# I just saw American Graffiti for the first time **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 25, 2009, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-saw-american-graffiti-for-the-first-time/482927 "2009-01-25T16:47:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2009, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-saw-american-graffiti-for-the-first-time/482927/21 "2009-01-26T13:45:53Z")
I can’t cite this either, but I very well remember when Happy Days was trying to build an audience and someone tried to explain it as: “\*American Graffiti \*was about the end of an era. \*Happy Days \*takes place during the era! While it’s still fun!” Probably not an exact quote, but that’s how they were trying to sell the show. ---
**Author:** ![randwill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a3d4f5/32.png) [@randwill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/randwill)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2009, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-saw-american-graffiti-for-the-first-time/482927/22 "2009-01-26T15:18:34Z")
> [@Runs\_With\_Scissors](#): > > I’ve been catching up on old movies now that I’m on Netflix. I’ve got quite a queue going. Recently, I watched _Rock Around the Clock_. I was amazed at how similar it was to _The Girl Can’t Help It_… Wait’ll you see “Twist Around the Clock”. ---
**Author:** ![Stephe96](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Stephe96](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stephe96)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2009, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-saw-american-graffiti-for-the-first-time/482927/23 "2009-01-26T15:24:24Z")
_“Let me have a Three Musketeers, and a ball point pen, and one of those combs there, a pint of Old Harper, a couple of flash light batteries and some beef jerky.”_ ---
**Author:** ![Don\_Draper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Don\_Draper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Draper)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2009, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-saw-american-graffiti-for-the-first-time/482927/24 "2009-01-26T17:59:50Z")
> [@Runs\_With\_Scissors](#): > > Hi, there: > > This is obviously arguable, but I define plot as a series of events in a story where each event causes the next event to happen. A story is just a series of events. > > I’m afraid I can’t cite this, but the example in my lit books was: > > The king died, and then the queen died. > > That’s a story; one event didn’t cause the other. > > The king died, and then the queen died of grief. > > That’s a story with a plot; the king’s death directly caused the queen’s death. > > _American Graffiti_ doesn’t have a plot. It’s just a bunch of stories loosely thrown together. > > I’m not saying it’s good or bad. Some people prefer character-driven stories as opposed to tight plots with an obvious conflict that must be solved by the end. I prefer plots, but a well-made “story” movie can be awesome…just rarely so. Wellll, although I disagree with you about your distinction between plot & story, I’ll set that aside for another thread. However, I definitely disagree that there are no plot points in the AG. In all the story threads in the movie, there are definite actions/reactions that form plotlines. I’ll have to watch it again to refresh my memory on them all, but just as an example let me lay out the plot to the Ron Howard/Cindy Williams story: \*Howard & Williams have been going steady, but Howard is planning to leave for college the next day and fully intends to leave town - and Williams - for good. \*Howard tries to dump Williams with a lame excuse (something like "We should see other people while we’re apart, that’ll makes us a better couple.) \*Angered by her boyfriend’s weaselly behavior, Williams begins flirting with other men. Howard becomes jealous seeing how easily ‘his girl’ has gotten over him. \*Howard starts urging Williams to get back together with him, but just for that night. This exacerbates Williams’ ire and she retaliates by hooking up with studly Harrison Ford. \*Howard becomes concerned for Williams’ safety with Ford. Williams, still seething, goads Howard even further by getting in Ford’s car just before the drag race. \*Ford’s car crashes, and Williams narrowly escapes grave injury. She rushes to Howard, and the couple are reunited. \*The next morning, Howard has changed his mind about going to college in the East, because he’s realized the most important thing to him is his girlfriend. \*The epilogue informs us that Howard never did leave Modesto. He married Williams and remained a hometown boy his whole life. So, over the course of the evening, Howard has made a pretty major decision about his own life. Not the most earth-shattering, dramatic plot ever, but there’s a plot nontheless. ---
**Author:** ![voguevixen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5ac83/32.png) [@voguevixen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voguevixen)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2009, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-saw-american-graffiti-for-the-first-time/482927/25 "2009-01-26T22:55:36Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > Happy Days was technically spun off an episode of “Love American Style” And “Mork & Mindy” was spunoff an episode of “Happy Days.” Let us never speak of this again. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2009, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-saw-american-graffiti-for-the-first-time/482927/26 "2009-01-26T23:22:18Z")
And don’t forget Wolfman Jack! I hear Lucas is planning to remake it; all CGI. ---
