Each Generation’s High School Movie

[TexasHooch 5,122]

21 minutes ago, F250 said:

This. Heathers is the Gen-X wheelhouse.

Breakfast Club and those John Hughes films seem to be a bit out of the Gen X orbit. Those early 80's movies seem more related to that slightly older unknown group that are too young for boomers and too old for Gen-X.

 

Born in '75, towards the tail end of Gen X.  I've never in my life watched "Heathers", whatever that is.  I have, however, watched every John Hughes film ever made, pretty much as they were made (Weird Science was an eye opener at the age of 10).

[Rimbo 25,972]

37 minutes ago, F250 said:

This. Heathers is the Gen-X wheelhouse.

Breakfast Club and those John Hughes films seem to be a bit out of the Gen X orbit. Those early 80's movies seem more related to that slightly older unknown group that are too young for boomers and too old for Gen-X.

 

I'm pretty much dead splat center in the nadir of the Gen X bust (end of '72 - beginning '73) and Breakfast Club was basically a documentary.

[billfromlaketravis 11,510]

I won’t age myself, bur Varsity Blues was a pretty big damned deal when I was in school. The entire school snuck in because it was rated R, and I remember having to sit in the aisles the Friday night it came out. 
 

The theater staff tried to police it and gave up. 
 

Sure it’s a dumb Texas centric movie, but it was a quality film and significant at the time. 
 

Dazed and Confused of course is a better movie, but it was and is a cult classic. Not a phenomenon when it was released. Not in Texas. Not anywhere. Got a second life on DVD and cable, thank goodness. 

[F250 28,777]

52 minutes ago, mchookem said:

 

My apologies to all the olds born in the 60's.

 

[C-Man 27,230]

35 minutes ago, Rimbo said:

I'm pretty much dead splat center in the nadir of the Gen X bust (end of '72 - beginning '73) and Breakfast Club was basically a documentary.

I was born in late '72 and the John Hughes movies were absolutely right in my wheelhouse. If forced to choose from all Gen X-era movies mentioned, I think I'd probably pick one of Breakfast Club or Heathers, the latter being a much edgier flick, as the definitive Gen X movie.

Don't suppose The Goonies qualifies as a HS movie as the main kids were probably middle schoolers.

[Don Johnson 4,754]

8 hours ago, billfromlaketravis said:

I won’t age myself, bur Varsity Blues was a pretty big damned deal when I was in school. The entire school snuck in because it was rated R, and I remember having to sit in the aisles the Friday night it came out. 
 

The theater staff tried to police it and gave up. 
 

Sure it’s a dumb Texas centric movie, but it was a quality film and significant at the time. 
 

Dazed and Confused of course is a better movie, but it was and is a cult classic. Not a phenomenon when it was released. Not in Texas. Not anywhere. Got a second life on DVD and cable, thank goodness. 

Speaking of rapey movies....

Two movies that (in my head) are recent but really aren't - Varsity Blues and Old School - have scenes that certainly wouldn't be included today.

Tweeder's quote above.

Mitch from Old School hooking up with a high school girl.

[Guest]

9 hours ago, F250 said:

 

Breakfast Club and those John Hughes films seem to be a bit out of the Gen X orbit. Those early 80's movies seem more related to that slightly older unknown group that are too young for boomers and too old for Gen-X.

 

Completely false.  Very, very, very false.

#born 1970 and grad High School 1989.  Those films are the fucking exact thing this thread is about for Gen X.

[Guest]

8 minutes ago, Don Johnson said:

Speaking of rapey movies....

Two movies that (in my head) are recent but really aren't - Varsity Blues and Old School - have scenes that certainly wouldn't be included today.

Tweeder's quote above.

Mitch from Old School hooking up with a high school girl.

Billy Bob and Mox at the football field with the shotgun would be very risky these days.

Saying no to the Darcy bikini was the biggest crime in that flick though.

Edited January 17 by slorch

[MagicSoccerSpray 1,732]

 

No love for The Program? I saw this scene in the theater before it got deleted.

Edited January 17 by MagicSoccerSpray

[Don Johnson 4,754]

1 minute ago, MagicSoccerSpray said:

No love for The Program?

You wondering why a college movie isn't anyone's favorite high school movie?

[South Austin 52,518]

Just now, MagicSoccerSpray said:

No love for The Program?

1. The Program was an awful movie. Just horrible acting and writing all over.

2. The Program was about college, not high school.

I never saw Varsity Blues. After watching James Vanderbeek’s “I don’t want your life!” line in a tortured Texas accent during the trailer, I took a hard pass.

