A Farewell Fandango

Coming of age is different for everyone and does not follow a uniform pattern. It is not about achieving anyone else’s definition of adulthood, only yours. In Fandango, a 1985 movie about five friends, called the Groovers, three of these men come of age in a different way demonstrating this idea. The men have a final road trip after they have learned that Gardener, Waggener, and Phil have each been drafted for the military. Gardener, a carefree man who claims he has never cared about a woman in his life while also dreaming about woman he used to date. Waggener has called off his wedding and considers fleeing to Mexico with Gardener to flee his adult responsibilities. Phil is an ROTC colonel who owns the car the men are sing for the road trip and yet he gets no respect from his friends.

This farewell fandango gives these three men the chance to grow up and realize what they want from their lives. For the most part, they don’t take things too seriously, tying the car to a train to get a ride and shooting fireworks at each other in a cemetery. However, tensions between Gardener, who see the trip as a “privilege of youth”, and Phillip who think he is acting like “Peter Pan,” lead to a bet. Phillip, who has a fear of heights agrees to do a skydiving jump if Waggener does not dodge the draft.

Phillip completes the jump and gets the respect he always wanted from his friends and learns he can be proud of his achievements without acknowledgment from others. Waggener, after agreeing to the draft, realizes it’s not too late for his marriage. The Groovers, led by Gardener, host a wedding for Waggener and his fiancé, Debbie. Waggener accepts the adult responsibilities he initially shirked. It is revealed that the woman Gardener loved was Debbie and at the wedding we shares a farewell fandango (a kind of dance) with her before departing. Gardener reconciles his past relationship to move on with his life. The three men each come of age in their own ways: learning self-validation, accepting responsibilities, and moving on. The movie shows that there is no uniform way that everyone grows up.

Comments

  1. locally locayleeJanuary 30, 2021 at 12:41 PM

    I find it interesting you chose a film with multiple coming-of-age plots all tied into one. Although they're all on their own journey, they've agreed to grow together in the same timeline. In other words, while they're dealing with personal growth separately, they're doing it at the same time. I am curious to see how seamlessly the movie sounds to have accomplished tying in three separate growth tracts.

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  2. SerenityFebruary 6, 2021 at 9:45 AM

    I find it really interesting that you describe coming of age as something that doesn't really have a pattern because I've never thought of it that way, and when writing my own essay I was trying to find patterns. I also think it's interesting that you said it's about achieving your own definition of adulthood because I agree with that, but I also think that other people acknowledge our coming-of-ages before we do.

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  3. JakeFebruary 10, 2021 at 9:54 AM

    I think is a great example of coming-of-age with its different approaches to that plot. As you talked about it shows that everyone has a different goal and a different definition to coming-of-age, there's not a set way to grow up. I like how you show that there isn't a pattern because I spent a long time trying to define to myself what constituted a coming-of-age narrative.

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  4. ZhaohanFebruary 19, 2021 at 7:19 PM

    This comment has been removed by the author.

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    Replies
    1. ZhaohanFebruary 19, 2021 at 7:20 PM

      That's a really bittersweet story, which I'm starting to see as a trend in coming of age stories. I feel bad for Gardener, since so much of his life is nebulous, but I guess you could say that he also has the most freedom now, since he can finally leave his past behind.

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