Not gonna lie I’ve been pretty dazed and confused this week as Dazed and Confused (1993) was this weeks cult classic. This movie follows multiple groups of high schoolers going through their last day of school. This movie covers just about every American high school stereotype from the mean jocks and stupid stoners to cool cars and party’s. This may have been the peak of the 70’s nostalgia wave of the 90’s. And now being in a time to look back on that era the film feels like a longer episode of that 70’s show. Not to say that’s a bad thing as both capture an era by its favorite memories but that they have a similar call back to school in the 70’s.
This was my first viewing of Dazed and Confused (1993). I’ve always been aware of it as I’ve seen a lot of comedies and stoner comedies like this one. Stoner comedies are not your average movie or even average comedy. Their all different and extremely weird usually trying to make the dumbest bit possible. Though this was full of little weed jokes I wouldn’t be able to call this one of the better of its genre as going into this I was expecting a lot more or maybe less. The film is incredibly smart with how it’s characters, music and cinematography to make the movie more enjoyable and relatable but lacks in comedic bravery. Yeah the stoners where dumb and they smoked a lot but I feel that other films pushed the comedic nature of the genre more.
Don’t discredit this movie as it, may not be the funniest, it’s cultural significance and cult fan base is something that shouldn’t be forgotten. After flopping in the box office this movie became a huge hit on vhs as it was favorite for teens and 70’s kids reliving the glory days. As it is filled with everyone’s favorite rock bands like Aerosmith, ZZ Top and the Steve Miller band. With the soundtrack costing nearly 1/6th of the budget it would be the star of the film. And not to mention the endless amount of films best quotable one liners featuring…
“Alright, alright, alright!” — Wooderson
“It’d be a lot cooler if you did.” — Wooderson
“You cool, man?” — Slater
“Wipe that face off your head, b*tch!” — Darla
“George Washington was in a cult, and that cult was into aliens, man.” — Slater
“I only came here to do two things, kick some ass, and drink some beer. Looks like we’re almost outta beer.” — Clint
“You gotta keep on livin’… L-I-V-I-N.” — Wooderson
This week was also closed out by two ballin presentations from Mary and Mia about their favorite cult films Jennifer’s Body (2009) and The Shining (1980). Both featured some really cool and interesting videos about the films. I really like The Shining as I think it’s one of the best movies ever made and was happy to see Mia present on it who I could tell was a big fan. I haven’t seen Jennifer’s Body but hearing about its true story significance is love to watch and revisit my elementary school crush Megan Fox.
Cult Movies 
This movie was worth watching. We can see ourselves in at least one of the characters. The movie was a flop but became a hit like you aid and that is a lesson within itself. Never doubt yourself. People might not see your vision at the moment but one day they will but you will be ahead because you believed in yourself.
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Love how it resonates with you as a stoner comedy. That’s def how most people perceived the film when it first came out, but it’s cool to see the difference in this particular stoner comedy and more recent ones, as the cultural perception on weed has actually become more stringent since the 70s. Also I like how you don’t really think its that funny cus when you think back on some of your high school memories, are they really that funny? or were we just relishing in being immature? I think both, good review!
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Nice post, I like that you addressed the stoner comedy. When I first watched this film I expected there to be more antics related to the devil’s lettuce than a laid back story about high school life. Cool photo of the yearbook style pictures and list of quotes!
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Hey Zane,
Cool that you spoke about the movie as a stoner comedy. I think that that’s where it draws in it’s newer audience (like us) who weren’t alive during the ‘70s. Clothes might be different, music might be different, cars might be different—but soft drugs will always go hand-in-hand with people’s high-school experience.
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