[MagicSoccerSpray 1,732]

4 minutes ago, Don Johnson said:

You wondering why a college movie isn't anyone's favorite high school movie?

 

3 minutes ago, South Austin said:

1. The Program was an awful movie. Just horrible acting and writing all over.

2. The Program was about college, not high school.

I never saw Varsity Blues. After watching James Vanderbeek’s “I don’t want your life!” line in a tortured Texas accent during the trailer, I took a hard pass.

 

I was in High school when it came out and everyone went to see it. Revenge of the Nerds was set in college, and it's been mentioned multiple times.

Edited January 17 by MagicSoccerSpray

[Guest]

4 minutes ago, South Austin said:

I never saw Varsity Blues. After watching James Vanderbeek’s “I don’t want your life!” line in a tortured Texas accent during the trailer, I took a hard pass.

If you ever played high school football in Texas, especially a small town; there is some decent content there.  There's multiple other layers of social behavior that hit very close to home for other aspects of the high school experience.  It's most definitely NOT Gen X's film, but there's a lot to relate to in it.

Edited January 17 by slorch

[South Austin 52,518]

Just now, MagicSoccerSpray said:

I was in High school when it came out and everyone went to see it.

I saw lots and lots of movies in high school about all sorts of things.

[nolongerU2horn 767]

19 hours ago, C-Man said:

This is a good take.

I'd also argue that while Gen X is the smallest of the generations in existence today we've got an inordinate number of the "classic" HS-era, coming-of-age films because the 80's was jam-packed with them. It was movie upon movie upon movie. John Hughes was a big part of that.

• Fast Times at Ridgemont High
• Sixteen Candles
• The Breakfast Club
• Ferris Bueller's Day Off
• Pretty In Pink
• Weird Science
• Less Than Zero
• Heathers
• Porky's
• Better Off Dead
• Risky Business
• Can't Buy Me Love
• Back to the Future (though I guess you could give this one to Boomers)
• Teen Wolf
• Private School
• Valley Girl
• Some Kind of Wonderful
• Footloose
• Summer School
• Dead Poet's Society
• Red Dawn
• The Outsiders (see Back to the Future note)
• Just One of the Guys
• Three O'Clock High

If you're gonna throw in Red Dawn you should have WarGames in there too

[Don Johnson 4,754]

2 minutes ago, MagicSoccerSpray said:

I was in High school when it came out and everyone went to see it. Revenge of the Nerds was set in college, and it's been mentioned multiple times.

Revenge of the Nerds passes the test because Booger was out combing the high schools all day looking for a date.

But seriously, it - along with Animal House and Old School - was just part of a side cenversation about rapey movies not aging well, like some scenes in these HS movies.

[Aqua Buddha 14,598]

Maybe not in this genre about generational movies but Election with Matthew Broderick and Reese Witherspoon is an excellent high school movie.

[ChickenSandwich 9,843]

22 hours ago, dcar00 said:

I played the "text only" version of Oregon Trail at my elementary school.  ASCII graphics for the win.

Drug dealing text game on TI-81 says hi and 58008

 

First time i had heard of Ludes pre Bill Cosby

Edited January 17 by ChickenSandwich

[ztejas 43,467]

40 minutes ago, Don Johnson said:

Revenge of the Nerds passes the test because Booger was out combing the high schools all day looking for a date.

But seriously, it - along with Animal House and Old School - was just part of a side cenversation about rapey movies not aging well, like some scenes in these HS movies.

How is Old School rapey?

[Don Johnson 4,754]

1 minute ago, ztejas said:

How is Old School rapey?

Statutory rapey

[locodos 5,387]

3 minutes ago, ztejas said:

How is Old School rapey?

I was thinking about that too.  I'm not sure if it was explicit in the movie, but the main character slept with a High school girl who may have been under 18...  That's rape.  But I don't remember if the movie just said she was in high school or a minor.

[ztejas 43,467]

3 minutes ago, Don Johnson said:

Statutory rapey

The way that's presented in the movie isn't "rapey" at all though. It's basically implied that she took advantage of him when he was blackout drunk, he's then horrified to learn that she's in high school, and then she apologizes about it. I mean I guess if she's 17 then it's technically rape, but if anyone's being rapey it's the high school girl at a college party taking advantage of a 30-something man. 

I mean I just watched the movie. It ages fine and isn't problematic at all. Revenge of The Nerds and Animal House are a totally different level of non-PC.

[Frank The Tank 1,497]

She was about to graduate so we can safely assume she was 18. 

