"Last American Virgin" ending... thoughts?

[nogwart]

“Just Once” is one of my favorite songs of all time, and almost always brings me to tears, mostly because it takes me immediately to the last scene of “Last American Virgin”. If you don’t know the movie or the song, you won’t understand. But, if you do, you’ll understand.

So, my question is not really for guys because I’m pretty sure what the “guy” reaction is. But, for the ladies: If you’re the girl in that last scene, what’s your reaction? Would you react as she did, with the “…oh, darn, I guess I just ripped some poor guy’s heart out” head on her new guy’s chest thing, or … what?

She obviously wasn’t making the “smart” choice, but was also very obviously making the choice in her heart.

I’m really curious as to what other women feel would have been different/better reaction.

[Dale_Sams]

That guy drove until he hit a GD ocean. I assure you.

[Tread]

Best song choice for a final scene in a movie EVER.

[Snowboarder_Bo]

@nogwart

“Just Once” is one of my favorite songs of all time, and almost always brings me to tears, mostly because it takes me immediately to the last scene of “Last American Virgin”. If you don’t know the movie or the song, you won’t understand. But, if you do, you’ll understand.

So, my question is not really for guys because I’m pretty sure what the “guy” reaction is. But, for the ladies: If you’re the girl in that last scene, what’s your reaction? Would you react as she did, with the "…oh, darn, I guess I just ripped some poor guy’s heart out" head on her new guy’s chest thing, or … what?

She obviously wasn’t making the “smart” choice, but was also very obviously making the choice in her heart.

I’m really curious as to what other women feel would have been different/better reaction.

Point of clarification: that wasn’t her new boyfriend; that was her old boyfriend. That’s why that last shot of her (and him) is so SO fucking painful.

[crypto]

I’m a guy, but I’m answering anyway.

First, I hated that kid. He was the prototypical wimp, and it was really hard to like him or root for him. But after he basically broke his back to help her out of a bad situation, I kind of figured the movie would have the happy ending that all movies seem to have.

But no. Wimp gets heart ripped out by girl who goes back to the jock/slime ball who impregnated her in the first place, and dumped her when he found out. As soon as wimpy boy fixed the problem, jock boy gets the girl.

It was the best, most realistic ending to any teenage/high school genre movie I can remember seeing. It is a great scene, with a perfect song playing on the radio as he searched for the brick wall to drive into.

As a guy, it didn’t make me cry, but it certainly rang true to life. High school girls are not known for making great choices, and I think this movie hit the ball out of the park with the ending. There was no way she was going to be with the wimp. She loved the Jock, and even though he treated her like a tramp, she went back for more, thinking “this time, it will be different”, and “he really loves me.” No matter what the wimp did, she would never love him. A painful lesson, but a real one.

I don’t know the particulars, but when I saw that movie, I could think of a few girls who had a strange attraction to a guy that seemed to treat them terribly. And yet, no matter how bad she was treated, either at a party, a dance, or a football game… Anywhere in public, she was always hanging on his arm the following Monday.

Ladies, here is my theory on why that is… Perhaps you can tell me if I have a clue or if I am completely wrong.

I am talking about high school girls mostly, but also college. But I saw this much more in high school. I always had the feeling that the girl stuck around with the guy because she lost her virginity to that guy, and there was a very strong desire on her part to stay with the guy she lost her virginity to. That was always my guess, but I really don’t know. But it was the only reason I could come up with for why a girl would put up with being treated like a dog. That’s what the TLAV reminded me of. We don’t know the sexual history of the girl, but her blind attachment to the guy just seemed so tied to their having sex. If she wasn’t a virgin, she would be less likely to stand for the behavior. This is all MHO, of course.

I would love to know if my 25 year theory has some merit to it, or if it’s complete rubbish.

[NDP]

@Stink Fish Pot

It was the best, most realistic ending to any teenage/high school genre movie I can remember seeing. It is a great scene, with a perfect song [“Just Once”] playing on the radio as he searched for the brick wall to drive into.

True, but that was 1983. If they ever did a remake (and they probably will), they’d probably go with something like this song.

[nogwart]

Hmmm… Females are conspicuously absent from this discussion, which seems to me to hint towards the fact that they (females in general) see nothing wrong with the way the movie ended. Strange that gender can show such a distinct difference on a subject like this. I find this extremely interesting, but can honestly say I’m not surprised, although I did expect at least some women to defend this behavior (natural selection/strongest male vs. weak geek, etc.).

How very disappointing.

[Labrador_Deceiver]

Maybe hold off from drawing conclusions just yet.

[TriPolar]

Another guy checking in. The dude dodged a bullet. Well almost, he got a flesh wound. If he had gone further down the road with that chick it would have been even worse when she cheated him on because of another choice from her heart.

[puddleglum]

@Stink Fish Pot

I’m a guy, but I’m answering anyway.

First, I hated that kid. He was the prototypical wimp, and it was really hard to like him or root for him. But after he basically broke his back to help her out of a bad situation, I kind of figured the movie would have the happy ending that all movies seem to have.

But no. Wimp gets heart ripped out by girl who goes back to the jock/slime ball who impregnated her in the first place, and dumped her when he found out. As soon as wimpy boy fixed the problem, jock boy gets the girl.

It was the best, most realistic ending to any teenage/high school genre movie I can remember seeing. It is a great scene, with a perfect song playing on the radio as he searched for the brick wall to drive into.

As a guy, it didn’t make me cry, but it certainly rang true to life. High school girls are not known for making great choices, and I think this movie hit the ball out of the park with the ending. There was no way she was going to be with the wimp. She loved the Jock, and even though he treated her like a tramp, she went back for more, thinking “this time, it will be different”, and “he really loves me.” No matter what the wimp did, she would never love him. A painful lesson, but a real one.

I don’t know the particulars, but when I saw that movie, I could think of a few girls who had a strange attraction to a guy that seemed to treat them terribly. And yet, no matter how bad she was treated, either at a party, a dance, or a football game… Anywhere in public, she was always hanging on his arm the following Monday.

Ladies, here is my theory on why that is… Perhaps you can tell me if I have a clue or if I am completely wrong.

I am talking about high school girls mostly, but also college. But I saw this much more in high school. I always had the feeling that the girl stuck around with the guy because she lost her virginity to that guy, and there was a very strong desire on her part to stay with the guy she lost her virginity to. That was always my guess, but I really don’t know. But it was the only reason I could come up with for why a girl would put up with being treated like a dog. That’s what the TLAV reminded me of. We don’t know the sexual history of the girl, but her blind attachment to the guy just seemed so tied to their having sex. If she wasn’t a virgin, she would be less likely to stand for the behavior. This is all MHO, of course.

I would love to know if my 25 year theory has some merit to it, or if it’s complete rubbish.

I had a friend in high school, nothing to look at, not too bright, unathletic, but constantly had very pretty girlfriends. During a conversation about girls, he said that girls like to be treated poorly and the worse you treated them the better they liked it. At the time I was horrified, but I think there is some truth to it. Teenage girls like drama and their self-esteem can be very bad. Having a bad boyfriend provides lots of drama and it confirms the way they feel about themselves. Sad but sometimes true.
That scene is a totall kick in the guts.