# 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:** 4
**Author:** ![4d3fect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/4d3fect/32/9728_2.png) [@4d3fect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/4d3fect)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2017, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-a-movie-which-most-accurately-captures-teen-life-from-when-you-were-a-teen/793887/61 "2017-08-19T05:02:39Z")
Another vote for Dazed and Confused. Add a little dash of Withnail And I as I left home for college. ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2017, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-a-movie-which-most-accurately-captures-teen-life-from-when-you-were-a-teen/793887/62 "2017-08-19T05:35:06Z")
> [@Lemur866](#): > > The thing about Freaks and Geeks that works for me is that lots of popular media makes a big deal about separation into cliques. There’s the stoners, and the jocks, and the nerds. Except those separations don’t really exist as walled cliques. There were plenty of stoner jocks, nerd stoners, and jock nerds and stoner jock nerds. You can turn from one to another just by hanging out with a slightly different group of friends. Yep, all of this, which is why my vote is for **Freaks and Geeks** as well. ---
**Author:** ![standingwave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@standingwave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/standingwave)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2017, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-a-movie-which-most-accurately-captures-teen-life-from-when-you-were-a-teen/793887/63 "2017-08-19T05:40:58Z")
> [@BeeGee](#): > > I was a freshman in a small Texas town in 1976, so definitely Dazed and Confused. My brother saw it first and said “Hey, remember that guy from Howe who used to ride around in that Ranchero years and years after he’d graduated? This movie has a guy JUST like that!” I was the last class that had the freshman initiation like that. The paddling was outlawed about then, but we had days where we “had” to wear our clothes inside out and/or backward or do little songs or speeches whenever seniors said so. We definitely had some places out in the country where we gathered far away from parental eyes. Yeah, same here. Our hazing lasted just one day, the first day of school. And no paddling. Some had to wear clothes inside out and some oof us had to wear dresses. Really not that big a deal. It seemed as if everyone was just going through the motions. It was banned before my senior year. But yeah, Dazed and Confused gets my vote. The film is set in the spring of '76, with the juniors coming back as seniors, same as me. Go Class of '77! (I was pretty much Tony without the Abraham Lincoln sex dream.) And we also drank in the woods. I have to admit the film really got the clothes and cars right. We evn had an older guy like Wooderson who hung around us high school kids and he even drove the same car! 1970 Chevelle SS. _“Okay guys, one more thing, this summer when you’re being inundated with all this American bicentennial Fourth Of July brouhaha, don’t forget what you’re celebrating, and that’s the fact that a bunch of slave-owning, aristocratic, white males didn’t want to pay their taxes.”_ ---
**Author:** ![sinjin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ebca7d/32.png) [@sinjin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sinjin)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2017, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-a-movie-which-most-accurately-captures-teen-life-from-when-you-were-a-teen/793887/64 "2017-08-19T06:01:36Z")
“The Outsiders” I was a “greaser” in the late 60’s early 70’s. So yeah, the book was basically my life. But scholarships and college changed my life. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![sinjin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ebca7d/32.png) [@sinjin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sinjin)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2017, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-a-movie-which-most-accurately-captures-teen-life-from-when-you-were-a-teen/793887/65 "2017-08-19T06:13:27Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > Warren Miller’s 33rd ski film _Snowonder_ from 1982 I envy you. I love all of Miller’s ski movies. If you lived it you are one lucky guy. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2017, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-a-movie-which-most-accurately-captures-teen-life-from-when-you-were-a-teen/793887/66 "2017-08-19T13:03:09Z")
> [@sinjin](#): > > I envy you. I love all of Miller’s ski movies. If you lived it you are one lucky guy. In High School, the bell rang at 2:10, and we were on the chairlift by 2:30. Lucky indeed. ---
**Author:** ![stillownedbysetters](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/41988e/32.png) [@stillownedbysetters](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stillownedbysetters)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2017, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-a-movie-which-most-accurately-captures-teen-life-from-when-you-were-a-teen/793887/67 "2017-08-19T20:03:23Z")
I grew up in the Chicago area, so the characters and situations in the John Hughes movies (Pretty in Pink, Sixteen Candles, etc) were very close to what I remember in high school. Only difference was that I attended a Catholic high school, with the differences that entailed. ---
**Author:** ![Poysyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Poysyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Poysyn)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2017, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-a-movie-which-most-accurately-captures-teen-life-from-when-you-were-a-teen/793887/68 "2017-08-20T00:33:37Z")
_Empire Records_ _Singles_ - (music and fashion mostly) ---
**Author:** ![Elemenopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b5e925/32.png) [@Elemenopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elemenopy)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2017, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-a-movie-which-most-accurately-captures-teen-life-from-when-you-were-a-teen/793887/69 "2017-08-20T03:27:23Z")
> [@stillownedbysetters](#): > > I grew up in the Chicago area, so the characters and situations in the John Hughes movies (Pretty in Pink, Sixteen Candles, etc) were very close to what I remember in high school. Ditto. The TV show “My So-Called Life” was pretty close, plus a healthy smattering of “Clueless,” “Dazed and Confused,” “Pump up the Volume,” and “Napoleon Dynamite.” ---
**Author:** ![dorvann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df705f/32.png) [@dorvann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorvann)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2017, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-a-movie-which-most-accurately-captures-teen-life-from-when-you-were-a-teen/793887/70 "2017-08-20T03:28:08Z")
I graduated in 1993. _Clerks_ Kevin Smith’s first movie from 1994. It wasn’t set in high school, but it pretty much accurately reflects the atmosphere and feel of my teen life. Stuckin in a dead end just wanting to move on with my life. Hell, it still best represents the way I feel. \* Lucas\* I also identify with the title character cause we’re both kind of rejects in high school. ---