[Don Johnson 4,754]

2 minutes ago, ztejas said:

The way that's presented in the movie isn't "rapey" at all though. It's basically implied that she took advantage of him when he was blackout drunk, he's then horrified to learn that she's in high school, and then she apologizes about it. I mean I guess if she's 17 then it's technically rape, but if anyone's being rapey it's the high school girl at a college party taking advantage of a 30-something man. 

I mean I just watched the movie. It ages fine and isn't problematic at all. Revenge of The Nerds and Animal House are a totally different level of non-PC.

I'm not going argue the specifics of whether it was criminal or not, but IMO, if they remade that movie today, the likeable leading actor isn't having sex with a high school girl.

[utee94 15,830]

10 hours ago, Rimbo said:

I'm pretty much dead splat center in the nadir of the Gen X bust (end of '72 - beginning '73) and Breakfast Club was basically a documentary.

This. Breakfast Club is actually THE movie that best fits this thread's intent, for GenX.  But there are some others that have been mentioned that are also in the discussion.

I'm curious if there's a Millennial movie that's analogous to Breakfast Club?  Several Millennials have mentioned Superbad being the "it" movie for their generation and I can see that, but for me that movie seems more along the lines of Fast Times at Ridgemont High in tone-- a bit more of a raunchy teen comedy romp. Breakfast Club had its comedic moments but overall it was more of a drama.  Like Rimbo said-- a documentary.  Just my opinion of course.

[NorthLoop 14,215]

9 minutes ago, Don Johnson said:

I'm not going argue the specifics of whether it was criminal or not, but IMO, if they remade that movie today, the likeable leading actor isn't having sex with a high school girl.

They'd probably just make her a college freshman 

[C-Man 27,230]

1 hour ago, MagicSoccerSpray said:

 

 

I was in High school when it came out and everyone went to see it. Revenge of the Nerds was set in college, and it's been mentioned multiple times.

Revenge of the Nerds doesn't belong in discussion of definitive HS movies. It is a Gen X staple, for sure, but doesn't fit eligibility requirements for this discussion.

(The Program was on HBO Max the other night -- or maybe it was MGM+ -- and I'd forgotten how bad that movie is. Young Halle Berry makes it almost watchable.)

 

1 hour ago, South Austin said:

I saw lots and lots of movies in high school about all sorts of things.

Reminds me of a totally non-related movie quote that kinda fits this discussion

 

1 hour ago, nolongerU2horn said:

If you're gonna throw in Red Dawn you should have WarGames in there too

Yeah, WarGames is a big, big miss by me. Much better flick than Red Dawn too.

[Pig Bellmont 8,719]

2 hours ago, Don Johnson said:

Mitch from Old School hooking up with a high school girl.

[seven 1,367]

Another xennial vote for can't hardly wait. 

[F250 28,777]

2 hours ago, slorch said:

Completely false.  Very, very, very false.

#born 1970 and grad High School 1989.  Those films are the fucking exact thing this thread is about for Gen X.

Okay boomer.

[Al_4_ISU 12,464]

On 1/15/2024 at 11:59 AM, Celery Man said:

Mean Girls might be better for millennials than American Pie. I was born in 85 (which makes me an old millennial) and I think I was in jr high when American Pie came out. Mean Girls is I suppose gender specific but it is classic.

Is there another micro generation that could argue about American Pie vs Can’t Hardly Wait?

Xennials is a thing.  People born between like 80-86 who are technically Millenials, but grew up with a lot of Gen X shit.  That's me to a T (born in 85, graduated HS in 03).  All my baby sitters (mostly older cousins) as a kid were Gen X and so I was exposed to all their shit.  I watched Star Wars, Indiana Jones, and the Goonies on repeat.  The first music that I felt belonged to me was Nirvana, Oasis, Sublime, and Beck.  I have very clear memories of a time where there was no internet access for regular people (I don't think I had even heard of the internet until 4th grade), and cell phones were non-existent.  But I am, on paper, a Millenial.  

I was a freshman in HS when American Pie came out, and I definitely think it informs the way I remember that era more than Superbad (a movie I fucking love), which came out when I was graduating college.

I suspect this phenomena is more prevalent in people who grew up in small towns (as I did), as pre-internet it really did take literal years for cultural trends to catch up.

On 1/15/2024 at 12:12 PM, Dutchrudder said:

For 90s there were a lot of movies that could qualify:

Can't Hardly Wait

She's all That

10 Things I Hate About You

Cruel intentions

Varsity Blues

Mallrats

Clueless

Theres Something about Mary

Scream / I know What You Did Last Summer

 

Varsity Blues and 10 Things I Hate About You were definitely major "high school" movies for me when I was in high school.

