12 of pop culture’s best birthday moments

Jenna’s 13th birthday in 13 Going on 30

Is it not enough that 13 Going on 30 is one of the best rom-com movies around? It’s just filled to the brim with a number of universal concepts that still hold up today and apply to anyone, whether they’re a man, woman, teenager, or adult.
Maybe you’re wondering what the heck happened to the past 17 years of your life or maybe you’re wondering what to do about bullies… Either way, 13 Going on 30 has a banging soundtrack, and plenty of one-liners that I still use to this day. (If you tell me what you’re about to do and I don’t immediately say, “Do whatever you want, it’s not like I need a play-by-play,” we’re probably not real friends.)

I mean, this movie means a lot to me just because my mom, sisters, and I used to watch it all together on a rainy day. But also as I got older, I started noticing some really crazy things that go beyond Jennifer Garner’s ability to perfectly emulate a child stuck in a grown woman’s body. I often find myself picking apart the movie to ask why 30-year-old Jenna Rink would host a slumber party for a bunch of teenagers or why those teenagers parents would allow them to be there. Plus, what about Beaver/Matty seemed uncool? He basically had the same hair as Chris Grandy, but probably triple the intelligence. And whether it was the ‘80s or not, I still need someone to explain to me what about the Six Chicks seemed particularly exhilarating.

However, I do understand what it’s like to want to fast-forward to a time when you think you’ll have everything figured out. I get wanting to fit in so badly, you’ll betray the one person who was ever nice to you without realizing that the acceptance you so desperately wanted was there all along. That’s a legitimate thing that people deal with. But at my age, the ending of the film resonates more with me than Jenna’s choices in the middle. If I had the wishing dust that she received on her 13th birthday now, at age 25 (which is closer to 30 than 13—yikes!), I would wish to go back and do things differently, too. I would be kinder to the people around me and not take my friends for granted. Trust me, that’s not me being cheesy, it’s just the truth.
And for all the girls I met that we were just like Tom-Tom, I’d probably splash a drink on them, too.

-Buckie Wells, co-expert