by Steph Holton

I’m a millennial and I don’t know how to date.

But I’m also a film minor who puts way too much stock in the “art imitates life” concept, and I want to know who the onscreen-dating-dynamic of the ‘80s was imitating! Because apparently dating now is in no way as simple as when John Hughes was directing Judd Nelson and Molly Ringwald.

Characters in “The Breakfast Club” didn’t have to navigate Tinder (or Match or Bumble or any of the numerous others), and dating in the movies almost always happens within the more or less reliable confines of high school where participants have considerably fewer responsibilities than college students. As students at PSU, most of us not only have school, but work and extra-curriculars, not to mention family and friends to fit into our schedules. And then to top that off with attempting to find someone to give you warm fuzzies – worrying about ‘the right way’ to go about doing so? Is anyone else floundering out there? We don’t ask each other to “go steady.” Hell, we can’t even change our Facebook relationship statuses because that’s so 2010.

So what are the rules?

What I’ve finally come to realize in this millennial world of ours is that even though we’re doing things differently (the trademark of our wonderfully weird, often frustrating, brilliantly innovative generation), there were never any rules. I’ve come to realize that even though we don’t swap letterman jackets anymore, there’s still no right way or perfect time to ‘become official,’ or meet the parents, or hit any other relationship milestone. Every relationship is unique, and no matter how you met or what the current culture may deem the right way to go about it, it ultimately comes down to the feelings of the individuals involved, and that’s something that transcends generations.