Risky Business (1983) - Lana, Joel, and What the Future Holds

 So I'm sort of working on this, and I would like to sometimes sort of give a bit of a draft, not exactly a professional blog but I never have been one, really. I was batting this around in my head today.

I guess with age films can look different. I watched “Risky Business” (1983) on Sunday evening and the end sort of left me talking it out in my mind. Joel is this 18 year old kid who experienced a lot in a short amount of time. But he was a mediocre student, only getting into Princeton because his advisor had “influence” thanks to a nice evening with prostitutes, narrowly escaped disaster on multiple occasions (the furnishings and furniture of his parents’ house taken by a pimp out of revenge for “taking his girls”, paid for by the earnings made in one night of prostitutes and high school kids, bank bonds spent for some bedroom magic, put back in said house just in the nick of time before Joel’s parents returned from a trip away; Daddy’s Porche dunked in the water off a bridge by accident, cleaned and repaired before any evidence of its damage could be discovered), and dabbled in the world of prostitution. I have no reason to think Joel won’t flunk out of Princeton, be beholden to his parents for financial help, and need help remaining viable in some corporate job he’ll probably hate but make good money in. And Lana, the street smart blond from a broken home, has seen the harsh world, built a steel protective cover around her emotions, concealing her true feelings under a coating that doesn’t appear to have a crack or fracture…could Joel and her really ever function in any sort of relationship? The director’s cut of the ending fascinates me while the inevitable Hollywood ending leaves Lana still in control of her emotions, not vulnerable, as she is in the intended conclusion where she finally allows herself to be open to Joel. She takes that chance and Joel seems willing to embrace her. So the “love on the train” and “I’ll be your girlfriend while we make some big cash” that were sort of a package deal as long as Joel gave Lana a chance to go out on her own and try to develop her own path out of Guido’s control, using his home as a refuge for an evening leads to the team possibly dating? I would love to have seen Joel’s pretentious mom and hoity-toity pops react to Joel bringing Lana home. So while I love the romanticized idea of “time of your life, kid” as an old fart now (43 years old) I’m sadly living in a realistic world. Although I do smile at the option of Joel and Lana saying, “What the fuck?” and deciding to become an item, I remain rather stuck to the thought that these two came into each other’s lives at this important time that would shape their futures in ways they perhaps never anticipated. I’ll say, watching them, that chemistry was fire. Lana, as I have mentioned in the past, left this imprint on me. I was growing up and would see Lana and remember her fire, that smoldering, sensual dynamo who overpowers the screen, with a glance, a look, a real ease with how she can slide on a bed, prop herself up, and just eye you seductively…I would have been putty. As Joel was. That woman understands men, especially young men. While Brickman’s intended ending would have been an intriguing twist, seeing Lana letting her safeguards down would have been something quite impactful. Instead we get the two walking together wondering if they have a chance, going back to when they first met, conversation about payment.

This image was stuck on my mind Sunday evening. She could have convinced me to do almost anything