[Al_4_ISU 12,464]

On 1/15/2024 at 10:33 PM, Pig Bellmont said:

Outside of TX I don’t think this rates as a defining HS movie for kids of any age 

I think anyone who grew up playing small town HS football, or just grew up in a place that put an excessive amount of importance on it can relate HEAVILY to Varsity Blues.  Basically anyone in the rural South or Midwest.

[Post Oak 20,239]

agreed.  minus this

 

 

[F250 28,777]

7 minutes ago, Al_4_ISU said:

Xennials is a thing.  People born between like 80-86 who are technically Millenials, but grew up with a lot of Gen X shit.  That's me to a T (born in 85, graduated HS in 03).  All my baby sitters (mostly older cousins) as a kid were Gen X and so I was exposed to all their shit.  I watched Star Wars, Indiana Jones, and the Goonies on repeat.  The first music that I felt belonged to me was Nirvana, Oasis, Sublime, and Beck.  I have very clear memories of a time where there was no internet access for regular people (I don't think I had even heard of the internet until 4th grade), and cell phones were non-existent.  But I am, on paper, a Millenial.  

I was a freshman in HS when American Pie came out, and I definitely think it informs the way I remember that era more than Superbad (a movie I fucking love), which came out when I was graduating college.

I suspect this phenomena is more prevalent in people who grew up in small towns (as I did), as pre-internet it really did take literal years for cultural trends to catch up.

Varsity Blues and 10 Things I Hate About You were definitely major "high school" movies for me when I was in high school.

I remember watching American Pie at the theaters and thinking it felt like a younger sibling type movie. I had just recently graduated  college. Culturally, it reminded me of a lot my friend's little brothers that were from the neighborhood I grew up in but not as relatable to my H.S experience in the early 90's.

[Neonmoon 38,129]

 

 

Since I am the last year of Gen X, I realize The Breakfast Club did not exactly define my high school experience. However, with older siblings, I grew up watching all those movies and identified with them. Breakfast Club, Pretty in Pink, Sixteen Candles, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Weird Science, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, etc. I prefer Breakfast Club. 

 

For Millennials. 

Superbad, Mean Girls, American Pie, Juno, Perks of Being a Wallflower, Clueless, Napoleon Dynamite, Can't Hardly Wait, Easy A

I just liked Superbad the most. I think Can't Hardly Wait or Mean Girls was probably is more defining

 

 

Edited January 17 by Neonmoon

[Gordon Shumway 452]

Gen X here, born in 72 graduated high school in 90.  I agree that Breakfast Club is probably the defining HS movie, but when I watch it now, I root for the adults.  Those kids deserved to lose one Saturday for detention.  If my son duct taped some kids butt cheeks together he probably would have been in detention for the rest of the year.  And, they would have come back the nest week and write another paper if they thought they could get away with forcing the nerdy kid to write one for everybody. 

Favorite HS movie was Say Anything.  Still holds up.

[Aqua Buddha 14,598]

Easy A is great because it's a parody of all of these and a legitimately good movie.

[BurntEyes 6,000]

22 minutes ago, Gordon Shumway said:

Gen X here, born in 72 graduated high school in 90.  I agree that Breakfast Club is probably the defining HS movie, but when I watch it now, I root for the adults.  Those kids deserved to lose one Saturday for detention.  If my son duct taped some kids butt cheeks together he probably would have been in detention for the rest of the year.  And, they would have come back the nest week and write another paper if they thought they could get away with forcing the nerdy kid to write one for everybody. 

Favorite HS movie was Say Anything.  Still holds up.

Say Anything absolutely resonates with me as a Gen X HS love movie. It's very Gen X and frankly I need to watch it again.

[DixonHur 11,337]

14 hours ago, F250 said:

Breakfast Club and those John Hughes films seem to be a bit out of the Gen X orbit. Those early 80's movies seem more related to that slightly older unknown group that are too young for boomers and too old for Gen-X.

Born '71, graduated HS in '89....Hughes movies were basically the stories of our lives.

 

Edited January 17 by DixonHur

[Rimbo 25,972]

looking at neonmoon's graph... my kids are 9 years apart and definitely a generation apart...

There are some really significant changes between her experience and his.

[66BUFF 2,564]

22 hours ago, C-Man said:

And one (maybe two) of the popular girls in Cindy Mancini's clique was a Playboy Playmate. Amanda Peterson was so damn hot. I think you're right and she was 15 or 16 when they filmed Can't Buy Me Love. She was a train wreck later in life, though. (Oh, and Seth Green was Mancini's little brother.)

15 when they filmed the movie.  Seth Green was Ronalds little brother.

[Al_4_ISU 12,464]

1 hour ago, Post Oak said:

agreed.  minus this

 

 

14 year old Al dumped a LOT of loads to that.

