As it is graduation season, I thought
it would be a good time to reflect on the high school experience and
how it is captured in film.
To my mind, far too many movies set in
high school are soaked in alcohol, sex, and drugs. It is hard for me
to relate because that wasn't my high school experience. Maybe I
just didn't get invited to the cool parties, but I find that those
movies usually miss out on the either the intense drama of high
school or its utter absurdity.
So here are the Top Ten Movies about
High School from the students' perspective (next week's will be from
the teacher's point of view).
- High School Musical.
I know that this is an overly sweet and sugary take on that time, but it does deal with the heart of finding yourself and breaking through your defined boundaries. And I am not ashamed to admit that I think music is very well-written with fantastic choreography by Kenny Ortega
9. Clueless.
This movie is like a little window
into the youth culture of the early '90's. It was fun and silly.
8. Ordinary People
While this movie is more about the
broken family at its center, it also captures the emotional
fragility of high school. When Timothy Hutton finally finds someone
he can bare his soul to, her inattentiveness stings so badly and her
smallest slight cause him great distress.
7. Juno
One of the best things about this
movie is how it shows the main characters think of themselves above
the common high school crowd, only to find that they are just as
petty and short-sighted as the ones they judge. How often do the
outsiders trash the popular kids and convince themselves that they
are not as immature? Using a big vocabulary does not make you wise.
6. Pump Up the Volume
This is a movie that grasps the
catharsis of high school rebellion. When you are that age, so much
of life seems unfair and one-sided. This movie gave a voice (albeit
a very vulgar one) that could vent those frustrations and, for lack
of a better word, angst to a sympathetic audience.
5. Some Kind of Wonderful
This is the best high school movie
that navigates that strange territory of friendship, crushes, and
romance. It captures the intensity and confusion of it all in a way
that is honest and not pandering
4.Ferris Bueller's Day Off
This is the ultimate day-dream fantasy
of an ideal high school life. John Hughes was great at capturing
the real high school experience, but he also knew our secret hopes
and wishes and he put them onto the big screen in this movie.
3. Can't Hardly Wait
There is nothing in this movie that is
too terribly deep. But my goodness, is it a fun time. So much of
high school life, reflected in the 6 main characters rang true, and
because of that it also hit my funny bone.
- American Graffiti
Like Can't Hardly Wait, it is a single night at the end of high school with interlocking stories. But George Lucas also caught the conflict of moving on verses leaving behind. How do you say goodbye to your high school friends? Should you? Can you?
- The Breakfast Club
No surprise here. This movie is still as relevant today as it was in the '80's. As I wrote one before on this movie, the 5 main characters are not stereotypes. They are archetypes. That is why the resonate so deeply even 30 years later. No high school movie comes close.
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