**Author:** ![Runs\_With\_Scissors](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/278dde/32.png) [@Runs\_With\_Scissors](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Runs_With_Scissors)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2009, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-saw-american-graffiti-for-the-first-time/482927/27 "2009-01-27T04:49:13Z")
> [@The New and Improved Superman](#): > > Wellll, although I disagree with you about your distinction between plot & story, I’ll set that aside for another thread. However, I definitely disagree that there are no plot points in the AG. In all the story threads in the movie, there are definite actions/reactions that form plotlines. > > I’ll have to watch it again to refresh my memory on them all, but just as an example let me lay out the plot to the Ron Howard/Cindy Williams story: > > \*Howard & Williams have been going steady, but Howard is planning to leave for college the next day and fully intends to leave town - and Williams - for good. > > \*Howard tries to dump Williams with a lame excuse (something like "We should see other people while we’re apart, that’ll makes us a better couple.) > > \*Angered by her boyfriend’s weaselly behavior, Williams begins flirting with other men. Howard becomes jealous seeing how easily ‘his girl’ has gotten over him. > > \*Howard starts urging Williams to get back together with him, but just for that night. This exacerbates Williams’ ire and she retaliates by hooking up with studly Harrison Ford. > > \*Howard becomes concerned for Williams’ safety with Ford. Williams, still seething, goads Howard even further by getting in Ford’s car just before the drag race. > > \*Ford’s car crashes, and Williams narrowly escapes grave injury. She rushes to Howard, and the couple are reunited. > > \*The next morning, Howard has changed his mind about going to college in the East, because he’s realized the most important thing to him is his girlfriend. > > \*The epilogue informs us that Howard never did leave Modesto. He married Williams and remained a hometown boy his whole life. > > So, over the course of the evening, Howard has made a pretty major decision about his own life. Not the most earth-shattering, dramatic plot ever, but there’s a plot nontheless. You’ve convinced me. (Folded like a cheap suit.) One thing caused the next thing, and it has a conflict. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2009, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-saw-american-graffiti-for-the-first-time/482927/28 "2009-01-27T06:03:39Z")
> [@Baldwin](#): > > And don’t forget Wolfman Jack! > > I hear Lucas is planning to remake it; all CGI. Adding Anakin to the drag race? :eek: ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2009, 6:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-saw-american-graffiti-for-the-first-time/482927/29 "2009-01-27T06:57:19Z")
> [@Baldwin](#): > > And don’t forget Wolfman Jack! **Never** forget the Wolfman. I thought his bit in the film was a very impressive piece of work from a non-actor. I love this film, and it’s the one I recommend to folks who erroneously claim that George Lucas can’t direct actors. All they can think of is his space operas where he made a stylistic choice to deliberately pay homage to the still, wooden acting of the serials that inspired them. If you consider the **Star Wars** films as one multi-part film, Lucas has only directed two other full-length films - **American Graffiti** and **THX 1138** , both of which are as different from Star Wars as three films can be. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2009, 10:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-saw-american-graffiti-for-the-first-time/482927/30 "2009-01-27T10:58:31Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > Happy Days was technically spun off an episode of “Love American Style” Not really. _Happy Days_ was made as a stand-alone pilot for ABC. When it wasn’t sold, it was shown instead as an episode of _Love American Style_, titled “Love and the Happy Days”. ABC gave it a second thought, and picked it up. ---
**Author:** ![lobotomyboy63](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobotomyboy63/32/2900_2.png) [@lobotomyboy63](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lobotomyboy63)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2009, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-saw-american-graffiti-for-the-first-time/482927/31 "2009-01-27T11:55:14Z")
> [@Runs\_With\_Scissors](#): > > You’ve convinced me. (Folded like a cheap suit.) > > One thing caused the next thing, and it has a conflict. Yeah, you could do the same for the others. Kurt was after the blonde but then he gets kidnapped by a gang, has to go through their initiation, find the Wolfman to help him, etc. Milner is fighting his own aging. Falfa comes in as the challenger and the tension builds. They finally race. But first he has to figure out how to get rid of Carol. The Toad finds Debbie, they cruise, get some hooch, make out, car gets stolen, they get it back, he’s defrocked. The stories are interwoven and sometimes their paths cross…Laurie ends up in the car with Falfa, for instance, and Steve takes the car back from Toad. John rescues Toad from the car thieves. Lots of misdirection. The reason it doesn’t feel like a story is because there isn’t just one protagonist. IIRC Lucas said that was a totally new thing and the studios didn’t want to touch it till he got Francis Ford Coppola to produce. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2009, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-saw-american-graffiti-for-the-first-time/482927/32 "2009-01-27T17:09:18Z")
