Film Review: American Teen

August 4, 2008 by Svetlana  Send to a Friend

You have the popular kids.
You have the invisible ones.
and then….you have the in betweens. I guess I am one of the in betweens.

Within the first 5 minutes of the very wonderful new documentary “American Teen”, Hannah Bailey, one of our lead characters, who is pretty and artsy and “weird” lets you know how things work at Warsaw Community High School, and all you can do is nod.

Because…you’ve been there.
Hell, I’ve been there and I never even went to a high school anywhere near America.
What you see, while some reviewers have argued, is a simplified version of the high school experience, reduced to neat boxes and stereotypes for you to cheer for and against, somehow actually boils to the truth.
Cliches become, after all, cliches for a reason.

And it is not like the filmmakers are even trying to deny it.
I mean, look at the poster they made for it? Does it look familiar?
Can you hear “Simple Minds” in the background yet?

Let me introduce you to the cast:
-The aforementioned Hannah Bailey - who is “the freak” because, I guess, she paints? And does not wear Aeropostale? And does not drive a mercedes? You know, for all the obvious reasons.
-Colin, the “jock”
-Megan, the “princess” (or, for the 00s generation “the mean girl”_
-Mitch, the heartthrob
-and I am almost embarassed to admit, the “nerd” kid, whose name I don’t remember but then, you know, he is one of the invisible ones. I could have looked his name up now and faked it, but I didn’t. The same way I don’t remember half the kids names I went to school with. They seemed too…peripheral? (and … p.s. thank you, I KNOW I sound like a bitch)

But yes, this is our cast. They are 17.
Going on 7 and 37 simultaneously.
They have hopes, dreams, crushes, secrets, plans, problems and also, the pressure, to live up to the role they somehow (arbitrarily, as all roles are assigned arbitrarily in high school) they were handed.

There is no stepping out of the box for them.
Megan HAS TO come out on top. Colin HAS TO win a basketball scholarship. Hannah HAS TO escape Warsaw. Mitch HAS TO date someone who is not Hannah.

It is the same it was in 1985 as it was in 1965 as it was probably in 1655 with the only difference that in this “survival of the fittest” game, we also have technology in play. Making cruelty all the easier.

And while it is all a little contrived (there are obvious film-overs of narration, since people’s acne comes and goes like the wind) and obviously, still, somehow, just a movie, YOU DEFINITELY, DEFINITELY care.

YOU DEVELOP EMOTIONS FOR THEIR EMOTIONS

Example (one of a 1000):
When Mitch, all golden hair, great teeth and eyebrows and varsity jackets, informs the cameras that he has fallen for Hannah, the arty girl, and Hannah, the arty girl giggles giddily at the prospect, me and my “arty girl friends” (because, lets face it, from second 10 you and everyone else will pick who “you are” in this movie) all clasped hands and looked at each other with a look that clearly showed that, yeah, no matter how much “above it all” you pretended to be, still “the guy (that could have had any girl in school) picking you” is a desire so relatable, you cannot deny it.

And when he breaks up with her over peer pressure and via text message, we hugged each other.
You see it coming, but it is, all over again, your heart being crushed.

For some, this may all be too much to handle (the perfect pressure storm of love, victory, social acceptance AND getting into the right school happens only once in your life simultaneously and for some, it needs not be relived) but if you are brave enough to revisit “the best, or the worst” year of your life, I highly recommend seeing this.

At least you know you survived.

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