MovieChat Forums > Valley Girl (1983) Discussion > Shakespeare references?

Shakespeare references?

posted 12 years ago by Chicago_Jake
8 replies | jump to latest

Okay, everyone knows that this movie is veeerrrry loosely based on "Romeo and Juliet." How many parallels to the Shakespeare original can you find?

1. Obviously, the names Randy and Julie, and how they come from different sides of the tracks.
2. The famous scene under the movie marquis for "Romeo and Juliet."
3. Romeo and Juliet is set in Verona. VG is set in the Valley.
4. This one I'm not sure is for real or just my imagination: Randy's buddy is named Freddie. Romeo's buddy was named Mercutio. Put them together and you get Freddie Mercury, who was quite popular in the early eighties!

Okay, your turn. Go!

[–] lynda618 12 years ago

I can't add to your very apt points, but here's something about names that has always bothered me.

As old, anti-war hippies from the '60's, the parents would NEVER have named their daughter Julie! Or Tricia either, for that matter.

Anyone older than a certain age will understand what I'm saying.

[–] 12 years ago

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[–] johnston.scot 10 years ago

True.

On the other hand, somewhat, the character would've been born c. 1967, when that connection was slightly more obscure - though only slightly, particularly in California.

It would've been more on-character - and more humorous - for her to be saddled with some ridiculous name like Starshine ... or Moon Unit, for that matter. Perhaps a bit on the nose.

FWIW, the popularity of the name "Julie" spiked in the early- to mid-sixties.

[–] SpaceMountainMike 9 years ago

As old, anti-war hippies from the '60's, the parents would NEVER have named their daughter Julie! Or Tricia either, for that matter.

Irony strikes again: the club where Randy and Julie go (where the band is playing "Million Miles Away") was filmed at the Viper Room where River Phoenix died in real life, and his sister's name is Rain.

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[–] TonyAtRest 10 years ago

I don't think he was ever referred to as Freddie, just Fred.

[–] highschoolkiller 10 years ago

her name should have been star or Rainbow, or maybe summer.

I hated Jaws, it had too much shark, and dont get me started about King Kong, waaay too much gorilla

[–] shmourtney 9 years ago

Maybe it WAS, and she insisted on being called something "normal." Lots of kids change/stretch their names or go by the middle names or a nickname or stop going by a nickname around middle school...

[–] 9 years ago

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