Showing posts with label Teenagers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Teenagers. Show all posts

Wednesday, January 24, 2018

Wednesday, August 21, 2013

MY TWO FAVORITE HIGH SCHOOL MOVIES

It is back to school time, so I decided to look at my two favorite movies about high school: 1955's Rebel Without a Cause and 1986's Ferris Bueller's Day Off. There are basically two kinds of high school movies: 50s "juvenile delinquent" films and 80s teen comedies. When it comes to the later, John Hughes (Director and writer of FBDO) was to teen comedies, what John Ford was to the Western.

These two movies are the best examples of both of those kinds of high school movies and polar opposites of each other. One is a heavy drama, inspired by a non-fiction book by a psychologist and the other is a comical farce about a kid, with a habit of skipping school, being pursued by an obsessive principal.

These movies have staying power because they have managed to stay current through the next generations.
Rebel was far ahead of its time. It deals with problems, such as the "new kids in school," underage drinking, bullying, gangs, sexual orientation, animal abuse, abusive parents, abusive relationships, reckless driving, gun violence, cranky adults, school brown-nosers and over-zealous cops. Ferris Bueller is a brighter world, but every generation encounters boring teachers, school rules, gossip, loquacious stoners, mean principals, jealous siblings, snooty waiters and borrowing a parents car without permission.

One thing that makes these films transcend generations and universal is the fact that they are average kids. Not popular preppies or jocks, just kids. Not a caricature of what an adult believes a kid is like or something to be ridiculed, but the kids in both films are humans with dignity.

However, it is the overall theme that connects these two movies and have made them popular after the number of years since first released (Rebel will soon be 60 years old, Ferris is over 20 years old) is the theme of freedom, something all teenagers long for. The freedom to be yourself and escape a structured environment. Ferris, Cameron and Sloane skip school and go into the city, whereas Jim, Judy and Plato take refuge in an abandoned mansion.  

What I identify with in these films is Jim Stark's need to find friends and a sense of comfort away from bullies and his bickering parents. I identify with Ferris on an intellectual level. He seems to be smarter than the adults in his world and I have always thought I was smarter than most of the people I encounter. His philosophy on life is similar to mine.
 
It is unusual that two movies, made 30 years apart, could become iconic rites of passage for young people.

"If I had one day when I didn't have to be all confused and I didn't have to feel that I was ashamed of everything. If I felt that I belonged someplace. You know?" Jim Stark - Rebel Without a Cause.

"Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it." Ferris Bueller - Ferris Bueller's Day Off.


 

Sunday, October 21, 2012

TWILIGHT: OZARKS STYLE

The hottest phenomenon with teenagers in the past few years has been Twilight.  Most teenagers will tell you if they are Team Edward or Team Jacob.

Of course, if kids or teenagers like it, the Springfield News Leader and the Lebanon Daily Record will run several letters to the editor by magot-brained adults, who don't allow their kids to read, view or own anything Twilight because they feel it is "evil." Yes, these idiots are proud of being abusive parents, who tell their kids what they can or can't read or watch. Would Ozarkers be more receptive if you created a Twilight story that took place in the Ozarks?

Let change the main character to a male high school student, who moves from southern California to small Ozarks town called Spoons, Missouri. He falls in love with a girl named Velda. He is drawn to Velda even though he suffers from strange pains and feels disoriented while he is around her. It turns she is a witch.
He is told by another student, Wiley, that he can't be in love with Velda because she is dating Blaine Alucard, a rich spoiled vampire boy. His father is president of the bank and chairman of the local Republican party. When Blaine doesn't get his way, he tell everyone how much money his father makes. "The Alucards are a pioneer family. My daddy owns most of the builds in this community." He wears Izod sweaters and Dockers.
I should mention that Wiley is a werewolf or as he pronounces it "war-woof." He wears a straw cowboy hat, drives 4x4 pickup truck with a "Nobama-You can keep your change" bumper sticker and a confederate flag in the window, listens to Hank Williams Jr and Lynard Skynard, wears t-shirts that say "I'm a American (he pronounces it "Muricun") by birth, but a werewolf by the grace of God." If he gets into a fight, the first think he does is take off his shirt. He and his werewolf buddies drink Keystone Light and chew Red Man.
Velda had previously dated Tagg, a "patchwork" zombie, who plays football. If he gets hurt on the playing field, they just replace the injured part from another corpse.
This is just a rough idea, so far. 

