When I think of high school in terms of films, my mind always comes back to director and sometimes producer, John Hughes. Hughes is a guy who's high-point was in the 80's with countless love stories and plots about kids finding themselves. Yes, high school films are still made now but their impact and popularity isn't what it was back then.
Hidden through this timeline is something like the documentary American Teen. This is something that follows the previous grounds and messages in high school movies. It is something that could be made yearly or anytime. Maybe the most important thing about it though is how it relates to my ongoing high school experience.
Freshman year was the hardest on me because of the transition part from middle school. As a person who struggles with any type of change, I remember throwing up on my second day of high school because of nerves. I struggled a lot through a difficult English class and my grades were at all-time lows.
I absolute loved my sophomore year. Yes, Biology was difficult and that was a low but for every hour, I had good teachers, and a schedule that was at least manageable and very relaxing. I did have an injury this year due to cutting my hand wide open on my gym locker, but this was a class that I eventually came to fall in love with and that is definitely saying something because I'm very non-athletic. Sophomore year was such a good year and in looking back, I see that I kind of took it for granted.
To say junior year was the exact opposite of sophomore year would be correct and that would be due to one class. Following the theme of freshman year, my English class was just a joke. The class had a much more difficult curriculum, a main teacher who was nice but wasn't helpful and who I got the feeling didn't understand how I worked. Maybe the most famous incident of entire high school career was being called "rude" by the student teacher of the class over a discussion disagreement on an assignment. Let's just say I talked to an school adviser over the issue and this adviser told me that "This teacher didn't handle this well" and a meeting between the student teacher and my parents over the issue was very close to taking place but it did not. At the end of the day, I am not afraid to admit that I barely passed that class and that couldn't be a more of a shame considering that I have so much interest in English and possibly going into it once I get to college.
During the summer before senior year, you could say I was sick through most of it with my condition of acid reflux taking it's toll on me and causing me to have to change my medication which took some time to work. After coming off that very stressful year, to having a terrible sleep schedule, and having my acid reflux resurface after being away for years, I lost twenty pounds and after going to the doctor and discussing the weight loss, I never saw my parents more scared for me.
Also during that same summer, a girl popped into my life and we eventually developed a VERY strong summer bond. Unfortunately, this led to me having a ridiculous feud with her ex-boyfriend who then blocked me on Facebook and is still refusing to talk to me. Still though, this was the girl that had the most worried look when she found I lost twenty pounds and cared a lot about me when I was sick when at a time she barely knew me. A girl that has always said "You don't have any type of learning disability and the school can say whatever they want". A girl that I greatly appreciate that lets me enjoy all my hobbies without a problem and girl that doesn't need all the attention on her. A person so easy to get along with. Something that surely came out of the blue for me.
You also know she's a keeper when she is coming to your house asking to borrow original versions of Nightmare on Elm Street and Friday the 13th and who is every week for you to review a film for her.
Once my senior year started, my first three weeks of school were basically dealing with a messed-up schedule where I was put in an accounting class instead of finance even though I signed up for finance. Yes, I would need accounting as a math credit to graduate but really as a kid diagnosed with a math learning disability along with just a general learning disability, accounting is a class I should be far away from and putting it nicely somebody screwed up assigning me that class. The situation got even more crazier once I had to sit down with the assistant principle over it and get it changed to something else. Still though, I am still struggling with getting this math credit and now am having trouble with a computer programming class where the context is just way over my head. My senior year is only four weeks in and I just know it is about to get even more crazy.
I wouldn't say I had a lot of friends through high school years but I won't say I wasn't known through high school. I was one who formed his own group and I was never one to care about popularity in the first place. I did gather a small following through running this blog, knowing so about such films and attending so many Ontario Hockey League games and only missing very few. I never attended any type of school dance or any school activity due to lack of interest and frankly I never wanted to be associated with my school anyway. I did get a car at the end of my junior year but I use it only weekly because all my hobbies don't require much travel.
The point I am making with all this is that everyone has an experience or a story to identify with through the four years of high school. I will say that I have some things in common with the American Teen story but also I have experienced much different stuff along the way.
American Teen follows the real life story of five teenagers in the small town of Warsaw, Indiana. It is the documentary of what life is like in the senior year of high school and of these kids learning about their identity. It also documents their last steps before graduation and introduction into the real world.
This was shot in 2006 but if this documentary was made now, we would find similar kids just like in this movie. These five kids all have similar identity issues that will be with high school kids forever. Still though, what makes these five kids different is they are likable and this is sometimes not found in most high school kids. Hannah is the artsy girl who I probably like even more because she wants to study film-making like me. Megan is a drama queen and it's hard to like that she is trying to get into Notre Dame but her confidence and wittiness won me over. Colin is a jock and fights through his last basketball season with the highs and lows of trying to get a college basketball scholarship. Colin's story is shot and told very well and I say this as a person who is into basketball. Mitch is the guy in high school that every girl would find an attractive and who you know never had a problem making friends. Jake is the nerd and a big gamer who starts to date but doesn't have much to him substance-wise compared to others.
Again this was shot in 2006 and it feels strange for this documentary to be following kids around during a school day and you have to think most schools would not allow this to happen now. It is also a little odd to seeing kids sending emails back and forth between each other which shows the film's age even more. It also uses some low budget animation which couldn't feel more out of place.
With the characters it presents to us and it's style, American Teen is a clear inspiration from the classic Breakfast Club movie. It also feels like an MTV-type sitcom that could run during the week. In terms of film, American Teen is solid all around but in terms of a film that connects to me, nothing comes close like American Teen. It is something that comes very close to the heart.
4/5
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