In 1993, Dazed and Confused was released. It grossed just over $918 000 its opening weekend. Within a month of being released, Dazed and Confused was stripped from theaters, and had grossed less than half of its budget. Yet, somehow, Dazed and Confused became an inconic, nostalgic teenage cult classic.

Although Dazed and Confused saw the breakthrough performance of Matthew McConaughey, the real star of the movie was the soundtrack. 1976 was an important year for music and, to have a film set in that same year, it was crucial for the soundtrack to be bitchin’. The film starts off on a strong note, with Aerosmith’s “Sweet Emotion” and ends off with Foghat’s “Slow Ride”. Apparently, one-sixth of the $6.8 million budget was spent on licensing the songs on the soundtrack, “Sweet Emotion” costing them $23 000. Rumor has it that director Richard Linklater made mixtapes for each cast member composed of songs that he felt their character would like.

In its slow and easy plot, Dazed and Confused focuses more on the feeling and nostalgia of its setting, than anything else. It exploits what everyone misses from their time in high-school, the ability to be completely aimless at no consequence. In fact, the most iconic lines of the film are delivered when the characters aren’t doing much, driving around and smoking joints. Everyone longs to be at the stage in high-school again where you can do literally nothing. Dazed and Confused gives everyone two hours to relive that feeling, and throws in David Wooderson as a reminder that no, you don’t want to be there forever.

For me, the best way to understand what this film meant to the generation that was in high-school in the ’70s, was to find an actual review of an audience member who had lived it all in real time, and then watched this film years later. I did just that, and found a quote from a random audience member:

The summer of 1976 I was going to be a junior in high school, I drove a 1967 Mustang, And worked at the local burger joint hangout. I experienced a summer of cruising the “Gut”, meeting new friends, Partying, and we had the best era of rock n roll ever! This movie is like reliving that time in my life, it’s as if watching a home video recorded in 1976. This is the best movie to watch if you want to know what life was like for high school teenagers going  into that first day of summer! Plus, an all star cast before they were stars! Can’t beat it! 

Michael Guinn

The thing that struck my interest the most this week, was reading about the nostalgia that dominated certain generations. For me, it was especially interesting to learn that the ‘70s and ‘80s (mostly ‘70s) had been plagued with a nostalgia of the ’50s. I had always wondered why some films and television shows, especially Twin Peaks (1990) had characters that looked like they had been plucked out of different eras. It now totally makes sense to me that the elements from the different eras that I was picking up in those films and television shows were because of the nostalgia of that generation.

One of our readings this week, “Outsider Nostalgia in Dazed and Confused and Detroit Rock City” describes this same phenomenon in the ’90s. “During the 1990s, American popular media evidenced a wave of nostalgia for the decade of the 1970s.” It’s interesting that this film was born from the nostalgia of a generation.

Lastly, shoutout to the homies Mary and Mia for some kick-ass presentations! Megan Fox hot!