As a child of the ’80s, nothing gets me more excited than seeing a John Hughes Movie Marathon. Case in point, one Sunday afternoon this summer I got nothing done because I saw Ferris Buller’s Day Off, Pretty in Pink, and Sixteen Candles all on back to back. And as usual, I saw the one man who has ruined many a lady: Jake Ryan.
Even tweeting that name brings out the swoons; I couldn’t believe how many women tweeted me back with dreamy sighs. Jake Ryan has become something of an urban legend, the perfect male. Through the ’80s to now, some of us still describe the perfect man as a Jake Ryan. But why? Let’s look him more closely (oh, please, let’s!):
Jake Ryan is the rich, sexy, popular guy from high school. The one we all lusted after, but knew realistically wouldn’t look twice at us. But the movie Jake is made of awesome and he is attainable. He dumps the cheerleader (nicely dumps her at that) for the quiet nerdy girl who’s been stalking him and giving him the eye for weeks. He takes her back to his place (in a bright red Porsche) the night after her sixteenth birthday is forgotten by her entire family and gives her cake. All whilst rocking the sexiest sweater vest known to mankind.
Excuse me, I’m having a case of the swoons.
But try finding the actor who played Jake Ryan, Michael Schoeffling, and you hit a brick wall. It seems he’s dropped off the face of the earth, Google him and you’ll find all sorts of theories. But one awesome H&H Facebook fan told me he does custom furniture and her friend has seen him with her own eyes. *drools*
Again, realistically we know there is no such thing as perfect. But we can still dream, can’t we?
I want to know why, all these years later, Jake Ryan still makes us all weak in the knees. What was it about him that turned us intelligent ladies into mush?
Natasha Carty reviews Paranormal Romance and Urban Fantasy on her website Wicked Little Pixie and lives in Toronto, Canada, with her cat, Seamus.
