Introduced my girlfriend to the magic of John Candy this Thanksgiving.
Posted by GeetarEnthusiast85@reddit | Xennials | View on Reddit | 49 comments
My girlfriend and I have been together for a year and this past Thanksgiving was the first time we've celebrated a major holiday together. She's solidly a millennial (born in 1990) and isn't familiar with John Candy's work.
Like many in this subreddit, a viewing of Planes, Trains and Automobiles on or around Thanksgiving is a tradition. This was her first time watching it. She knew Steve Martin from Only Murderers In The Building but not John Candy (she'd only heard of them). She loved it and him.
Watching it with her and seeing her reactions really made me appreciate what John was capable of. The film starts off with Del being nothing but a nuisance. He inadvertently steals Neal's cab, takes his shoes and socks off on the plane, spills beer on Neal's side of the bed, uses all of the bath towels and leaves the bathroom a mess.
My girlfriend travels frequently for work so a lot of what Neal was enduring resonated with her. Her reactions were priceless. "Oh my God, he took his shoes AND socks off!" "Ugh! I can't believe he used up all the towels AND left the floor wet. Disgusting!" "He better leave Steve some covers! Son of a bitch!"
Her exasperation was only matched by the howls of laughter over the situations that were transpiring.
Then. Then comes the famous "I like me" speech. Just like Neal, my girlfriend's heart melted. She went from being absolutely miffed with Del to finding him endearing. "Aw, he has the perfect puppy dog face." "Oh now I feel bad for him." Just like Neal, her opinion of Del changed over the course of the film. By the film's end, her heart was broken for him because he had no one and no where to go.
Needless to say, she loved the movie. As she raved about it, I all could think was "That was the magic of John Candy."
He could make you totally annoyed with his character, then fall in love with them. He could be gut-busting hilarious one minute and tear-inducing the next.
John Candy. Gone but not forgotten.
proudmaryjane@reddit
I showed my sister Uncle Buck this weekend for the first time! It was awesome to share that experience with her. Such a classic.
GeetarEnthusiast85@reddit (OP)
That's a great one for sure!
PlagueDrWily@reddit
Awesome; now show her Uncle Buck, Spaceballs and The Great Outdoors.
mesulli@reddit
And Summer Rental! That’s one of my favs. Works well as a double feature with the Great Outdoors for summer viewing fun.
GeetarEnthusiast85@reddit (OP)
They're on the list for sure!
graveybrains@reddit
Stripes! Canadian Bacon! Cool Runnings!
...save Nothing But Trouble for last, just in case!
GeetarEnthusiast85@reddit (OP)
Not sure if I'll show her Nothing But Trouble. That one is something. It made me glad Harold Ramis and Ivan Reitman were there to reel in Dan Aykroyd when writing Ghostbusters.
PlagueDrWily@reddit
Somehow I only just learned about Nothing But Trouble; I don’t recall any commercials, trailers or even seeing it in video rental stores growing up. Looks horrible but I feel like I need to see it just once.
HBKnight@reddit
It's horrible in an amazing way. Growing up it was on HBO heavily at one point and I watched it so many times. Love it still.
Biddy_Impeccadillo@reddit
Don’t forget Splash!
One_Waxed_Wookiee@reddit
Yes! Definitely these two movies. I've lost count on how many I've seen The Great Outdoors 😀
twobootsranch@reddit
If you haven’t seen it, the doc on him “I Like Me” on Amazon Prime Video is really good.
figment1979@reddit
The doc is soooooo good and so many parts of it hit me right in the feels.
GeetarEnthusiast85@reddit (OP)
I loved that documentary! It also really left me feeling sad because of how much John abused himself. He seemed like he was such an excellent person who maybe didn't love himself.
cmgww@reddit
I do agree but I think it was more than that. He actually had lost a lot of weight at one point, but Hollywood wanted him bigger. I think he always had that same fear that he die young like his father did. Of course quitting smoking would’ve helped dramatically, but honestly bad genetics sometimes just screws us. I mean his dad died at 35? That’s insanely young to die of a heart attack, even back then. He definitely abused alcohol as a coping mechanism, especially later in the 80s and early 90s when his schedule got so crazy. Overall it’s still a big tragedy because he passed away so young.
But honestly, even if he had cleaned up and lost weight, I’m not sure he’s with us today given his family history…. Sometimes life just sucks that way.
GeetarEnthusiast85@reddit (OP)
Good point, I'd forgotten about that part of the documentary. Still, it makes you wonder if he'd lived longer had he taken better care of himself.
NoContextCarl@reddit
Its so wild how, 5 years in this case, is such a massive divide in the media we consumed. John Candy had a solid run in the 80s, even through the early 90s.
My wife is '84 and for the most part gets all the obscure, old references I make...but its crazy to me that friends from '85 to '89, it might go over their heads.
GeetarEnthusiast85@reddit (OP)
What sort of "old references"?
Global_Jeweler_4694@reddit
of really makes you appreciate him even more for sure
Plastic_Tourist9820@reddit
Nice, take my upvote for the made in 1990 girl friend.
DarksunDaFirst@reddit
Gotta check out the John Candy classics like Uncle Buck and The Great Outdoors - which feature a pre-Home Alone Macaulay Culkin and Dan Aykroyd respectively.
And don’t forget about Space Balls!
GeetarEnthusiast85@reddit (OP)
Yup, those are on the list!
