Indoctrination in the Dark
16 Candles
Oil, Acrylic, Acrylic marker on Canvas
27.5 X 45
2021
"16 Candles", one of the great John Hughes movies, defining a generation. Here we are rooting for Molly Ringwald to end up with heartthrob Jake, the hero of our story. But audiences in the 80's weren't able to notice or care that good guy Jake sets his soon to be ex-girlfriend, Caroline, up for a night of black out drunk non-consensual sex.
And the next morning, Caroline says she enjoyed it. So evidently, in 1984, woman are raped and they’re fine with it. And the men who arrange it, are our heroes.
I wanted Jake to seem ghostly in this painting because in real life, date rape can haunt a woman forever.
National Sexual Assault Hotline: 1-800-656-HOPE(4673)