As of tomorrow at 9:45 p.m., I will no longer be a teenager. It's a great transition, as I enter my adult life. And as such, I have decided to discontinue the star system for rating movies. Applying stars to a movie is highly subjective and discourages readers (and even me) from actually reading reviews. I won't eliminate stars on the first 100 reviews but expect no more. Instead, I will simply recommend or fail to recommend a title. Additionally, I will also begin reviewing videogames. Since I'm very busy with university, work, and my on-campus organization, don't expect too many. Please enjoy my final review written while I was a teenager.
I won't be a teenager tomorrow night at this time, so I have less than 24 hours to critique American Teen with complete authenticity. The film is a documentary of sorts about the lives of five teenagers (then high school seniors) as they prepare for college. Director Nanette Burstein shot many hours of footage for this film and carefully chose which should be in the finished product. The result is almost too stylized to be considered a documentary. American Teen lacks the grit of contemporary members of its genre. March of the Penguins was similarly directed, but well edited and brilliantly scored.
A guy has pimples while addressing the camera, only to be clear-faced in the next instant. Very strange. That guy, as you may imagine, is the nerdy guy. The other four characters fall into the jock, preppy girl, artistic rebel punk girl, and preppy guy archetypes. They might as well be the cast of the next Ar Tonelico game. All of them are faced with stereotypical problems their social class demands. I was moved, at least, by the characterization each person receives. They aren't just walking drones. The preppy guy begins dating the punk girl at one point and the preppy girl has to overcome her sister's suicide. Young audience members may identify with one of the cast more than most critics would have you believe. Yet despite the inclusion of non-traditional elements, each person adheres to our expectation. People will seldom admit that they are much less complicated than they think. This movie proves it.
In my eccentric high school experience, I encountered many people who fit into these categories and additional ones. I won't go into detail, but there wasn't much I could get from this movie that I didn't experience. There is what I consider the film's greatest flaw. As the high school featured is in a small town, only certain types of people are present. My school had approximately 2000 kids at any given time. We had transgendered students, twenty-six different ethnic groups, mentally handicapped students, homosexual students, non-English speaking students, exchange students, and refugee students. A film called American Teen should be from the perspective of members of every group I mentioned and those I didn't see in high school. Religious issues are also absent. A lot of kids struggle with finding their spiritual identity. Why not find someone like that for this movie? A lot of "adults," or people who haven't been in high school for a long time have praised this movie for "showing the real concerns of children." I won't refute the film's ability to do that. If you are one of those people, please remember that the film only addresses a minority of concerns. I didn't dislike the movie, but I felt disappointed while watching it. Here is a documentary that presents us with an aura of its own lack of faith in its ability to be entertaining. People are inherently entertained by learning new things. I don't want a faux Hollywood teen movie with lower production values that isn't as insightful as its bigger counterpart. Heathers or Mean Girls will teach you a lot more about North American teens than this movie will.
I won't be a teenager tomorrow night at this time, so I have less than 24 hours to critique American Teen with complete authenticity. The film is a documentary of sorts about the lives of five teenagers (then high school seniors) as they prepare for college. Director Nanette Burstein shot many hours of footage for this film and carefully chose which should be in the finished product. The result is almost too stylized to be considered a documentary. American Teen lacks the grit of contemporary members of its genre. March of the Penguins was similarly directed, but well edited and brilliantly scored.
A guy has pimples while addressing the camera, only to be clear-faced in the next instant. Very strange. That guy, as you may imagine, is the nerdy guy. The other four characters fall into the jock, preppy girl, artistic rebel punk girl, and preppy guy archetypes. They might as well be the cast of the next Ar Tonelico game. All of them are faced with stereotypical problems their social class demands. I was moved, at least, by the characterization each person receives. They aren't just walking drones. The preppy guy begins dating the punk girl at one point and the preppy girl has to overcome her sister's suicide. Young audience members may identify with one of the cast more than most critics would have you believe. Yet despite the inclusion of non-traditional elements, each person adheres to our expectation. People will seldom admit that they are much less complicated than they think. This movie proves it.
In my eccentric high school experience, I encountered many people who fit into these categories and additional ones. I won't go into detail, but there wasn't much I could get from this movie that I didn't experience. There is what I consider the film's greatest flaw. As the high school featured is in a small town, only certain types of people are present. My school had approximately 2000 kids at any given time. We had transgendered students, twenty-six different ethnic groups, mentally handicapped students, homosexual students, non-English speaking students, exchange students, and refugee students. A film called American Teen should be from the perspective of members of every group I mentioned and those I didn't see in high school. Religious issues are also absent. A lot of kids struggle with finding their spiritual identity. Why not find someone like that for this movie? A lot of "adults," or people who haven't been in high school for a long time have praised this movie for "showing the real concerns of children." I won't refute the film's ability to do that. If you are one of those people, please remember that the film only addresses a minority of concerns. I didn't dislike the movie, but I felt disappointed while watching it. Here is a documentary that presents us with an aura of its own lack of faith in its ability to be entertaining. People are inherently entertained by learning new things. I don't want a faux Hollywood teen movie with lower production values that isn't as insightful as its bigger counterpart. Heathers or Mean Girls will teach you a lot more about North American teens than this movie will.