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

FACEBOOK MEME IS WRONG


If you have read this and the old blog, you know I have a love/hate relationship with Facebook. There are things about Facebook that are great and then there are things that are bad. One of those are memes that are so prominent on Facebook. Some are okay because they are uplifting or actually funny. Many seem to be some sort of right-wing propaganda or made by some mean spirited person with an axe to grind (I hate anything featuring the word "FAIL" in big red letters). After seeing these so-called "funny" memes slam deceased entertainers and welfare recipients, I found one above today that is slamming sorority girls. What was funny is the fact that the sorority girls in the photo are smarter than the person who made this poster.

You see, I was alive in the 80s. I was also your typical horny heterosexual teenager chasing anything female (Okay, okay, I'll admit, I set my standards higher than most guy, which explains why I'm still single). I looked at every girl that came into my sight and I remember the way they dressed. GIRLS IN THE 80s DID DRESS LIKE THE SORORITY GIRLS IN THIS PHOTO!

Some of you may remember that the first month of this blog I discussed the best thing about women's clothes in the 80s was the blinding bright colors. I also had several follow up post of photos from women's fashion magazines (Originally it was going to be just one big post, but there was a glitch with Blogger's image loader). Here is the second one, the third one, and the final post on the subject. If you want further proof that this poster is historically inaccurate, go look at the entries in the Awkward Family Photos 80s photo contest.

Now, my guess is this may have been made by a guy, because us guys did wear clothing like the characters in The Breakfast Club photo. Sadly, I dressed like Anthony Michael Hall's character, although I thought I was more like Judd Nelson's character. I am guessing the guy who made this poster was EXACTLY like Emilio Estevez's character. There were guys that dressed like that in the 80s. They beat me up every time they caught me talking to a girl that was dressed like the sorority girls in the bottom photo.

As much as I hate it, this poster needs a big red "FAIL" on it. Of course, my opinions are why I'm considered the Super-Villain of the Ozarks!!! Mwu-HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! 

BTW: I updated this post on March 14, 2020, because I now know the correct term for this item is a "meme." We also are aware this meme was, more than likely, created by someone working for Vladimir Putin or a disgruntled neo-Nazi, who got turned down by a sorority girl.

Thursday, April 19, 2012

I WANTED TO BE THE NEXT DICK CLARK


By now you know that Dick Clark passed away at the age of 82 yesterday.  My goal, when I got into radio was to be the next Dick Clark. I wanted to influence what young people listened to and be their "trusted adult" friend. This was important to me growing up here in the Ozarks, where adults don't respect young people or their music.  I was surprised to find that Dick Clark was only a year older than my parents.

I think President Obama pinpointed what made Dick Clark so popular with the younger audience. He said in a statement, "But more important than his groundbreaking achievements was the way he made us feel -- as young and vibrant and optimistic as he was." Dick Clark seemed young because he acted young, positive and having fun.The problem I have with most local radio in the Ozarks is the negativity. As far back as I can remember Springfield radio announcers seem to say things like "We ain't gonna like what them thar folks out in Californy like. That thar is stoopid!" Part of the problem is every thing in this part of the world is geared toward old white people with too much money and guys who own large pickup trucks with Confederate flags in the back window. For some reason, nobody in the radio industry in this area was interested in helping me to become the "next Dick Clark." For some stupid reason they are more interested in the next Rush Limbaugh.

While many Baby Boomers associate Chubby Checker, Fabian and Connie Francis with American Bandstand, my generation remembers the regular appearances of the glam/prog/new wave act Sparks. It was always fun when Dick Clark got around to talking to the keyboard player Ronald, who looked like a cross between Adolph Hitler and Darla Hood's cranky father in the Little Rascals.

As Dick always said at the end of American Bandstand, "So Long!"





Wednesday, February 22, 2012

BEST OF DESDINOVA: THE MOD SQUAD WAS COOLER THAN 21 JUMP STREET (Sorry Johnny Depp)


I realize many people of my generation will hate this post. There will even be some Baby Boomers that will hate this post.

In TV history, there were two cops shows that featured young people going undercover to investigate crimes involving other youth. These shows were the Mod Squad, which ran from 1968 to 1973. The other was 21 Jump Street, which ran from 1987 to 1991.

I remember watching an episode of 21 Jump Street when it first air on the then-new Fox Network and thinking, "This show sucks. I hope they come up with a better show than this or this network with go the way of Dumont and Overmyer Networks." The show not only ran longer than I expected, but Fox has survived, thanks to several great shows like the Simpsons, Family Guy and In Living Color.

It was about this time that a purchased a book called The Best of Crime and Detective TV: The Critics Choice by John Javna and Max Allan Collins. In this book, they list the TV show, Mod Squad, as one of the worst cop shows ever. They practically trash the show (They also slam Charlie's Angels, which makes me wonder about these guys).