A tip of the hat to the source of _American Graffiti_’s greatness: the Oscar-nominated screenplay by George Lucas, Gloria Katz, and Willard Huyck. ---
**Author:** ![lobotomyboy63](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobotomyboy63/32/2900_2.png) [@lobotomyboy63](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lobotomyboy63)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2009, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-saw-american-graffiti-for-the-first-time/482927/33 "2009-01-28T00:14:52Z")
Random bits…so I put my American Graffiti VHS (:() in and am watching it. Then I went to [imdb.com](http://imdb.com) to see what the lesser-known cast members have done. Lynne Marie Stewart played Bobbie, who chauffeured Curt and his ex-girlfriend around while they kissed in the back of her new VW. She played Miss Yvonne in “Pee Wee’s Playhouse.” Terence McGovern played Mr. Wolf, Curt’s former teacher (who was having a thing with Kay Lenz). He played Lou, the guy who fires Robin Williams at the beginning of “Mrs. Doubtfire.” Scott Beach played Mr. Gordon, the guy who interrupts the Pharaohs while they’re starting to pilfer the pinball machines. He was the judge in “Mrs. Doubtfire.” Hank Anderson, the guy who brought up Curt’s name at the Moose and who said he’d make a fine Moose one day, was the rodent guy in “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” (1978). A couple I’ll have to watch for next time I put in the respective movies… James Cranna played the guy at the liquor store who gets Toad his Old Harper by robbing the place. He played Ron in “Mrs. Doubtfire.” Ed Greenberg was Kip Pullman, object of Bobbie’s desires. He was a drama teacher in “Billy Jack.” ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2009, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-saw-american-graffiti-for-the-first-time/482927/34 "2009-01-28T01:30:33Z")
> [@Runs\_With\_Scissors](#): > > This is something I forgot to write about. It takes place in 1962, and was released in 1972. The differences between 1962 and 1972…it feels more like 50 years not ten. > > What other ten year stretch could have such stark differences? I can’t imagine a movie coming out in 2009 about 1999 being like that. _or_…is it because I was born in 1969 and lived through the last 40 years? Is my proximity to the last four decades blending them all together? Nothing in my lifetime can begin to match that change. The 60s were everything people say of them. Earlier in the century there may have been similar jumps. 1928-1938, for example. 1910-1920. But the 60s matched that radical change without world upheaval. I don’t think there’s a similar example in U.S. history. ---
**Author:** ![lobotomyboy63](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobotomyboy63/32/2900_2.png) [@lobotomyboy63](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lobotomyboy63)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2009, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-saw-american-graffiti-for-the-first-time/482927/35 "2009-01-28T01:40:22Z")
Nitpick: It was released in 1973. > **[American Graffiti (1973) - Release info - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0069704/releaseinfo/)** > > American Graffiti (1973) - Movies, TV, Celebs, and more... I wonder if September 10, 2001-September 9, 2011 will rival it. So far, off the top of my head, the WTC, Katrina, the bailouts, Obama… ---
**Author:** ![Runs\_With\_Scissors](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/278dde/32.png) [@Runs\_With\_Scissors](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Runs_With_Scissors)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2009, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-saw-american-graffiti-for-the-first-time/482927/36 "2009-01-28T05:40:57Z")
> [@lobotomyboy63](#): > > Nitpick: It was released in 1973. > > [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0069704/releaseinfo](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0069704/releaseinfo) > > I wonder if September 10, 2001-September 9, 2011 will rival it. So far, off the top of my head, the WTC, Katrina, the bailouts, Obama… But will music, clothing, hair, cars, movies, and television shows be as radically different in 2011? What about attitudes towards sex? Oh, oh…I’m getting old…I’m about to go on a rant about how all top 40 music from the last ten years sounds the same to me now 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![lobotomyboy63](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobotomyboy63/32/2900_2.png) [@lobotomyboy63](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lobotomyboy63)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2009, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-saw-american-graffiti-for-the-first-time/482927/37 "2009-01-28T12:30:53Z")
