# Name a movie which most accurately captures teen life from when you were a teen **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 17, 2017, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-a-movie-which-most-accurately-captures-teen-life-from-when-you-were-a-teen/793887 "2017-08-17T18:53:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![filmore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7993a0/32.png) [@filmore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmore)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2017, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-a-movie-which-most-accurately-captures-teen-life-from-when-you-were-a-teen/793887/1 "2017-08-17T18:53:29Z")
If someone wanted to get the most accurate impression of teen culture from when you were a teen, which movie would you recommend to them? It could be a movie made at anytime, not just from when you were a teenager. For example, you may have grown up in the 50’s and think “Back to the Future” best captured 50’s teen life and culture. The movie should not just be a good teen movie made in that decade. For example, “The Breakfast Club”, although a great 80’s teen movie, doesn’t really capture 80’s teen life and culture. Change their clothes and haircuts and it could fit in many decades. For me, I would recommend the early '80’s movie “Fast Times at Ridgemont High”. It pretty well captured the clothes, music, mall, crappy mall jobs, high school, parties, dating, and general feel of the time. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2017, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-a-movie-which-most-accurately-captures-teen-life-from-when-you-were-a-teen/793887/2 "2017-08-17T18:56:29Z")
**Dazed and Confused**!!! If you said that was my high school in CA, not in Texas as in the movie, I would say it was a documentary. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2017, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-a-movie-which-most-accurately-captures-teen-life-from-when-you-were-a-teen/793887/3 "2017-08-17T19:04:31Z")
_Over the Edge_ ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2017, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-a-movie-which-most-accurately-captures-teen-life-from-when-you-were-a-teen/793887/4 "2017-08-17T19:10:59Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > **Dazed and Confused**!!! > > If you said that was my high school in CA, not in Texas as in the movie, I would say it was a documentary. I thought of that. Pretty close but perhaps the Texas setting made it seem different. The 1980 movie Foxes with Jodie Foster and Cherie Curie was mainly about teenage girls, and set in CA, but the characters, situations, look and feel of the movie seemed to match up well with my teenage years in PA. ---
**Author:** ![filmore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7993a0/32.png) [@filmore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmore)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2017, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-a-movie-which-most-accurately-captures-teen-life-from-when-you-were-a-teen/793887/5 "2017-08-17T19:14:49Z")
In case people aren’t familiar with the movie, be sure to list the decade in which the movie is set. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2017, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-a-movie-which-most-accurately-captures-teen-life-from-when-you-were-a-teen/793887/6 "2017-08-17T19:15:00Z")
“kes” And I’m only slightly kidding ---
**Author:** ![koeeoaddi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/koeeoaddi/32/408_2.png) [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2017, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-a-movie-which-most-accurately-captures-teen-life-from-when-you-were-a-teen/793887/7 "2017-08-17T19:16:26Z")
Almost Famous Early 70s ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2017, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-a-movie-which-most-accurately-captures-teen-life-from-when-you-were-a-teen/793887/8 "2017-08-17T19:17:51Z")
speaking honestly, I’d have to say none of the ones I’ve seen. it’s a big part of the reason I really dislike this genre of movies/TV; the characters and situations depicted don’t resemble anything I actually experienced. ---
**Author:** ![DrCube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2017, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-a-movie-which-most-accurately-captures-teen-life-from-when-you-were-a-teen/793887/9 "2017-08-17T19:19:36Z")
This is a tough one. To be honest, the one that comes to mind as most like my high school experience, even though it came out 4 years after I graduated, is _Napoleon Dynamite_. EDIT: I graduated in spring 2000, _Napoleon Dynamite_ came out in August 2004. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2017, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-a-movie-which-most-accurately-captures-teen-life-from-when-you-were-a-teen/793887/10 "2017-08-17T19:23:36Z")
> [@jz78817](#): > > speaking honestly, I’d have to say none of the ones I’ve seen. it’s a big part of the reason I really dislike this genre of movies/TV; the characters and situations depicted don’t resemble anything I actually experienced. Pretty much the same for me. ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2017, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-a-movie-which-most-accurately-captures-teen-life-from-when-you-were-a-teen/793887/11 "2017-08-17T19:27:07Z")
