The Wedding Singer: flaws in this 80s retro film

The Wedding Singer: flaws in this 80s retro film

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Many people enjoyed the 1997 film The Wedding Singer, and while it was one of the first to launch new interests in the eighties, it is still highly flawed to anyone who lived through that period. If you are going to dredge up nostalgia to promote a film, you should try to get a few facts right. The problem is that the Wedding Singer has mistakenly taken culture of from 79-85 and presented as a snapshot of 1985 (if you enjoy big words, then you would call this an anachronism). While picking flaws in films is a favourite past time of many film junkies and some times it can get very tedious, few invite criticism like the Wedding Singer. It was deliberately marketed as being a film about living in 1985 and promoting itself as accurate reflection of living in that period.

After posting The Wedding singer music which deals with musical flaws in the film, many visitors sent in emails about countless other flaws in the film. They won't all be listed, but here are a few to get started.

One of the characteristics of the early 80s was that fashion changed quite rapidly. It was a sin to be wearing the fashion that was more than six months old. Fashion from 1980 was completely out by 1982. The Wedding Singer was set in 1985, so to even think that new romantics were still lurking in by this time was simply untrue. Admittedly the town where the Wedding Singer was set could have been a retro heaven, or just very daggy. However, the film was promoted as an accurate reflection of living in 1985 - not an exception. It is an odd aspect about this film that if it had been set just two or three years earlier, then it would have been a great 80s experience. It is a mystery why they chose such a bland year as 1985 - perhaps it was the only way that Dead Or Alive's you Spin Me Round could be included.

So in addition to the music, what are some of the other faults?

		Flock of Seagulls This would have been a brave look even in 1982 when Flock Of Seagulls were around. However, in 1985 they had long left the music scene - so did most of the New Romantic hairstyles. This was simply a forced joke in the film.
		Rubiks Cube Rubiks cubes had peaked by 1983 and few were lying around by 1985 (see this history of the Rubik's cube for more details). The character has the throw away line 'no one will ever solve that'. Again, this is a forced joke that would only work if you were too young to remember the period.
		Red Vinyl and Michael Jackson This fad had come and gone by 1983 and few people would have adopted it at the time. This is more of an 80s myth than reality and nobody would have worn the outfit in 1985 - except to a fancy dress party!
		Billy Idol The appearance of Billy Idol is a fault because he had way less wrinkles in 1985.
		Break dancing Nothing too wrong with this picture, except that in the film he is break-dancing to 1983's Blue Monday by New Order. It simply would not have happened - the musical style and break-dance culture were at different ends of the spectrum (even though both are grouped loosely as 80s, it doesn't mean they belong together). There were plenty of other more appropriate songs.