DarksunDaFirst@reddit
Excellent. May The Schwartz Be With You.
weightyinspiration@reddit
I just recently watched "Canadian Bacon" with John Candy and Rhea Pearlman. It was quite interesting considering the current climate between Can/US. Also was written by Michael Moore, so it is quite satiracal.
Not his funniest movie, but worth watching I think.
Congrats on converting another fan! Candy is the GOAT.
graveybrains@reddit
The part where the cops made them repaint their van was very Month Python 😂
DigDugDogDun@reddit
That was Dan Ackroyd!
weightyinspiration@reddit
I had the same thought when I saw it! So this is what Canadian Monty Python would look like!
GeetarEnthusiast85@reddit (OP)
That's one I need to revisit myself!
stykface@reddit
The part where they're trying to get comfortable in the bed and John Candy says "excuse me..." all polite like he's reaching for a roll across your plate at the dinner table gets me absolutely ROLLING every time lol.
GeetarEnthusiast85@reddit (OP)
If I don't clear my sinuses, I'll be snoring all night.
Dell, where is your hand?
Between two pillows.
THOSE AREN'T PILLOWS!
maggie320@reddit
I’ve never seen Planes, Trains and Automobiles. It was one of my dad’s favorites and we normally watched comedy movies together but unsure of that.
GeetarEnthusiast85@reddit (OP)
You should definitely check it out.
RaspberryVespa@reddit
Thank you for introducing her to the goodness of John Candy. You're out there doing the good work,
t's so weird to think that a 35 year old doesn't know Steve Martin from anything else besides Only Murders. Like, a 40 year old would definitely know him from so many things. Do those 5 years really make that much of a difference? Technology really changed how people were fed entertainment. I guess some Millennials just really had no exposure to anything except what they found on their Gen 1 ipads!
GeetarEnthusiast85@reddit (OP)
I think it also depends what you were exposed to. I was born in 1985 and around age 5 was the earliest I remember being aware of the world around me. So many of what became my favorite films were first viewed on television or VHS and movies/shows from the 80s were still prevalent. Someone whose first real memories are from the mid 90s forward is going to have a different experience.
RaspberryVespa@reddit
Steve Martin was still prolific in films in the 90s and early 2000s, though, even just as a dad in a film starring famous Millennials. I get someone born in 1990 not knowing John Candy, but someone not knowing Steve Martin seems odd.
(Unless it’s those poor unfortunate kids that were totally shielded from mainstream media and never allowed to watch movies or TV for fundie culty reasons. I knew kids like that in junior high and high school. One 15-year old girl I’d sat next to in one of my HS classes had said that she and her siblings were only allowed to watch one G rated film a year on their birthdays — so like five kids, five films a year — as a treat for being obedient and completing all their chores and bible studies. 😒 Talk about child abuse. Her name was Katherine and she was so pretty, and seemed so beaten down/repressed, and I often wonder how she ended up. Probably married off to a first cousin in an arranged marriage to keep it in the family. 🥴)
Free-Cherry-4254@reddit
Or they just never had a decent cinephile to show them the wonderfulness of the classic comedies of the 80s and 90s.
RaspberryVespa@reddit
Right. Lackluster parenting.
GeetarEnthusiast85@reddit (OP)
Yeah, she knows movies and shows from the mid to late 90s but very few from the early 90s or previous decades. Don't worry, I'll show her!
Tiny-Reading5982@reddit
She hasn't seen home alone??
elsie78@reddit
Don't forget Uncle Buck!
cmgww@reddit
I’ve always loved Jon Candy. It’s funny you mention planes trains and automobiles, because I’ve been a huge fan of his since I was a kid and had never seen that film in its entirety until this last week. I’ve seen all the rest, even the lesser known ones like “armed and dangerous”…. But that one was a blind spot for me. I saw it with my oldest son and we both loved it. It hit especially hard, because I had just watched the documentary.
The great outdoors remains a summer classic for my family since we have a lake place, it’s on all the time up there because we don’t get good Wi-Fi, so we just play the DVD a lot.
It’s really sad that he passed away so young, and that he was sort of spiraling at the end because of the demands of Hollywood, and owning a Canadian football league team and all that. I also hated that Hollywood frowned on him losing weight, he had lost something like 70 pounds and was doing a lot better but they wanted the “big guy”…. Obviously he did some of it to himself with the chain-smoking and drinking, but sometimes it doesn’t matter all that much. I still think he passes away younger than normal because it was just his family genetics which sucks, but that’s life sometimes.
AdDapper4220@reddit
lol I was born in 1997 and know who he is
nefe375@reddit
He was also fantastic in “Splash”.
Here4CatPics@reddit
Summer Rental is one of my comfort-watches.
Sea_Ganache620@reddit
My dyslexia read that as “ I introduced my girlfriend, Candy, to Magic Johnson”. Wow.
GeetarEnthusiast85@reddit (OP)
LOL!
MrsAshleyStark@reddit
Planes, Trains, Automobiles
Uncle Buck
Cool Runnings
Spaceballs 👌🏽
🇨🇦
Free-Cherry-4254@reddit
You need to take your GF on a John Candy binge, including Uncle Buck, Home Alone (he basically ad-libbed his entire performance there), Stripes, Delirious, Who's Harry Crumb, and, of course, Spaceballs.
GeetarEnthusiast85@reddit (OP)
Oh, don't worry, I'm gonna.