Sixteen Candles was a film way ahead of its time. The humor is still as biting today as it was in 1984. I really believe the absolute breakaway performance of this film was the one by Gedde Watanabe as Long Duk Dong. A great performance but also extremely smart dialog. Here’s our first extended seen with Dong. He’s the perfect Asian student; all the stereotypes exist. But what makes this scene smart is when you realize he’s been brought over to the states by Grandma and Grandpa as slave labor: “I love pushing lawn mower for Grandma and Grandpa.” Brilliant.
Then you get this scene. Dong we find is every bit of a real teenager as the other characters at the high school, and not a weak Asian subject to Grandma and Grandpa’s whims. He rebels.
I don’t know if Watanabe will ever get a better role in his life. As I’ve said before, parts can be limited for minorities. You often can only play the token stereotypical minority character. It’s hard to get a part that is flushed out, but Long Duk Dong is as real of a character as you get.
