That AIDS urban legend
I remember how I was on an 80s movies rampage a few weeks back, and during that span, one of the films that I watched was the classic comedy ‘Fast Times at Ridgemont High’.
I likened the movie as a true generation bookmark, with every 80’s fad (hair, music, the mall) practically stamped over it. This film was perhaps one of the first movies that was marketed toward the teen segment. Not as brazen as American Pie, but I guess at that time, this was already considered as a venture towards the wild side.
This film also had future Oscar recepients such as Sean Penn, Forest Whitaker and Nicholas Cage. And of course, this film also starred Phoebe Cates.
Yes. Winner tayo jan.
Anyway, I told my brother about that particular swimming pool sequence, and his first words to me were…
“Phoebe Cates? Didn’t she die of AIDS?”
Hahaha. I totally forgot about that.
With no snopes.com back then, there was just no way to verify the veracity of that rumor. The story just spread like wildfire and gullible people gamely pounced on it.
Poor Phoebe.
Well, at least, if there’s any consolation, ‘Fast Times at Ridgemont High’ was not alone in defining the 80s. That Phoebe Cates urban legend also defined that generation too.
I had a terrible crush on Phoebe Cates…and Jennifer Connelly too, come to think of it. But…didn’t Phoebe marry Kevin Kline?
I recall the fantasy sequence in FAST TIMES where Phoebe removes her swimsuit top very well…the girl next door we all dream of marrying…
Also that Allanis Morissete is dead. And then it turned out that it was the UP Psychology department that was spreading the rumors to study how urban legends spread (so diba dapat Social Anthropology dept?). Which I think is an urban legend in its own. Haha.
Perhaps the Alanis Morisette they were refering to that died was the one that made this video.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=ar7afdfBHj4