Dazed and Confused is iconic. The fact that it is so simple, yet so much has come from this movie is amazing. The music, actors and themes of this movie were so well presented. This movie did a great job at capturing a regular life of an American teenager in the late 1970s.
The soundtrack of this movie is awesome. I love every song in this movie and the music complements the vibe of the movie so well. They picked the best classic rock songs from the '70s and paired them perfectly with the scenes in the movie. Listening to songs my parents raised me on made me connect to the characters.
It is interesting to look at the fashion choices of the characters in this movie and see how styles from the 70’s has become popular again. High wasted jeans, converse, flowy shirts, overalls and boys wearing short shorts are all things that I see people wearing all the time. Converse have been popular for so long which is really cool.
The common theme of all the characters in this movie was an anti-authority type of mentality. Especially Randall, who doesn’t want his football coaches controlling his life outside of sports. I think this is just a mentality that most teenagers hold even today. Teenagers have always been known for breaking rules and wanting to be their own person. Rebellion is a common theme in all teenage movies and really in the life of most American teenagers. Some people think this is a problem with teenagers. Older generations always complain about teenagers lack of respect for things like rules. I personally disagree. To some extent it is a bad thing that teenagers are rebellious, but overall I think this rebellion and disregard for authority leads teenagers to become the responsible adults they need to be. Young adults learn so much about life and themselves when they are going through this stage. If teenagers just listened to what their parents and teachers told them to do, they would never become themselves. They wouldn’t know how to think on their own or form their own opinions.
Some people find this movie boring because not much happens, but it mirrors real life. Life isn’t always a crazy adventure or an action movie or a romance. Sometimes life has small events that seem unimportant but end up sticking with you forever. This movie shows kids making the memories of teenage years. That is what attracts me to movies and stories like this so much because they are so realistic.
It’s crazy how the actors in this movie were so unknown at the time and how some of them are so famous now. This is the movie that started Matthew McConaughey’s acting career. This was Ben Affleck’s most well-known role during this point of his life. Overall all the people that where cast for this movie were people that were unknown.
In so many ways this movie did an amazing job at making its mark on movie history. This movie is so well known by so many people, and I would argue that it has become an American classic or “must-see” movie. The simplicity of it is what makes it so attractive to me. It’s in the time span of one day, in one small town, focusing on only high school students. The music, actors, and fashion in the movie clearly portrayed life of an American teenager in the '70s. This movie is like a screenshot in time of the past but it deals with things that even teenagers today go through. That is what makes this movie so iconic. Although it is set in a time over 30 years ago, young adults will always be able to relate to it in some way.