There was much in “Animal House” I could relate to, even though I was in college in the early seventies rather than the early sixties. ---
**Author:** ![filmore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7993a0/32.png) [@filmore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmore)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2017, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-a-movie-which-most-accurately-captures-teen-life-from-when-you-were-a-teen/793887/12 "2017-08-17T19:37:06Z")
> [@jz78817](#): > > speaking honestly, I’d have to say none of the ones I’ve seen. it’s a big part of the reason I really dislike this genre of movies/TV; the characters and situations depicted don’t resemble anything I actually experienced. It could be a movie which you feel best represents teen culture at that time, even if it wasn’t your personal experience. Is there a movie which captures the teen music, cars, lifestyle, leisure activities, etc of that decade even though you didn’t personally listen to that music, drive those cars, or live that lifestyle? ---
**Author:** ![filmore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7993a0/32.png) [@filmore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmore)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2017, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-a-movie-which-most-accurately-captures-teen-life-from-when-you-were-a-teen/793887/13 "2017-08-17T19:46:25Z")
As an addition, also list a teen movie which represents your personal experience in that same decade. 80’s teen culture: Fast Times at Ridgemont High My personal teen experience: Weird Science. Dorks dorking around a computer wondering what a boob feels like. Add in some Rush songs and take away the magic, it would be like watching home movies of me and my friends. ---
**Author:** ![ExTank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@ExTank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ExTank)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2017, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-a-movie-which-most-accurately-captures-teen-life-from-when-you-were-a-teen/793887/14 "2017-08-17T19:51:02Z")
Netflix’s series _Stranger Things_ does a pretty good job of capturing the 80’s aesthetic/vibe (not the inter-dimensional monsters, though, thank Og!). Especially as it relates to Midwest/middle-class suburbia. Homes, home furnishings, cars, clothes/fashion, haircuts, music, Jr. High & High School, you name it. ---
**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2017, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-a-movie-which-most-accurately-captures-teen-life-from-when-you-were-a-teen/793887/15 "2017-08-17T19:55:17Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > **Dazed and Confused**!!! > > If you said that was my high school in CA, not in Texas as in the movie, I would say it was a documentary. Same for me, except Michigan. The setting of the film 1976 was just one year off from when I actually graduated High School. We had the same graduation-party-in-a-field. We had the same guy with a souped up car who graduated a few year ago but still hung around (the Matthew McConaughey character). He even looked just like the McConaughey character with the same longish blond hair. It was uncanny. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2017, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-a-movie-which-most-accurately-captures-teen-life-from-when-you-were-a-teen/793887/16 "2017-08-17T20:00:38Z")
_Lord of the Flies._ Things were tough where I went to school. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Terrific](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tom_terrific/32/342_2.png) [@Tom\_Terrific](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Terrific)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2017, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-a-movie-which-most-accurately-captures-teen-life-from-when-you-were-a-teen/793887/17 "2017-08-17T20:03:40Z")
Hollywood Knights, except for the California specific scenes it was pretty well on point. Worries about Vietnam, fast cars, faster girls. Too bad I saw much of it but was on the fringes instead of in the middle of it all. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2017, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-a-movie-which-most-accurately-captures-teen-life-from-when-you-were-a-teen/793887/18 "2017-08-17T20:05:11Z")
I graduated in 1997 and I was so boring and weird (as were my friends) I feel like _Napoleon Dynamite_ worked for me, too. (As \*\*DrCube \*\*said, it came out in 2004) ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2017, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-a-movie-which-most-accurately-captures-teen-life-from-when-you-were-a-teen/793887/19 "2017-08-17T20:31:05Z")
Not a lot really, I would say Napoleon Dynamite mixed with a little Dazed and Confused. ---
**Author:** ![jools](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b3f665/32.png) [@jools](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jools)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2017, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-a-movie-which-most-accurately-captures-teen-life-from-when-you-were-a-teen/793887/20 "2017-08-17T20:40:44Z")
For me its’ not a movie, but the tv show **Freaks and Geeks**. When I first saw it I recognized myself and my friends from high school, it looked more real to me. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-a-movie-which-most-accurately-captures-teen-life-from-when-you-were-a-teen/793887.md?page=2)