Dazed and Confused

1) Relate what was discussed in class or the text to the screening.

Dazed and Confused might be the first film so far that I have to let grow on me. I wasn’t too sure how I felt about it after seeing it. I, personally, didn’t find any amusement in the activities laid out in the film, but then again I didn’t find any amusement in it when I was in high school either. On the other hand, there is always two sides to things, and I always strive to find the good within the not-so-good (the film wasn’t bad). With that being said, during the class lecture, we discussed how Richard Linklater was trying to create somewhat of an inverted John Hughes film without all of the dancing and singing. I’ll be honest that I am ecstatic that there wasn’t any dancing and singing, and I also have to acknowledge the sly way in which Linklater pulled this idea off. The article “Moment to Moment” by Nathan Heller pointed out that Linklater didn’t seek polished and professional actors, but rather those who weren’t looking to turn a side job into a career (Heller 50). I believe this made all the difference, as well as the bold move of rewriting so that “by the time the cameras start rolling, the screenplay is halfway between the voice of the writer-director and the voices of his actors” (Heller 51). For all intents and purposes, I have to say I like Linklater’s process of not trying to force things and to let the project come together organically instead of having everything seem so choreographed or structured. This aspect added great depth to the film, and allowed it to create a world for itself that everyone else watching has to jump into.

Heller, Nathan. “Moment to Moment: Why Richard Linklater makes movies.” The New

         Yorker 30 Jun. 2014: 46-55. Print.

2) Find a related article and summarize the content.

 The article that I chose is Noel Murray’s “Keynote: The Teenage Utopia of Dazed And Confused, in 10 Screenshots”. The article attempted to tap into the teenage world that Linklater has created with 10 screenshots that sum up what is high school. The article was very informative, and gave great insight into Linklater’s perspective from just 10 pictures and a few short explanations of how they work into what Linklater may have been trying to do with the film. The article started off talking about Linklater’s previous film Slacker and went through everything from Ron Slater’s posture having a deeper communicative meaning to the heartbreaking reality of Tony and Sabrina holding hands as he dropped her off at home early in the morning. I liked how Murray, quoting Linklater, mentions that Linklater “’wanted to capture the essential boredom’ of high school life” (Murray, par. 17) and in my opinion he pulled it off very well.

***Link to article used*** 

Murray, Noel. "Keynote: The Teenage Utopia of Dazed And Confused, in 10 Screenshots."

        TheDissolve. Pitchfork Media Inc., 11 Mar. 2014. Web. 9 Mar. 2016.

3) Apply the article to the film screened in class.  

What I found to be interesting in the article is how Murray points out that, “while Dazed and Confused is ostensibly a movie about conversations (as so many of Linklater’s films are), a lot of what Linklater is trying to capture about teendom, he gets across just in the way he arranges and photographs his cast” (Murray, par.5). This statement made me stop and think about the film that I am still trying to grow accustomed to in a different way. I suddenly realized how delicate and subtle Linklater sort of analyzes the dynamic of interpersonal communication with teenagers. The film, at that moment, definitely became all about communication and how the film “tackles teenagers, who tend to gather in tribes, so they can show off for each other” (Murray, par. 2). From reading the article, I don’t think I grew to like the film more than I did, but I definitely learned to appreciate it and what Linklater’s vision was for it. I can see why the studios would’ve been skeptical to put such a film out, but it did well, and I am glad that I had the chance to see the film to help challenge how I look at certain things.

4) Write a critical analysis of the film.

Dazed and Confused may not have been at the top of my favorites list, but it did one very important thing and that was to give the outside world something to relate to. Everyone, at one point, has been a teenager and knows that part of their life like the back of their hand (if it wasn’t blacked out by smoking and drinking). While I wasn’t able to connect to a majority of the characters, I did identify somewhat vaguely with the intellectuals of the film (Mike, Tony, and Cynthia). Mike, Tony, and Cynthia were able to switch between different groups in that high school world, and were close enough to the world to participate in the shenanigans. On the other hand, in my high school there were the most popular kids who fell into that circle either because of looks or because they shared an interest for the wild antics and traditions of smoking, drinking and partying. Right below the most popular were the intellectual popular where I stood. While we were able to switch between he worlds comfortably, we weren’t close enough to fully become or take part in that hierarchy above us. We were the table at lunch that was subtle enough to be a regular table, but cool enough to stand out. All in all, I appreciate how even though I didn’t like the film as much as I hoped I would, I could still see myself in that barbaric, high school world. The atmosphere the film created was so potent that after watching it there was no other feeling but that of being dazed and confused.

1) ( x ) I have not handed in this assignment for any other class.

2) ( x ) If I reused any information from other papers I have written for other classes, I clearly explain that in the paper.

3) ( x ) If I used any passages word for word, I put quotations around those words, or used indentation and citation within the text.

4) ( x ) I have not padded the bibliography. I have used all sources cited in the bibliography in the text of the paper.

5) ( x ) I have cited in the bibliography only the pages I personally read.

6) ( x ) I have used direct quotations only in cases where it could not be stated in another way. I cited the source within the paper and in the bibliography.

7) ( x ) I did not so over-use direct quotations that the paper lacks interpretation or originality.

8) ( x ) I checked yes on steps 1-7 and therefore have been fully transparent about the research and ideas used in my paper.