What movie feels like your High School Experience?
Posted by Checked_Out_6@reddit | Xennials | View on Reddit | 634 comments
Posted by Checked_Out_6@reddit | Xennials | View on Reddit | 634 comments
gkalmbach@reddit
Dazed and Confused probably the closest
soft_daphne@reddit
probably mean girls because of all the drama and burnout from trying to fit in. ugh, good times.
Civil_Hour_3031@reddit
Superbad
Sabal_77@reddit
Reality Bytes fit the time period best for my highschool experience.
agentribbons@reddit
Gummo
Checked_Out_6@reddit (OP)
I have honestly been wanting to watch that movie but can’t find it anywhere!
oldbutwiser2463@reddit
Dazed and Confused! I can name someone I went to high school with that is just like every character in that movie.
wihbre80@reddit
American Pie was summer after graduation. Pretty spot on in a lot of ways. Less dessert fornication, but yeah.
Frosty_Purple_9390@reddit
82 here and this was released in my last year of high school.
All of us were obsessed with sex. And prom night. We had horny band nerds, horny nerds, a sexy (male) exchange student, jocks.
wihbre80@reddit
Yessir!
General_Departure583@reddit
I would say American Pie too in terms of clothes, music, vibe.
bjkidder@reddit
How about woodwind fornication? 🫠🪈
wesborland1234@reddit
Nope I played bari sax.
etotheapplepi@reddit
That'd be quite the feat
docsuess84@reddit
Just need to be motivated enough.
Jane__Delawney@reddit
As someone who played flute freshman year when that movie came out…never heard the end of it
YourGuyK@reddit
I cant speak to the details, but the band needs at my school were horny as shit, so it tracks.
RandomMovieQuotes521@reddit
Oh you mean the ubiquitous sexual tension!?
Illustrious-Lead-960@reddit
Less, you say…?
wihbre80@reddit
The 90s were a lawless carefree time to be alive! Lol
NurkleTurkey@reddit
Yeah that movie has one of my favorite songs by a favorite band of mine, Tonic - You Wanted More. Takes me back.
HicJacetMelilla@reddit
Sway by Bic Runga is also underrated! One of the first songs I put on my first iPod lol.
O12345678@reddit
I used to play that CD all the time!
Allureme@reddit
I wish. We were too poor for this
WhiteshooZ@reddit
Too poor to fuck a pie?
etotheapplepi@reddit
So poor he had to eat it afterwards
Complete_Try_3849@reddit
gonna need one of those 99 cent mc donald pies in this economy...
RootDDoot@reddit
You have to pay extra for that
Top-Shape9402@reddit
Who got the cougar
jeclin91092@reddit
I love how you said less, not none.
Leaves it open to the imagination.
jaysvw@reddit
I grew up in the city those movies were based on, so some stuff is relatable.
WillBsGirl@reddit
Which city is that? I don’t remember.
jaysvw@reddit
East Grand Rapids, MI
stykface@reddit
Same. Many of my friends were a lot like the characters of this movie back then.
Eric848448@reddit
You fuck one lie and you’re forever the pie fucker.
Eastern-Ride-4673@reddit
Mine too. Born in 84 though
Eagleseye777@reddit
I worked in a restaurant from 16-19, so Waiting...
WayngoMango@reddit
Idle hands
dallasSportsFan85@reddit
We were bad kids. Drugs, crime, etc. One gay friend got HIV but luckily survived. We were doing every drug but heroin by the time we graduated. Then I started doing that a couple years later. Fun times. 21 years off the needle this year.
el_pinko_grande@reddit
Clueless, because they literally filmed it at my high school while I was there.
JoThunderbolt@reddit
I grew up in a rich af town on the east coast and the main difference between my high school and clueless was that everyone got their 16th birthday gift nose jobs over school vacation, so nobody actually wore their post op bandages to school.
el_pinko_grande@reddit
Ah, yeah, despite Clueless being filmed there, my school was decidedly middle class. Our school wasn't selected because we fit the vibe of the movie, it was picked because we have enough protected parking for an entire film crew to park their trucks and other vehicles there without having to pay the city to block off a whole road for parking.
It's the same reason that Sweet Valley High, Power Rangers, Freaks & Geeks and tons of other stuff were shot there.
JoThunderbolt@reddit
I love this explanation! It’s all about the parking!
gottarespondtothis@reddit
No shit you guys had coke there?
Regular_Age1007@reddit
Varsity Blues
Ok_Consequence7829@reddit
Mean Girls… smart Asians, popular Asians, art and theater kids, etc.