[F250 28,777]

21 minutes ago, DixonHur said:

Born '71, graduated HS in '89....Hughes movies were basically the stories of our lives.

 

I would argue that the theme of The Breakfast Club is universal and not actually reflective of a particular period of time, similar to The Outsiders. Everyone can relate to it because those experiences exist in every generation.

However, culturally The Breakfast Club feels somewhat dated with it's 80's culture. Yeah, if you were a teenager in the 80's I can see how you relate to the cultural relevance of the movie. But there are a lot of Gen-X that were 80's kids and were still in elementary school when that movie came out who came of age in the angsty culture of the early 90's.

The culture of the 90's was definitely different than the 80's. Someone earlier mentioned the edginess of Heathers which was a lot more reflective of my experience in high school. Not to mention the actors were actually Gen-X unlike the Brat Pack.

TLDR, Gen-X covers a big period of time and people born 5 to 10 years apart are going to have much different experiences.

[956 Worldwide 34,715]

On 1/16/2024 at 10:10 AM, South Austin said:

There are some aspects of Dazed and Confused that are timeless regardless of your generation:  High school coaches, driving around to find a gathering to get drunk/high, scheming to throw a party at your parents' house.

But it seemed like high schoolers stopped caring as much about cars somewhere in the late 70s or early 80s.  And I don't think hazing freshman is a thing anymore, at least it wasn't when I was a freshman in 1988.

Xennnial here (81) and all we fucking talked about in high school was cars, girls, and football.  I think it shifted a bit because it was all about modified trucks and to a lesser degree import tuning or pony cars but cars were for sure a major fucking thing. Just not necessarily American muscle. 
 

For movies, I’d say American Pie, Can’t Hardly Wait, and Varsity Blues are the touchstones.  But Xennials’ experience relates way more to the Breakfast Club generation than to Gen Z or even younger millennials.  If you never had a school assigned email address or submitted a paper via internet then you had a totally different way of life. 

[Deej 76,820]

15 hours ago, F250 said:

This. Heathers is the Gen-X wheelhouse.

Breakfast Club and those John Hughes films seem to be a bit out of the Gen X orbit. Those early 80's movies seem more related to that slightly older unknown group that are too young for boomers and too old for Gen-X.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generation_Jones

[Sbbruin 21,858]

On 1/15/2024 at 9:44 AM, Sweetnsourpoke said:

I'm thinking Fast Times at Ridgemont High over Breakfast Club, IMO 

My very first thought.

[DixonHur 11,337]

10 minutes ago, F250 said:

Yeah, if you were a teenager in the 80's I can see how you relate to the cultural relevance of the movie. But there are a lot of Gen-X that were 80's kids and were still in elementary school when that movie came out who came of age in the angsty culture of the early 90's.

I get it.  Breaking up HS films by generation is probably a fool's errand.  HS is 3-4 years depending on where you live, but generations are like 15 years.  For Gen X, specifically, there's no way someone born in 1965 has the same HS experience as someone born in 1980.  

It should really be broken down into 6-8 year increments.  So Breakfast Club, and other John Hughes movies, are probably most relevant to those of us born between 1964 and 1972.

 

[Don Johnson 4,754]

27 minutes ago, F250 said:

TLDR, Gen-X covers a big period of time and people born 5 to 10 years apart are going to have much different experiences.

I'm probably old man yelling at clouds here, but there was a world of cultural difference between 1975 and 1985.  And just as much 1985 to 1995.

I don't see a fucking thing different between 2013 and 2023.....

[Al_4_ISU 12,464]

22 minutes ago, 956 Worldwide said:

Xennnial here (81) and all we fucking talked about in high school was cars, girls, and football.  I think it shifted a bit because it was all about modified trucks and to a lesser degree import tuning or pony cars but cars were for sure a major fucking thing. Just not necessarily American muscle. 
 

For movies, I’d say American Pie, Can’t Hardly Wait, and Varsity Blues are the touchstones.  But Xennials’ experience relates way more to the Breakfast Club generation than to Gen Z or even younger millennials.  If you never had a school assigned email address or submitted a paper via internet then you had a totally different way of life. 

Yes.  Exactly.  We even had a coded language where we used cars as analogies for specific women so we could talk about girls in front of them, and they'd just think we were talking about cars.

Edited January 17 by Al_4_ISU

[Al_4_ISU 12,464]

11 minutes ago, Don Johnson said:

I'm probably old man yelling at clouds here, but there was a world of cultural difference between 1975 and 1985.  And just as much 1985 to 1995.

I don't see a fucking thing different between 2013 and 2023.....

You're joking, right?