Dazed & Confused and the High School Experience

This week we're chatting about another nostalgic movie - and one of my favorite movies of all time - Dazed & Confused. I talk about the iconic moments, the famous quotes, the amazing soundtrack, and why I think this movie is such a realistic portrayal of high school (at least in my own experience).

[@SoTheresThat2]

I lived through the 70’s. Almost Famous, in my opinion, was the most realistic of those 70’s movies. Dazed and Confused was set in TX and it was based on the Director/Writer’s high school’s experience. I related to the parties out in the sticks, complete with kegs. I was the girl that hung out with the smart boys but I was friends with everyone. The only thing I never experienced was the hazing of the Freshman. I asked lots of people my age and they said they never did that at their school either. You’re the same age as my son so I watched, and loved, Empire Records as well. I definitely remember getting up early to go buy concert tickets in Nashville. That part was very real.

[@nothingtofind9099]

To me this is the most realistic look at American high school socialization culture through a movie lens that there is... and also because it came out during my freshman year of high school while featuring my favorite decade of the 70s (I can never get enough of the emotional depth and realism of 70s culture). I mean, yeah, it's a bit too druggy focused (and hazing focused) to represent the "average" high schoolers' experience but it's highly accurate at what the maturity level mentality, priorities, and relationship closeness interactions are like for actual high schoolers. I like that this movie had nothing to prove to anybody within the set and setting of their world and likewise had nothing to prove to the audience viewers. It's just kids being kids on the last day of school. They're L-I-V-I-N' in the moment loving their friend circle, summer's arrival and pop culture immersion. Such a great recap of such a classic movie!

[@nbunnysnowboard]

One of my favorite movies!!! Thank you for talking about it, I feel like no one knows this one anymore, it’s so sad because it’s so amazing! I graduated high school in 2009 but this movie was still so relatable, I love that it just takes place in one night. It really makes you feel like you are in it having this epic night with your friends!

[@Dm34421]

I miss party movies like Cant Hardly Wait or Project X. Bring back fun movies

[@jennaabarclay]

Can’t hardly wait is another one of my favorite teen movies!! I feel like it’s unfairly forgotten

[@Dm34421]

@@jennaabarclayits so underrated

[@melastac]

@@jennaabarclay I watched that recently with my friend and her husband. Kenny is my spirit animal! 🤣

[@loganarnoldkicks4321]

Seriously! While it's great modern teen movies focus more on real issues like mental health, not every movie needs to be deep and meaningful. We need silly teen comedies where you don't need to take anything seriously.

[@JasonWood.]

I wish I was a teenager in the 70s. The closest I got was alot of 70s fashion made a comeback in the 90s and early 2000s

[@needles1987]

Dazed and Confused has one of the best soundtracks of all time, along with Almost Famous and Now and Then.

[@autumnsnay9357]

Slater is my fave character in that movie 😂

[@Melly83]

It's actually Jason's Twin brother Jeremy in Mallrats...i always thought they were the same guy too! 😁

[@jennaabarclay]

No wayyyy!! I never knew there were two of them 😂

[@needles1987]

The thing I found most relatable about the movie was that the teenagers in the movie didn't like the time they were living in. I hated being a teenager in the 2000s just like the teenagers in the movie hated the 70s.

[@susier6743]

Why does this feel so relatable? 😅😂

[@tannerevitch7616]

Omggg a fellow Parker Posey stan; just rewatched The House of Yes, not exactly a great summer movie lmao but a classic

[@needles1987]

I wish I lived in the 70s. I was a teenager in the 2000s and I did not have the high school experience that the kids in the movie had. I never went to any parties in high school.

[@RossDaunis]

❤❤

[@Isabella-xt7ws]

PREPPY 🎉🎉

[@Goldenretriever-k8m]

I got hazed in High School and ‘kidnapped’ by older girls, they did the whole group thing where we had to sizzle like bacon and they called us sluts and they poured rotten food on us

[@thehapagirl92]

I’ve never had a desire to see this movie tbh