Eureka Blu-ray Film Review

Valley Girl (1983) • Limited Edition Blu-ray [Eureka Classics]

Julie, a girl from the valley, meets Randy, a punk from the city. They’re from different worlds but find love.

In the 1980s, the shopping mall was as important to Americans as their churches or homes. They began as a novelty but quickly became indispensable to the US middle class and their self-image. Malls were places you could shop, eat, hang out, and even see a movie. A YouTube search of malls from the era reveals a swath of promotional videos and news reports that introduced the concept of the mall, attempting to persuade the public that this was the great new American invention. People didn’t take much convincing, and nor did we on the other side of the pond…

It’s therefore only fitting that Valley Girl (a cornerstone of another American invention, the teen sex comedy) begins in a shopping mall. In a montage set to a sprightly New Wave track, high schooler and archetypal ‘Valley Girl’ Julie (Deborah Foreman) is on a shopping spree with her pals. They try on clothes (casually handing over the plastic…