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Plot: Boy1 - a geek - Loves Girl1; His platonic friend, Girl2, hates Girl1 because she's a beautiful, nasty, prudent friend of the sexiest man - Boy2.
Boy1 wants Girl1, but Boy2 is in his way. He manages to somehow get Girl1 for the Prom-night, and here Boy2 comes into the picture.
Conflict: Boy2 challanges Boy1, to impress Girl1. Boy1 - by pure luck - manages to defeat Boy2, in a way that makes both Boy2 lose his status (1 conlict solved), and makes Girl1 love him in a way that makes Girl2 happy again, because she got her loved one.
Did I get that right?
[ February 23, 2005, 10:50 AM: Message edited by: Jonathan Howard ]
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If that was Heathers, it would be more like geek-girl loves psycho boy who then procedes to kill her friend, etc.
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There are variations, but you're right, nothing deeper.... (Boy1 realizes Girl1 is not worth it, discovers he really loved platonic Girl2 all along, etc.)
Other entertaining films in this genre: Empire Records, Mystic Pizza. (Both take it out of high school, but are in the right demographic.)
Solidly in this genre, and pop relics of the 80's: Grease, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Valley Girl, Say Anything, Pretty in Pink, Sixteen Candles.
The one that is potentially deeper, and has stood up pretty well: Breakfast Club.
[Edit: Fixed text styles for floccinaucinihilipilificator Storm. Sorry, sometimes I'm lazy. I have a friend who can't put 'Yahoo!' into a blog post without including the exclamation mark. That degree of rectitude actually annoys me.
And btw, it's 'John,' not 'Jon.']
[ February 23, 2005, 03:52 PM: Message edited by: John Van Pelt ]
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Was actually asking the other Jon, not commenting about your text.
Personally, I don't care about other people's grammar. Underline. Italicize. It's all one to me. I just want to make sure I at least can do it when I need to.
By the way, while I appreciate corrections on my grammar--I really do--it would be better if the corrections were sent to my email so we didn't screw up other people's threads.
In case it isn't clear, I thought when you were saying 'Heathers ', that was your way of correcting me, John. Sorry if there was a misunderstanding.
Hey! Why dont we italicise other aliases, Storm Saxon?
Besides, I love dobies - as long as I can understand what's said .
[Edit (to add):
quote:I have a friend who can't put 'Yahoo!' into a blog post without including the exclamation mark.
What's so wrong with using the propr way? As long as they don'y urge you to do it! If you're writing a technical or a legal document, would you drop the '!'? Surely, you wouldn't. So what's wrong with Yahoo! technicality? /Edit]
[ February 23, 2005, 03:52 PM: Message edited by: Jonathan Howard ]
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I think Some Kind of Wonderful, Lucas, and Say Anything are the best "high school romance" movies.
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I'd be inclined to agree, although I still think Say Anything copped out with its ending; it would have been much truer and much more interesting had her dad NOT been a hypocrite and a criminal. Some Kind of Wonderful is what I think Pretty in Pink could have been.
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I really liked the movie Crazy/Beautiful a lot, and not just because I have an embarassing crush on Kirsten Dunst beccause she genuinely is a good actress in this movie! Plus, she looks adorable even when she looks busted. She was such a cool character. *sigh* I watched that movie with and without the commentary. But, most teen movies are dippy. I hate how in Grease that guy does not fall for the girl until she dresses like a ho! Who the hell wants to date a guy who does not notice you until you ho it up?!
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I have such a conflict with Grease because I love the music but the ending is just so horrible.
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Why couldn't he have liked her without the make-up and push up bra? I can't stand guys who don't like you until you have had a major make-over and aren't even acting like yourself.
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Yes! Yes! Making the girl all pretty is the only way to get the masses to buy the story. It sickens me. Like She's All That or The Princess Diaries . I think they were prettier before anyway.
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He LOVED her without the make-up and the push up bra. It wasn't about him not liking her or not wanting her before. She felt she HAD to change. She was wrong, but the pants fit like a glove.
Couldn't the same be said in reverse? Why did he have to bust his ass to be a jock for her? It's really the same, isn't it?
The truth is that neither asked it of the other one so it wouldn't be fair to say that their love was contingent on the other one being someone different.
Danny could have had his choice of Pink Ladies or that bad girl from the Catholic School - Sandy dated a jock and could have has her choice of the good boys. They still were focused on each other.
They both changed to make the other one happy, but they really didn't have to change at all. Their issues were never about not liking the other one - they were about peer pressure and a little bit of defensiveness and fear of being real.
The proof of their mutual love is based on the fact that neither asked the other one to change and yet both came to the conclusion that the other one was worth the decision toward change.
And I cannot believe I just analysed Grease! Michelle
It's intersting how this thread is really bringing to light how incredibly bad most teen movies are and are really caricatures of teens as people.
Other movies that revolve around teens that I think deserve a mention:
My Bodyguard Zebrahead The River's Edge and Whale Rider (Am slightly cheating since the protagonist is 11 or 12, I think)
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Tom, I had the same problem with Say Anything. Throughout most of the movie the Father was developed as a sympathetic and caring character, something we don't usually see in tennage movies. Why ruin that for the sake of a unnecessary plot twist? (I also liked the mother-son relationship in Almost Famous; I guess Crowe must have had really great parents )
I second Whale Rider Storm. If we are doing honorable mentions, I think Raising Victor Vargas is probably one of the most romantic teenage comedies I've ever seen.
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"Why ruin that for the sake of a unnecessary plot twist?"
Well, they HAD to do it, because the problem was that Lloyd really didn't deserve her; her dad was right about the fact that she could probably do much better. In order for the two of them to wind up together, the movie had to discredit her father's opinion in some way.
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"the problem was that Lloyd really didn't deserve her"
Are you saying a kickboxer who refuses to sell anything, buy anything, or process anything as a career is not good enough for little Miss Perfect? (Your comment reminded me of another John Cusack movie, High Fidelity, in which Cusack again ends up with a girl he arguably did not deserve due to another parental plot twist.)
Maybe the movie would have been more interesting (and truer to life) if the couple did not end up together. I really liked, for example, how Kevin and Winnie never got married in the Wonder Years.
[ February 24, 2005, 11:13 AM: Message edited by: Beren One Hand ]
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Watched a High School Film recently. Boy-1 -a geek - would take any girl, but he knows he doesn't have the right skills yet to impress one. You know, like nunchuck skills, bowhunting skills, computer hacking skills...
Girl-1 - also a geek - likes Boy-1 but isn't going to wait forever for him.
Boy-2 is like, friends with Boy-1, and likes Girl-2 (also known as Popular Girl) and builds her a cake or something.
Girl-2 who is dating Boy-3 (also known as Popular Boy) rejects Boy-2.
Boy-2 goes out with Girl-1.
Boy-1 draws a picture of Girl-3. He spends like two hours on her upper lip.
Boy-1 goes out with Girl-3 because her mom makes her. He is promptly dumped.
Boy-2 lets Boy-1 dance with Girl-1. He complements her on her puffy sleeves.
Boy-2 goes up against Girl-2 in a contest. He promises to "make your wildest dreams come true"
Boy-1 helps Boy-2 defeat Girl-2 by ...I can't describe it...It's just one of those things you gotta see.
Boy-1 woos Girl-1 with a delicious bass he caught.
Didn't quite fit the "average" structure. Maybe thats why I loved it.
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quote:Maybe the movie would have been more interesting (and truer to life) if the couple did not end up together.
That ending was the only problem that I had with the movie. Compared to the honesty of the rest of the movie, the rediculousness of the ending was very dissapointing.
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