I Heart Billy Hicks

I dedicate this inaugural entry to one of the greatest characters of 1980s cinema, the one, the only Billy Hicks, as realized by Rob Lowe in the timeless classic, St. Elmo's Fire (dir. Joel Schumacher, 1985). Billy, I love your sexed-up saxophone stylings, your impeccable flair for skinny ties and turned-up collars, your ebullient promiscuity, and your zeal for all things "out of hand." You are a speaker of many truths, and despite what you say, you have the "right hair." I discovered these many charms of yours while in the midst of my mid-1990s adolescence and am so grateful that I did. I scrawled your wisdom on my binder in English class because there are fewer more powerful words for the young in Hollywood cinema as your poetic advice to Jules, spoken directly to the camera with a look of camraderie and condolence:

"We're all going through this. It's our time on the edge."

And it still is.

So Billy, this one's for you. Don't go changing just to please me.