds. Randy takes Julie cruising through the rough streets of Hollywood, into his favorite dive bars, and introduces her to his ragtag buddies, then Julie whisks Randy away to...the mall food court (remember this was the 80s when malls were the height of entertainment for preppy Valley Girls lol).
I won't ruin the movie outcome for anyone who hasn't seen it, so I'll just skip ahead to the point of my story. After my bf and I finished the film, he said he really liked it and was glad I'd introduced it to him. Then said, "I don't get it...how can you love this movie so much and cheer on their mis-matched relationship, yet you don't seem to root for OUR mis-matched relationship?"
Well. 😐 I didn't have an answer, but I immediately had that lightbulb moment 💡and realized he's right. If I can get all lovesick and swoon over Randy and Julie finding their deep meaningful love connection despite their opposite socioeconomic statuses, why haven't I been swooning over my own similar situation???
I haven't even given my bf the credit he deserves for choosing someone like me despite the fact that he could have (and has had) some of the most gorgeous women around. I haven't given proper dues to the fact that despite being thousands of miles away from each other, living polar opposite lives, he and I found one another and the love that blossomed between us has been real, deep, and unrelenting. 💞
Funny how it took an old favorite rom-com to change my perspective, but change my perspective it did. Thank you, Valley Girl. 🥰
