As I prepare to don a cap and gown in just under two weeks, I can’t help thinking two things:
1. If any of my friends play that Vitamin C. song, I’m going to kill them.
2. Will I cry as much at my own graduation as I did when Rory Gilmore graduated?
I’m not one for getting nostalgic at my own life events, but I do get overly attached to my favorite television and movie characters. When Zach Moris and the rest of the Saved by the Bell gang left Bayside High, I wept. When Seth Cohen and Summer Roberts got married in the O.C., I used an entire box of tissues. Now, as my own major milestone approaches, I’ve been trying to remain calm (and simultaneously procrastinate for finals) by re-living my favorite fictional graduation moments.
1. Gilmore Girls
After watching seven seasons in just over a month, I got a little emotional as Rory Gilmore became a Yale graduate… and then I cried even more when she rejected Logan’s proposal. I won’t have the experience of walking across the stage with my name called out (thanks to Northeastern’s huge graduation) so like the rest of my high school and college years, I have to live through Rory Gilmore once again.
2. Crazy Stupid Love
Steve Carell hijacks his son’s middle school graduation ceremony in order to make an impassioned speech about love. Ryan Gosling also makes an appearance. Why don’t these things happen at real-life graduations?
3. The O.C.
Before writers killed off Marissa, she, Ryan, Seth, and Summer graduated from Harbor to the sounds of Imogen Heap.
4. Legally Blonde
Fellow collegiette Elle Woods gives Harvard Law School a pink-tinted commencement speech.
5. Dawson’s Creek
Remember when Katie Holmes was Joey Potter and not Mrs. Cruise? She gave the valedictorian speech at Dawson’s Creek’s Capeside High School.
6. Say Anything
Remember the days of bulky cameras and video camcorders? They make a cameo here. At our graduation, capturing memories on iPhone may be more familiar, but the last line of the clip, “when I think about the future, I.. am… really… scared” may resonate well with many graduating seniors.
7. Patch Adams
You would expect a med school graduation to be serious, but Robin Williams keeps the mood light by mooning the crowd in Patch Adams.
What graduation scenes do you love? Leave us your favorites in the comments section. Congratulations Seniors!