Entertainment

Rob Lowe & Ralph Maccio Shine In 'The Outsiders'

by Mary Grace Garis

Another year, another beautiful celebrity getting skewered for charity. This time around it's someone especially beautiful. The Comedy Central Roast of Rob Lowe is coming to your screen shortly, with no shortage of celebrities putting him to the fire. My personal favorite reveal is that Ralph Maccio will be roasting Rob Lowe. At first, you may be wracking your brain as to why. What do the blue-eyed babe and The Karate Kid have in common,? Is this some kind of '80s idol solidarity thing? Well, if you're getting a little confused about when and how these movie legends first joined forces, let me remind you of Francis Ford Coppola's 1983 adaptation of The Outsiders.

If you never read the S.E. Hinton novel of the same name back in 9th grade, and subsequently never caught that movie, you're in for a treat. The Outsiders is a masterwork about the class and social wars between the Greasers (pompadour-haired juvenile delinquents) and the Socs (rich kids with serious attitude problems) in the early '60s. It features just about every hot guy from that era right before they got their big break. Matt Dillon, pre-Katie Holmes Tom Cruise, Patrick Swayze — it's a gigantic display of young talent.

Maccio and Lowe were both Team Greaser, playing frail little Johnny and charismatic Sodapop, respectively.

Granted, the duo didn't get a whole lot of screen time together. The film skews into a different direction real fast after Johnny kills a Soc and has to go on the run with Sodapop's brother Ponyboy, The Outsider's actual protagonist. Still, knowing that the two co-existed in the same squad is beautiful enough. And, when Johnny takes a turn for the worse towards the end of the film, Hot Young Rob Lowe and friends are totally there to avenge him in the most melodramatic scene of all time: the iconic Outsiders rumble. It is as beautiful as it is ever-so-slightly ridiculous.

If you want to get pumped for Lowe's Roast, you need to watch the Greasers and the Socs duel it out on the immediate. Between the choreographed fist fights, the pouring rain, and a glimpse of Lowe's ridiculous oiled-up hair, this delightful throwback definitely fuels the fire that makes roasts wonderful: it is the testament to both a long, glorious career, and to the awkward fashion choices one has to make along the way. The Comedy Central Roast of Rob Lowe was taped Saturday and is slated to air on September 5 at 10 P.M. Until then, stay gold.

Images: Warner Bros.; Giphy