Am I the only person in the world who though the American Pies were turd biscuits? I think there portrayal of teenage people is too forced. NO ONE can write accurate teenagers, not even teens. I’m sick of people trying… The key is to write for kids as though they were adults. Like the 6th Sense. If you write for a kid who “acts” like a kid, you’re going to crap it up… take The Phantom Menace for example. Not only was that little PUKE, (Jake Lloyd), the worst actor of any sort in the history of acting… we had to Innovision the future Darth Vader as a kid who says “Cool”, and “Radical”.
I’ve said before, I like the movie “Go” where all the main characters are young or in their 20’s. I think that was a MUCH better portrayal of young people than American Pie was. My brother and I watched AP together, and we were laughing at how silly it was. I mean, they get kids and put a beer in their hands so it looks authentic. Another movie I thought did a descent job of portraying young people was “Road Trip”, and I didn’t even really like that movie… (I HATE Tom Green, he’s a little prick that gets laughs for being stupid and pissing people off… anyone could do that!! Anyone can put a friggin turkey on their head, and jump up and down… or whatever he does for a cheap laugh). It’s not that I’m looking for movie character folk to be 100% authentic on all accounts, they aren’t funny unless they are exaggerated… I know this. It’s just when I watched American Pie, something didn’t seem right. I can’t put my finger on it, but be a 20 y/o male, I know it’s there. All I know is, my friends agree with me. I have friends of all types too.
So if anyone can point out what exaclty these characters do that doesn’t sit right with me, or if ANYONE out there agrees (you don’t have to be young either), please write. I guess I just think the beer these kids were drinking, or the sex foowlies they got into were there to sort of mask what was otherwise a “Saved By The Bell” group of kids. To be honest, I don’t have a solid answer.
I American Pie kids just didn’t seem authentic. It’s like the writers tried too hard. It wouldn’t be a problem if writing for children was as easy as writing for adults.
So I agree that you should try writing for young characters more like adults than young people. I think the child like qualities, or young adult like qualities, will come threw by young actors IF THEY’RE SKILLED.
I also hated that kid from Star Wars TPM, not personally, but I don’t know what George Lucas saw in him. I saw that movie two days ago and all I could think about was how bad of an actor that kid was, (and of course Jar Jar). I just wish they could do it all over again.
Tom Green is exactly what’s wrong in entertainment. His acts are “cheep” and doing stupid things like putting chickens on his head, (or whatever he does), requires no comic ability. My cousin claims she was actually harassed by him, but since it all happened before his recognition in the US, I remain a little skeptical. It’s not that I mind people playing pranks on other people, (I’m a fan of Jerky Boys), but his pranks effect people in a negative way and arn’t smart or funny.
Anyway... I know what you mean about writing young people. I'm 21 and none of my friends liked either of those movies aside from the nudity and all. Me, I don't care about nudity, the movie sucks.
‘River’s Edge’ had a very accurate portrayal of teens, I believe. ‘Dazed and Confused’ was pretty realistic, too. I remember that the teens were not portrayed as stupid (even the comic stoner characters) but were definitely not acting like adults.
Yeah, I was thinking about that. Never saw either of those movies but I was thinking of the movie “Clueless” and how the authenticity of the characters didn’t bother me at all. I just can’t put my fingure on why I these kids pissed me off in American Pie, all my friends agree with me too.
Rivers Edge also has the fine distinction of being the worst movie ever made.
“Dude…my friend just killed his girlfriend for no apparent reason and showed off the corpse. It’s like such a moral dillema…should I tell the police that my friend is a homocidal freak that casual kills people…I dunno…let’s go talk to Feck.”
Not because of Reeves… I don’t know why everyone hates him so much. He might not be book-bright, but I’m sure he has good qualities and I never really noticed him as being a bad actor
Um, it’s ridiculous but it’s pretty closely based on a real story. What’s scary is there really are a lot of kids out there who would be having a moral dilemna over that.