> [@Runs\_With\_Scissors](#): > > But will music, clothing, hair, cars, movies, and television shows be as radically different in 2011? > > What about attitudes towards sex? > > Oh, oh…I’m getting old…I’m about to go on a rant about how all top 40 music from the last ten years sounds the same to me now 🙂 Attitudes about sex…I wonder about this phenom I’m seeing. Young girls walking hand in hand, like they’re dating. I hear they’re trying to attract males that way. And reality TV shows with “hooking up” angles. Can we credit these to the decade in question? I see young people who are fond of putting bright colors (red, blue, purple) streaks in their hair. Not sure if that’s confined to Texas. Cars: If we hit high gas prices again, the SUVs will largely disappear. Hmm, how about the emergence of the Twixters? _Twixters are typically young adults who live with their parents or are otherwise not independent by other means, primarily financial. If they are employed, it is often unsteady and low-paying. They may have just recently exited college or high school, or recently entered their first career. This is a cultural shift in Western households. Historically, whenever a member of the nuclear family becomes an adult, he or she is expected to become independent._ > **[Twixter](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twixter)** > > Twixter is a neologism that describes a new generation of young adults in the United States and other industrialized countries who are trapped, in a sense, betwixt (between) adolescence and adulthood. This Western neologism is somewhat analogous to the Japanese term parasite single. The Twixter phenomenon was discussed in the 2005 issue of Time. > Twixters are typically young adults who live with their parents or are otherwise not independent financially. If they are employed, they often have unst... What about the green movement? I remember some of the ecology stuff “trying to be born” in the 1970s but it seems only lately that it’s getting its legs. I suspect that much change is so gradual that in situ, it’s hard to see. Now we look at American Graffiti from the present, look at the decade that followed it, and we can sort of triangulate how the decades were different. I really need to get a copy of the sequel. Spoilers follow (I’ve read the screenplay)—if you were interested in what happened to the major characters. It’s been awhile since I read it but IIRC… [spoiler]Steve and Laurie get pregnant, then married. A big argument arises because of her younger brother, Andy, who’s a hippie and gets thrown in jail. Steve and Laurie go to jail as well. Curt is a writer living in Canada—because he avoided the draft. I don’t think they did anything more with his story, switching to Andy. Toad joins the army, thinking he’s going to win Debbie that way. After serving, he’s sick of it and scared. He fakes his own death in Viet Nam (lets them think Charlie booby-trapped the latrine) and disappears into the jungle. He’s going to try to live off the land and somehow hitch a ride back to the states. Debbie hangs with a real druggie crowd. John Milner gets into drag racing and with a competitor’s help, manages to beat the factory. Carol has blossomed and hangs around the track, but John still isn’t interested. OTOH she has brought a Swedish exchange student (Eva) who has very much caught his eye. They manage to hook up. They’re out driving on New Year’s Eve. Meanwhile, the blonde in the T-bird is out drinking with Holstein and Falfa. imdb says he’s “Officer Bob Falfa” but I don’t remember that being in the screenplay. Driving drunk, the blonde runs Milner and Eva off the road, killing them.[/spoiler] ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2009, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-saw-american-graffiti-for-the-first-time/482927/38 "2009-01-28T13:10:15Z")
Wha… mention of all the cast members without including Bo Hopkins? No _Culpepper Cattle Company_ fans? (Not to mention _The Wild Bunch, Monte Walsh, The Getaway, White Lightning, The Man Who Loved Cat Dancing, The Killer Elite,_ and _Midnight Express_ to name a few…) I need to pick the movie and view it again knowing some of this interesting trivia… plus, y’all are bringin’ back too many good memories. ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2009, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-saw-american-graffiti-for-the-first-time/482927/39 "2009-01-28T15:01:08Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > I don’t think there’s a similar example in U.S. history. Aug 6th, 1991 - March 10th, 2000. Welcome to the Web. (Yes, I know the internet existed before 1991, I was on it. But… that’s when it changed for everyone.) ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2009, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-saw-american-graffiti-for-the-first-time/482927/40 "2009-01-28T15:32:51Z")
> [@Kyla](#): > > _American Graffiti_ was filmed largely in my hometown - I went to the high school in the film. > > It’s surreal to see it in a movie. Seeing so much familiar stuff in a film makes it pretty much impossible, for me, anyway, to just enjoy the movie. Modesto native, eh? I grew up in Sacramento and then Redwood City, but ended up in Modesto a few times…nice town to come from. \*\*gaffa \*\*- regarding \*\*THX 1138 \*\*- you realize that that’s Milner’s license-plate number in AG?? 😉 And I second \*\*control-z’s \*\*recommendation of \*\*Dazed and Confused \*\*- that is exactly what growing up in the late 70’s was like, just AG represented the early 60’s. Great movie. And **RWS** , I tried to watch a few of those Jukebox films - like the Girl Can’t Help It which are basically excuses to feature rockabilly and early rock hits. And even though I am a HUGE fan of the music - Eddie Cochran is god, IMHO - I find them so awful and the music / bands so poorly featured that I can’t stick with them, even with the added eye candy of Jayne Mansfield… > [@](#): > > If she walks by, the men folks get engrossed, > (She can’t help it, the girl can’t help it,) > If she winks an eye, the bread slice turn to toast, > (She can’t help it, the girl can’t help it,) > She got a lot of what they call the most… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-saw-american-graffiti-for-the-first-time/482927.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-saw-american-graffiti-for-the-first-time/482927.md?page=3)