Dazed and Confused
I was born in the wrong decade, I think. Still, there are things no one can control. I often wonder if I could have lived being a teenager in the mid 1970s. I think I could, but the real question is would I enjoy it. The older teens in this movie insist that they don't, even while viewing it, it seems like a blast. The younger teens are obviously enjoying it (spankings with wooden paddles notwithstanding). I tend to just like the culture of the mid 70s quite a bit. It's before disco took over the radio so the music is great, before the polyester explosion of the late 70s, the 70s had a great amount of great films coming out, and you could wear your hair long and it wasn't seen as unusual. By most accounts, Richard Linklater got the vibe exactly right in this movie.
The plot is pretty easy. It's the story of rising seniors on the last day of school for the year co-mingled with the last day of school for graduating middle-schoolers. There really is no plot beyond that. It involves the breaking in of the new class by the rising seniors, first through humiliation (The girls are forced to go through drill routines barked by Parker Posey, which would be hell for anyone. The boys are chased around and spanked with large paddles over the summer.) and then through acceptance with a large party with weed and alcohol. I guess things are somewhat the same for some places... maybe without the paddles. The movie is actually quite amusing even if you don't go for the 1970s love. If you just want to feel what it's like to have a "simpler" life, this is the wrong movie to watch, as Linklater was trying to show that though people tend to view their childhood through rose-colored glasses, they have the same issues that people have today. The older teens in the film feel like their childhood in the 60s were awesome, but that the 70s suck. Yeah, I'm sure those teens being drafted to Vietnam totally dug the 60s! It's like people in my age remembering the 90s as the best decade... oh... wait it was. No wars, economic prosperity, technical revolution... Okay, so maybe that example wasn't the best.
The movie was also one of the first films for a lot of actors that are well known now. It has the aformentioned Parker Posey, Ben Affleck, Anthony Rapp, Adam Goldberg, Jason London, Rory Cochrane, Joey Lauren Adams, Renee Zellweger, and of course the two most popular, Matthew McConaughey and Milla Jovovich. For some this may seem like a negative to the film. I must tell you, this was probably them at their best. McConaughey was older than the other cast members, as he played someone who'd already graduated. McConaughey gave his best remembered line in this film; one that he's asked to repeat all the time. "That's what I love about these high school girls, man! I get older, they stay the same age." In fact, that quote was nominated for AFI's list of top 100 quotes. However, it didn't make it. The main characters in the movie are basically Jason London's character of senior-to-be Randall 'Pink' Floyd and Wiley Wiggins' character of rising freshman Mitch Kramer, whom Randy Floyd takes under his wing.
The movie also has an outstanding soundtrack, which is amazing for a low-budget film. In fact, over half the budget went to getting the song rights! The soundtrack includes a wide variety of mid 70s tunes from artists like KISS, Nazareth, Aerosmith, Edgar Winter Group, Seals and Crofts, Alice Cooper, and Peter Frampton. In fact, the first soundtrack sold so well, the released more songs from the motion picture a year later.
I first saw the movie as a rental when I was 15. It was the school year I was homeschooled and was forming my identity. I had a love for all things 70s, and this movie hit the spot, not only in my need for 70s stuff, but also in a way of knowing that teens in the 70s went through the same thing I was going through. (Though they seemed to be having a better time. No doubt due to them living in Austin, Texas and me living in the middle of nowhere in a county with no incorperated towns.)
I highly recommend this movie to everyone. It's just a good time all around. There's a reason it's now considered a cult classic, even though the film flopped due to bad marketing when it was originally released. I know of some that haven't really been effected by this movie as I was, but I think you really have to see it first at the right age for that, and of course I did.
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