**Author:** ![Yookeroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yookeroo/32/323_2.png) [@Yookeroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yookeroo)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2017, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-a-movie-which-most-accurately-captures-teen-life-from-when-you-were-a-teen/793887/71 "2017-08-20T04:07:20Z")
Definitely Dazed and Confused (minus the hazing). Dead on as an incoming freshman. And Fast Times got it as a graduating senior. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2017, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-a-movie-which-most-accurately-captures-teen-life-from-when-you-were-a-teen/793887/72 "2017-08-20T04:11:55Z")
I’ve never seen “Dazed and Confused” but “Detroit Rock City” is dangerously close for me. Sent from my XT1635-02 using Tapatalk ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2017, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-a-movie-which-most-accurately-captures-teen-life-from-when-you-were-a-teen/793887/73 "2017-08-20T07:01:14Z")
My grade school years, southeast Missouri, early to mid 1990s: Some people lived “Roseanne”, others lived “Home Improvement”, at least in terms of settings, if not actual people and incidents. My little subdivision was very much in the “Home Improvement” realm, but a number of my friends were “Roseanne”. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2017, 11:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-a-movie-which-most-accurately-captures-teen-life-from-when-you-were-a-teen/793887/74 "2017-08-20T11:04:52Z")
_Wayne’s World_, with bits of _Dead Poet’s Society/Scent of a Woman_. As a preteen, I had a little experience with the world depicted in _[Rich Kids](https://g.co/kgs/34VnkJ)_ (I spent weekends with my divorced father in Manhattan in the late 70s), and the accuracy of that film is impressive. ---
**Author:** ![gonzoron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a6a055/32.png) [@gonzoron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzoron)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2017, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-a-movie-which-most-accurately-captures-teen-life-from-when-you-were-a-teen/793887/75 "2017-08-22T21:25:01Z")
> [@jools](#): > > 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. I wasn’t actually a teen until '89, but this is my answer as well. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2017, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-a-movie-which-most-accurately-captures-teen-life-from-when-you-were-a-teen/793887/76 "2017-08-22T21:40:31Z")
> [@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. I have to admit there’s a lot of truth to this. High school was just a job I did, and it’s not even quite a full time job. It was something you tried to do well at so you’d get into a good university. Portrayals of high school students tend to make the high school a much more central part of their lives than it is for most kids. I and everyone I knew showed up when we needed to and got the hell out when the bell rang. Even if you played a sport it wasn’t that huge a commitment. In movies and shows, teens are HIGH SCHOOL students; they’re practically citizens of Oak Valley High. In real life, most teens have other stuff going on; one they get out of OVH at 3:00 they’re off to things they care about - jobs, interest groups, gaming, sports, and the like. “Freaks and Geeks” is one of the more realistic portrayals I’ve seen (it’s set a bit too early for my high school years to nail fashion, but whatever) but even places more emphasis on high school than a normal person does. ---
**Author:** ![Ignatz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/3be4f8/32.png) [@Ignatz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ignatz)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2017, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-a-movie-which-most-accurately-captures-teen-life-from-when-you-were-a-teen/793887/77 "2017-08-22T22:17:07Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > **American Graffiti**. Ditto-the cars, the music, the juke box units at the tables. The '50s ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2017, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-a-movie-which-most-accurately-captures-teen-life-from-when-you-were-a-teen/793887/78 "2017-08-22T22:30:47Z")
> [@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. Surfed into it and followed through. Yep, still. And yep, I was in the movie - Adam Goldberg’s Mike, the weasly neurotic douche. Ah, high school - good times. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2017, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-a-movie-which-most-accurately-captures-teen-life-from-when-you-were-a-teen/793887/79 "2017-08-22T22:48:51Z")
Incidentally, “Stranger Things” captures the look and feel of its time pretty well (1983) in terms of fashion, hobbies, and such, and that’s only a few years before I started high school. The four friends, being in late elementary school, would be about as old as I am. ---
**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 23, 2017, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-a-movie-which-most-accurately-captures-teen-life-from-when-you-were-a-teen/793887/80 "2017-08-23T00:37:01Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > I have to admit there’s a lot of truth to this. > > High school was just a job I did, and it’s not even quite a full time job. It was something you tried to do well at so you’d get into a good university. Portrayals of high school students tend to make the high school a much more central part of their lives than it is for most kids. I and everyone I knew showed up when we needed to and got the hell out when the bell rang. Even if you played a sport it wasn’t that huge a commitment. In movies and shows, teens are HIGH SCHOOL students; they’re practically citizens of Oak Valley High. In real life, most teens have other stuff going on; one they get out of OVH at 3:00 they’re off to things they care about - jobs, interest groups, gaming, sports, and the like. > > “Freaks and Geeks” is one of the more realistic portrayals I’ve seen (it’s set a bit too early for my high school years to nail fashion, but whatever) but even places more emphasis on high school than a normal person does. for me it isn’t that. it’s that movies and TV shows are [all written by adults.](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MostWritersAreAdults) Many of them have an over-romanticized memory of the way things were when they were in school, and magnify the good parts while minimizing or ignoring the bad parts. They write the characters of children and teenagers as nothing more than sarcastic little adults, and (except maybe for _Lord of the Flies_) completely gloss over how vicious and cruel kids can be towards each other. those of us who grew up on the receiving end of that cruelty hate these kinds of movies and TV shows, because they aren’t real to us. they portray what high school would be like if high school was attended by adults. they don’t show the harassment, bullying, abuse, rumor-mongering and just utter shitty behavior which real kids engage in. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-a-movie-which-most-accurately-captures-teen-life-from-when-you-were-a-teen/793887.md?page=3) [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=5)