One not at a boarding school, one that doesn't involve drug addiction, one that doesn't involve being in a gang – one that is just a simple story of what it is really like at that moment when life is changing for everyone you know. The fact that nothing that happens in I Love You, Beth Cooper would ever happen in real life isn't that big of a deal if not for the fact that a good movie about the topic deserves to be made. Thing is, adolescents are not one-dimensional people that resemble how they're represented in the twenty year formula that Hollywood has been using, subbing in new role players as they age. Sure some kids are smart and some are good at sports but it seldomly if ever defines their entire being. Some kids you're friends with and others you're not. Yeah, I know, I don't know how that required "nerdy kid" cutting loose scene is going to happen then either. Nerds sometimes drink alcohol other than on the last day of high school. I know, they might have to reinvent the whole formula. Yes, a human can exist that is both athletic and academic. They don't even always give speeches at graduation commencement – I know, what about that mandatory valedictorian speech scene. Thing is, high school is nothing like that. Pretty much you're either stupid or a nerd getting your ass kicked. "It" girls are vicious, hate everyone, especially their parents and their best friend, they usually have a really bad life and that's why they hate everyone and all they want is someone to listen to them. Nerds are always picked on and they never ever get the girl. Maybe these groups collided in the ways we still see in films, you know, swirlies, and locking freshman in lockers, and wedgies too. There were these groups of nerds, jocks, losers, weirdos and, well, the "it" girls. Perhaps, in the 1980's there was such division. I don't know if it ever did, but in my life and my frequent conversations with others on the topic it has been confirmed that it doesn't. The main problem is that every high school film has it in their head that there is this hierarchy that simply does not exist. Why has no film been able to even come close to capturing that sentiment? Of course there are some that are brilliant The Last Picture Show, Dead Poet's Society, than there's ones that don't really have all that much to do with high school like Rushmore, Boyz N' the Hood, and oldies like Rebel Without A Cause and a huge collection from the 1980's with Say Anything being the strongest of the bunch, but over the course of cinematic history this genre, more than any other, has been completely butchered. But at that time, the world seems magnified as never before. Obviously, for some it is much more prominent than for some others. It's a time of life that is of significance to everyone. Yet, despite it not being worn thin this year, the high school genre needs major help. By my recollection this is only the second high school wide release film of the year (the other being the equally unoriginal 17 Again).
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |