Meanwhile, The Kissing Booth veers towards the absurd. Based on a story by Beth Reekle published on Wattpad, the Netflix original is about high school students Elle (Joey King), her best friend Lee (Joel Courtney), and the consequences of the kissing booth they decide to run at the Spring Carnival. Somehow, Elle ends up lip-to-lip with Lee’s older brother Noah (Jacob Elordi) and the newly-minted lovebirds must keep their romance a secret as to not ruin Elle and Lee’s friendship. The sometimes bizarre dialogue and often goofy scenes are a huge part of the appeal, yet these elements don't water down the realities of the high school experience. It also pulled many of its creative devices straight from the teen rom-coms of the 80s (even though teens today may not be aware of it). Lee is in some ways the Duckie (Jon Cryer) to Elle's Andie (Molly Ringwald — who also happens to play Lee and Noah's mother) à la Pretty In Pink, although more explicitly platonic. Noah is Sixteen Candle's seemingly unattainable popular guy Jake (Michael Schoeffling). In perhaps its biggest nod, the prom scene in The Kissing Booth is set to Simple Mind's "Don't You (Forget About Me)" which played most iconically at the end of The Breakfast Club.