Between 1993 and 2001, I watched the movie Dazed and Confused approximately 247 times. During high school and college, it was the perfect movie to watch before starting the weekend. The movie spoke to the adolescent male soul, perfectly captured the duality of the high school party scene: underlying sexual tension and urgency to get fucked up as quickly as possible.
When I was in high school, I would watch Dazed and Confused and wonder why my experience didn't mirror the one in the movie, especially on the slow nights when five guys would sit in someones basement and polish off a case of Milwaukee's Best, no girls to be found. Sure, maybe we'd go smash some mailboxes, but it wasn't the same. In college, my friends and I would watch the movie and nostalgically speak of our own high school party memories, embellishing them all the way.
But then I lost my VHS copy of the movie and never got around to replacing it on DVD. I refuse to watch movies on basic cable, and Dazed and Confused became a somewhat distant memory for me. Last night, however, at 1am, it came on one of my 12 HBO channels, and the wife and I ended up watching the whole thing. And I have to tell you, at age 28, it was a remarkably different experience.
While I was still entertained by the movie, I also found the characters to be vaguely (or in some cases blatantly) pathetic. The reason that the movie was so rewatchable in my younger days is because there is no plot, no storyline. Its just a movie about some kids in Texas partying. No wonder I watched it so much. I liked parties too!
When I saw the movie Superbad last year, it replaced Dazed and Confused as the ultimate high school party movie in my mind. Not only was it more realistic (except for the cops), but that was my high school experience. I was Seth (except not as fat). But what struck me, watching Dazed and Confused as an adult, was the self-importance of the movie. I never noticed it when I was younger. It was almost off-putting.
When I saw the movie as a teenager, I was outraged that the coach would want his football players to sign a pledge to their team. Last night, it seemed to be a very reasonable request. The fact that the quarterback refused to sign it used to be the height of teenage rebellion. Now, he just came off as some angst ridden teenage douchebag looking to find "oppression" anywhere he could, completely disregarding the charmed life he had. What, being the star QB, the most popular guy in school, getting any girl he wanted is soooo bad? Get the fuck over yourself, douche. While still an entertaining movie, I don't think I can count it among my favorites anymore. Maybe I am just turning into a curmudgeon, but the people in that movie really annoyed me when I watched it last night.
All that being said, Wooderson is still perhaps the greatest movie character of all time.
