Richard Linklater's breakthrough (third) film was so subtle that this blogger never realized it at the time. "Dazed And Confused" was filmed in Austin, TX and this blogger regularly drives past the iconic teen hangout in the film — Top Notch Hamburgers — and thinks of Wooderson (Matthew McConaughey) and his signature catchphrase: "Alright Alright Alright." However, this AM, the blogger was saying the exact opposite words to himself when the TagCrowd web site seemed to have gone dark. After spending considerable time looking for substitute word cloud generator, the blogger clicked on the link to TagCrowd and said, "Alright Alright Alright." when the familiar page appeared on the screen. If this is a (fair & balanced) recovery from a dazed and confused condition, so be it.
[x Esquire]
"Dazed And Confused" Was Released 25-Years Ago
By Tyler Coates
TagCrowd Cloud of the following piece of writing
"The '50s were boring. The '60s rocked. The '70s, my God, they obviously suck. So maybe the '80s will be, like, radical. I figure we'll be in our 20s and, hey, it can't get any worse."
That's the "every other decade" theory that Cynthia (Marisa Ribisi) posits in the third act of "Dazed and Confused." It's a compelling one, even if I don't necessarily buy it—but maybe that's because Richard Linklater's ingenious ensemble teen comedy, which celebrates its 25th anniversary today, single-handedly convinced me that the '70s were, indeed, cool as hell. The '90s were inspired by much of the era in which "Dazed" takes place; the movie predated the '70s fashion revival that became a trend in the last third of the decade, just as it hit theaters before a '70s-inspired pop culture boom (consider: 1995's "Casino," 1997's "Boogie Nights," 1999's "The Virgin Suicides"). Linklater's film was seemingly pushing '70s propaganda early on, even if one of its characters would reject the nostalgia it promoted.
But I can't blame Cynthia really. When you're a teenager, there is nothing worse than the time and place in which you live—and it's perfectly natural to look back to the past and think of what you missed (and to look forward into the future and hope, not dread, that you can break out of the monotony of your own era). "Dazed and Confused" perfectly encapsulates the very human experience of grappling with time, and it achieves it so subtly and seamlessly that it's almost easy to miss.
Set on the last day of the school year in 1976, "Dazed" follows a group of teenagers—members of the rising senior and freshmen classes—as they cruise around the sprawling suburbs of Austin, Texas. Each character has his or her own story and conflict: Jason London's Pink has the chance to be the star quarterback in the fall, if only he can focus on his athleticism instead of beer and weed; Ben Affleck's O'Bannion flunked his senior year and has to repeat it (possibly so he can have a second shot at ruling the school); Wiley Wiggins's Mitch Kramer wants to hang out with the cool, older kids, even if that puts him in danger of O'Bannion's violent hazing; Parker Posey's Darla simply wants to terrorize the incoming freshmen girls to prop up her own popularity. And then there's Matthew McConaughey's Wooderson, who graduated from [fictional] Lee High School years ago but remains stuck in a permanent adolescence, partying and fucking with the kids years younger than him.
The ensemble is flush with equally brilliant players that represent the various social circles of the school, from the jocks to the nerds, the cheerleaders to the burnouts. Linklater's script allowed for his actors and their characters to develop as the shoot progressed. (McConaughey, who delivers what might be one of the great breakout performances in film history, improvised much of his character's lines.) "Dazed" plays with those classic teen movie archetypes, but its characters are not clichés. The film doesn't directly offer these kids' backstories or shared history, but it's so lived in, so realistic and genuine, that the years these kids have spent together offscreen—and even the rest of the summer and the ensuing 1976-1977 school year that awaits them—feel like borrowed memories.
In fact, it's hard not imagining these characters' personal stories as they extend beyond the narrative borders of the film (which covers roughly 15 hours of time over the course of its 102-minute length). That's a testament to the central truth of Linklater's script, and how easily viewers may recognize its characters as those who crowded the halls of their high school. It's also easy for viewers to see themselves in the film, whether it's the timid girl with a crush on an older boy, the philosophizing stoner who trucks in conspiracy theories and urban legends, or the neurotic geek who reexamines every social interaction to the point of self-defeat.
All of these kids are quite literally stuck in time: May 26, 1976. (I'd like to note, possibly only because it interests me, that Linklater himself was about to turn 16 when his film takes place.) They'll never age, and whether you watched it in 1993 or see it for the first time in 2018, you'll know as little about their adult lives as they did in the film. Aside from the simmering violence—the result, mostly, of Affleck's O'Bannion character—there's very little narrative conflict, a product of most ensemble-driven movies that are told primarily as a series of vignettes.
There is, however, a certain thematic tension that grows larger and larger the further from its release date we get. The aimlessness, the low-level frustration and angst, gets more overwhelming, especially if you watched it when you were a teenager like I did. Don't you know that feeling, of being on the edge of some big change? Can you imagine feeling it for the very first time?
Nostalgia is a powerful thing, and "Dazed" delivers a triple dose of it. It's both a '70s and a '90s movie, with a stacked cast full of young Hollywood hopefuls featuring three future Oscar winners (Affleck, McConaughey, and Renée Zellweger, who makes a blink-and-you'll-miss-it appearance). When the other cast members appear in a movie or on TV, it feels like unexpectedly running into someone from Algebra class. (My, how old all of us have gotten.)
But it'll also inevitably makes you nostalgic for your own high school years, no matter when they were or how great (or likely miserable) you felt. Linklater is no dummy, not even in the case of his second major film. The power of looking back can't be disputed; it does funny things to your heart and mind.
"Dazed and Confused" remains a cult classic for its bell bottoms and bongs, the incredible soundtrack, and quotable dialogue. But under its light and comedic surface lies the reminder that we can't control time—not when we came of age or how we grew up after we officially became grownups. You just have to keep l-i-v-i-n, and you're always able to go back in time and visit your friends every now and then. ###
[Tyler Coates is the Senior Culture Editor at Esquire (online). His writing has appeared in a variety of places, including The Awl, Brooklyn Magazine, Capital New York, FourTwoNine, GOOD, Gothamist, The Hairpin, Idolator, Matter, Men's Journal, Nylon, Out, Popdust, Ratter, Slate, Thirteen, This Recording, Town & Country, The Village Voice, Vox, and Yahoo. Coates received a BA (English) from James Madison University (VA).]
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