Every week feels different, the walls are closing in. I have become someone else; I no longer recognize the face that stares back at me in the mirror. On another note, Dazed and Confused! Man, what a feel-good movie! It really lets you sit back, forget about the worsening state of this pandemic, and enjoy the ride. This movie is a must-see for everyone, even if you didn’t actually live through the 70’s you can still relate to that last-day of the school year thrill. It’s hard to find someone who doesn’t like Dazed and Confused, it has an uncomplicated plot, a soundtrack that begs to be sung along to, and it shows how far teens will go to have a good time. The movie takes place over the course of the last day of the school year as rising seniors await their reign as the oldest kids in school and incoming freshmen prepare for the perils of high school. As the seniors haze the freshmen, word spreads about a party later at Pickford’s and word spreads again when said party is cancelled by his ‘rents. The rest of the night is divided between the movements of classic high school cliques, until they all meet up at the relocated party spot, the moon tower, for a field party. But the film isn’t as black-and-white as a search for the next party, the characters are faced with troubles related to their own individual identities and understanding their place in the world. Chances are, you can match someone you know to every character in the movie.

for your listening pleasure

At the beginning of the course, looking through the syllabus, this movie in particular made me think, “really? This is a cult film?”. At the time the only element of cult films I knew was transgression. So, now, nearing the end of the course, it so clear to me why this is a cult film. To start, this is a film that needs to be watched with other people; my first time watching it was during a movie night with my pals. Now I understand that might not be possible during our current situation, but if you do watch it alone you will always find company in nostalgia.  Nostalgia, music to my ears, who doesn’t love it? That sometimes-warm-sometimes-cringe-inducing feeling you get from an object, place, or, in this case, time period. The reading “Outsider Nostalgia in Dazed and Confused and Detroit Rock City” gave an in-depth analysis of how both films utilized nostalgia to recreate the cultural atmosphere of the 70’s. One point it makes is that although both films do rely heavily on nostalgia, they don’t exactly focus on the popular culture of the 70’s. Instead of focusing on what can be assumed as the holy grail of 70’s nostalgia that is disco, these films focus on the heavy metal sub-culture. While it would seem that this would end in a failure to bank in on the fond memories of the past, the creation of the film paid attention to the smallest of details to ensure that it truly was a blast from the past. This love is quite apparent in the success of Dazed and Confused. One point that I found interesting in the reading was the idea of collective nostalgia. Instead of telling the story from the view of one single character, the film features a multitude of sub-stories within the overall plot, “The cinematography, with the exception of one shot, is solidly in third-person observer mode.” By telling the story of a group, viewers are able to relate to many people at once, rather than being limited to the views of one character (creating an opportunity to reach a wider range of audiences).