TRASH REHASH

Every St. Elmo’s Fire Character, Ranked

From Bad to Worst

Promotional image for the 1985 film St. Elmo’s Fire. L-R: Ally Sheedy as Leslie, Judd Nelson as Alec, Emilio Estevez as Kirby, Demi Moore as Jules, Rob Lowe as Billy, Mare Winningham as Wendy, and Andrew McCarthy as Kevin. ©Columbia Pictures

Oh, look. St. Elmo’s Fire is on Hulu. Let’s watch it to see if it’s as giant a pile of cringe as we remember.

This 1985 Brat Pack flick didn’t just age poorly. It was never very good in the first place. The plot, if you can call it that, follows seven Georgetown University grads trying to hang onto their friendships while inexplicably continuing to live in their college town and pursue their careers. They gather at St. Elmo’s Bar. They chant Boogedy boogedy boogedy ahh ahh hah! to keep it as cringy as possible.

If you have especially fond memories of St. Elmo’s Fire, don’t re-watch it. I promise you it doesn’t hold up. While it’s not fair to judge old movies by today’s standards, having graduated from college in 1986 I can say that our standards back then weren’t half as low as this movie portrays them.

Here is every character ranked from bad to reprehensible. Consider yourself warned: this is going to be chock full of spoilers for this nearly 40-year-old film.

Leslie Hunter

Ally Sheedy as Leslie Hunter. Author’s screenshot. ©Columbia Pictures