We were in high school at the height of the John Hughes teen comedy, yet none of them made my list, mostly because they didn’t age that well. Sixteen Candles is racist, Breakfast Club is dated and melodramatic, Ferris Beuller is a jerk, and no, I was not moved by that boom box “In Your Eyes” scene in Say Anything—it just confirmed that Ione Skye had made the right decision in dumping John Cusack. I know that not everyone will agree with me, so please--make your case for other films and shows not on this list:
Fast Times at Ridgemont High
Spicoli is hilarious, yet it’s a very dark film. These characters have dead-end jobs and not a lot of hope for anything better. They are conflicted about sex, about their friendships, and seem generally adrift. And yet they still offer some great advice: “When it comes down to making out, whenever possible put on side one of Led Zeppelin IV.”
Spicoli is hilarious, yet it’s a very dark film. These characters have dead-end jobs and not a lot of hope for anything better. They are conflicted about sex, about their friendships, and seem generally adrift. And yet they still offer some great advice: “When it comes down to making out, whenever possible put on side one of Led Zeppelin IV.”
Rushmore: Bill Murray: “Take dead aim on the rich ones, get them in the cross hairs, and take them down.” If I were graduating from high school now, this would be my yearbook quote. I would be expelled, but still.
Freaks and Geeks: Lindsay, the main character, was like a lot of the girls I knew from Gilford: smart, but no longer wanting to be that girl who does everything right.
Freaks and Geeks: Lindsay, the main character, was like a lot of the girls I knew from Gilford: smart, but no longer wanting to be that girl who does everything right.
The Wire: not technically about high school, season 4 chronicled several inner-city middle-schoolers, most of whom would never even make it to high school—the most complex, interesting, and devastating take on our educational system I’ve seen yet.
Superbad: Yes, Jonah Hill is annoying, but Michael Cera isn’t, and the girls in it look and act like actual, normal high school girls. Kind of like a high school version of The Big Lebowski, complete with mistaken identity.
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie: Lesson # 1: Teaching is not a great career for a fascist. Lesson # 2: Be prepared for what happens if your students learn by your example.
Carrie: We have since become very cautious (understandably so) about high school violence, but there is something cathartic in the last scene, when she’s on her final rampage. I will never forget Amy Irving’s hand coming up from the grave at the end.
Ghost World: also not technically ABOUT high school, but about summer-of-graduation ennui. Worth it just for the scene in art class with Ileana Douglas as the art teacher.
Peyton Place: The book is better than the film or the soap opera, and I like to support an author from Gilmanton. If anything in this book is true, Gilmanton is a lot more exciting than we Gilford students gave it credit for. One scene shows a crazy teenage party in which Allison (the main character) blasts big band music while the kids make out on the couch. And, let's admit it--we've all been to a crazy party in Gilmanton at least once in our lives. Or a metaphorical Gilmanton.
Election: The unbridled ambition of Tracy Flick makes it so fun to watch. It’s also much more of an 80s film than films that were actually made in the 80s.
The Virgin Suicides: Not too many people liked this film, but the prom scene--with Electric Light Orchestra’s “Strange Magic” playing while Kirsten Dunst’s character seduces Tripp Fontaine--captures adolescent desire like nothing I have ever seen.
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