I had only seen the Mod Squad reunion movie from the late 70's, but I still thought it probably had to be better than 21 Jump Street for the simple reason it was made in the late 60s/early 70s. As many of you readers know I have always had a special place for the psychedelic era.

I bought a VHS tape a few years ago that featured two episodes of the Mod Squad. I liked it quite a bit and wanted to buy another, but they were taken off the market for some reason. A year ago, I bought a DVD of the first season of the Mod Squad. It featured a longer version of the pilot episode which was on the VHS tape I had earlier. I have enjoyed it very much and plan to buy another DVD set of the show.

A few nights ago, I found the entire first season of 21 Jump Street on DVD at Wal-Mart for $5. I wondered if my opinion of 21 Jump Street would have changed after seeing more than one episode of the Mod Squad. Maybe I would be blown away by the show which gave us Johnny Depp. It turns out, I was right the first time I saw the show. It still sucks.

While people often malign the Mod Squad for being dated, 21 Jump Street is a product of it's time too. It comes with the things of the 80s that I hated. Bad part is some of those attitudes are still with us, thanks to the Fox News Network. As a matter of fact, I suspect that Bill O'Reilly wrote a few of these scripts under an alias. I bet Sarah Palin was a Jump Street fan.

The Mod Squad was from the age of peace, love and "Do Your Own Thing," while 21 Jump Street was from the age of "Just Say No," "Positive Peer Pressure," "overachieving" and "Vigilante Justice." Also, the characters on 21 Jump Street wear the clothes of that era that my mom forced me to wear. When I moved out and went to SMSU, I started dressing more like the Mod Squad.

First off, let's discuss the theme song and opening credits. The theme song of the Mod Squad was composed by Earl Hagen. Hagen created a tough and fast pasted cops show theme, augmented by a psychedelic/garage band organ. The visual was the main characters running through a dark warehouse.

The 21 Jump Street open featured a theme song sung by the cast that sounded like a bad Debbie Gibson song ("You're gonna learn something when we meet you after school" GAG!). The visuals were goofy clips of the cast from episodes. This gives you the impression you are watching a bad sitcom.

The overall plot of the shows are different in that Peter, Linc and Julie ("One White, One Black and One Blonde") were juvenile delinquents paying their debt to society by becoming undercover detectives. They did carry guns or badges. They often questioned the ethics of what they were doing. Yes, they do use quite a bit of the slang of that era. Pete seems to use the word "heavy" a lot, Julie says "groovy" quite a bit and Linc made the phrase, "Solid, Brother" a part of TV history.

On 21 Jump Street, Hanson, Penhall, Hoffs and Loki are cops who look young enough to infiltrate high schools. They carry guns and badges. When the Jump Street cops aren't whining about lawyers and judges "letting off" the people they bust, they insult each other.

The villains on Mod Squad are never the kids, but old, white guys trying to make a money by selling drugs or killing young people. One villain, played by Dabney Colman (Who else?) tells his sister, "Your hippie friends are driving down the value of my real estate." One villain is a Bill O'Reilly-ish talk show who tries to rape Julie. Yes, the message of the Mod Squad could be "No such thing as a bad kid" and "Don't trust anyone over 30."

On the other hand, 21 Jump Street embedded with the 80's idea of "young-people-are-evil." The criminal is always young. Everything from gun toting gang members taking a school hostage to a group of cocaine pushing, preppy-boys who gang-rape/murder a girl to sexually-repressed, pyromaniac Catholic school girls (No, I didn't make this last one up).

Jump Street episodes usually end with a PSA/lecture from the cast about under-age drinking, drug abuse or abstenence. Mod Squad ended with a crane shot of the characters and somber jazz music as the characters contemplate what just happened. Truth is the Mod Squad has a more expensive look to it than Jump Street.

Yes, this has probably been a useless rant, but I had to get this out of my system. I'm sorry Johnny Depp couldn't have been like Clint Eastwood, John Travolta or Bruce Lee and gotten his start on a good show. As a matter of fact, he has said he hated the show.

Just remember, the Maharishi says never drink campaign from a paper cup. Solid, Brother!

Thursday, January 26, 2012

Robert Hegyes, Epstein of ‘Welcome Back Kotter’ Fame, Dead at 60

Robert Hegyes, Epstein of ‘Welcome Back Kotter’ Fame, Dead at 60: Robert “Bobby” Hegyes, best known for playing Juan Epstein on “Welcome Back Kotter,” died in his Metuchen, N.J. home today. He was 60. Courtesy of ABC News. I always thought that it would fun to go to school with the Sweathogs. Unfortunately, I went to school with rednecks and Republican kids that hated me. "Dear Mr. Kotter: Please excuse, my son, Juan. He has passed away."
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