He stands with his back against the car, wearing an optimistic smile as the song plays lightly in the background. Our hearts miss a beat as we realize that he’s here for her, that the underdog has finally won a round, even clothed in purple chiffon with a wreath of flowers adorning her head. Of course, she can’t believe that he’s actually there to see her; after all, things like that only happen in movies, not to nearly-flat-chested girls who have crazy grandparents, an asshole little brother, a doped-up sister and parents that see her more as a wallflower than the granddaughter who has “blossom[ed] before [their] very eyes.” And though we know that yes, this does only happen in movies (this being one of them, after all), we watch the closing credits with a new optimism that maybe one day, our prince really will come. If it happened to Samantha Baker, then it could happen to us.

Of course I’m talking about “Sixteen Candles”, that 80’s phenomenon of a movie that put “Long Duk Dong” in our vernacular and taught us NOT to take muscle relaxers on our wedding day. We felt Molly Ringwald’s pain as the geeks paid $5 to see her underwear, we knew someone like Joan Cusack who had the unfortunate requirement of wearing a head guard during the day, and we identified with the high school angst where the jock dated the homecoming queen cheerleader while we watched on the sidelines, forever feeling tragically uncool. Aaah, those were the days.

I’m not the only one who thought our Jake Ryan could be right around the corner; Hank Stuever of The Washington Post recently postulated that “Real Men Can’t Hold a Match to Jake Ryan” and, well, I agree with most of what he says. (Note that you may have to register for this site to read it, but I promise you, take the 2 mins. and do so. It’s a fabulous piece of journalism.) And though Jake Ryan poses as many girls’ überman, I’d have to say I’d take John Cusack any day.

Now I’m not talking about the John Cusack of “Sixteen Candles” fame, where he portrayed the geeky friend and Poloroid-wielding, undies-displaying conspirator of “Farmer Ted”, aka Anthony Michael Hall, I much prefer the John Cusack of “Say Anything…” Whereas Jake Ryan may be the überman, Lloyd Dobler holds an unequaled place in my heart as the geek we can’t help but love. He likes kickboxing, sport of the future. He gets ridiculously nervous on phone calls, telling Diane Court’s father (of latter-day Frasier fame) that “she’s pretty wonderful”, stuttering in that self-conscious way that lets you know that he just blurted it out as teenagers are apt to do. He’s more Samantha Baker than Jake Ryan in many ways, what with his longing for a person who he deems as both perfect and unattainable, even if she did break up with him by giving him a pen, and it’s for this reason that we adore him, since we not only identify with his longing but know that it’s up to him to make it happen. Whereas Samantha Baker gets tongue-tied and slumps in a heap upon being in the same coatroom with her crush, Lloyd Dobler is able to act on his feelings, albeit nervously and being anything but smooth.

Hank Stuever poses the theory that we love Jake Ryan because for one shining moment, the average beats the extraordinary. I say that we love Lloyd Dobler because while he may not be the name that we doodle on our notebooks, he’s the one we want to grow old with, imperfections and all. You can have your perfect teeth, well-coiffed hair and Porsche-driving Jake, I’ll stick with the jalopy-driving dreamer that knows there’s more to life than spending your Saturday night at the Gas & Sip, and that making a girl laugh may just be the best thing for her.