Overall-Rush-8853@reddit
I went to a rural high school, so maybe Napoleon Dynamite?
Skitzafranik@reddit
Honestly for me, if “Drumline” was set in high school, sprinkle in a little bit of “Boyz in the Hood”, that would be closest to mine! 😎
brubakes@reddit
Can't Hardly Wait, Swingers, and Empire Records are my go to researches
Lefthandedsp00n@reddit
but set in the 90’s☺️
Leilani3317@reddit
Saved. Unfortunately, I’m an ex-evangelical Xtian school kid and saved is so accurate it’s barely a parody.
PicklesCertainly3687@reddit
Thirteen
NotYourGa1Friday@reddit
Not a movie but Daria
ItchyBlackberry722@reddit
Saved.
aweedl@reddit
Underrated movie. As a Canadian who grew up without any religious background and who could count the number of churchgoers I knew on one-hand, it was pretty eye-opening (for a silly comedy) that there were people actually like this out there in the world.
ItchyBlackberry722@reddit
The hypocrisy was so spot on for my Christian high school.
YakApprehensive7620@reddit
“This is not a weapon!”
brzantium@reddit
I went to a public school in a very evangelical area, so my high school experience was somewhere between Saved! and Can't Hardly Wait.
Zimzang@reddit
Can't Buy Me Love
TheIadyAmalthea@reddit
Eastern_Reality_9438@reddit
I heard he ate a live duck once.
_glittergoblin_@reddit
Everything but the feet and beak!
KingdomOfFawg@reddit
Went to Tacoma Community College 98-00. I can pick out people I knew as extras, and it was the biggest thing to hit Pierce County since meth.
InternetFew7303@reddit
This all day every day.
Silkysilkysilkysilky@reddit
Dazed and Confused for me. Those were some good times!
Specialist_Action_85@reddit
Dazed and Confused because of all the pot and beer😂
General-Carob-6087@reddit
Dazed and Confused.
I know it’s set in the 70s but everything about that movie summed up what it was like going to my high school and living in my small town in 99-01. The field parties, hanging out in parking lots, cruising the strip, youngsters getting mixed in with older groups, etc. My town was a baseball town though but still “going to state” was the goal every year.
LeftRightGreenLight@reddit
Braveheart - coming in everyday to fight the haters and win my freedom
pls_send_caffeine@reddit
No movie felt quite like my high school, but if we're expanding to include tv shows, then My So-Called Life was spot on
AssortedGourds@reddit
This above all other things. It was a little before my time - I graduated in '01 - but the spirit of that show is very accurate to HS in the 90's and to the inner world of a teenage girl in general. It just captures the "not a kid, not an adult" liminal space of adolescence. I love that it explores that dynamic between the childhood friends you outgrow and the cool friends you model yourself after.
We rarely see shows about teenagers where they actually talk and act like teenagers rather than 30-year-old TV writers.
And the fact that even in the pilot, there is a clearly gay character that is so obviously canonically gay that he hangs out in the girls bathroom with little incident. We see him being bullied throughout the show and the writers trust the audience to know what was going on. Yeah, the network wouldn't have allowed them to say it, but they went farther to make Ricky's sexuality clear than so many shows that came after.
Ugh. It's so good. It was ahead of its time. Criminal that we only got one season.
AssortedGourds@reddit
This above all other things. It was a little before my time - I graduated in '01 - but the spirit of that show is very accurate to HS in the 90's and to the inner world of a teenage girl in general. It just captures the "not a kid, not an adult" liminal space of adolescence. I love that it explores that dynamic between the childhood friends you outgrow and the cool friends you model yourself after.
We rarely see shows about teenagers where they actually talk and act like teenagers rather than 30-year-old TV writers.
And the fact that even in the pilot, there is a clearly gay character that is so obviously canonically gay that he hangs out in the girls bathroom with little incident. We see him being bullied throughout the show and the writers trust the audience to know what was going on. Yeah, the network wouldn't have allowed them to say it, but they went farther to make Ricky's sexuality clear than so many shows that came after.
Ugh. It's so good. It was ahead of its time. Criminal that we only got one season.
anikill@reddit
This.
Checked_Out_6@reddit (OP)
Can’t hardly wait didn’t feel exactly like my experience but some of the characters felt like they attended my high school.
Spiritual_Smile9882@reddit
I went to a large high school that was half rich kids. There was never a party like the one in that movie. There was so much about that movie that was "teen movie" cliche. But yeah....A LOT of those characters were dead on to the people I went to school with.
Flimsy_Goat_8199@reddit
The rich and popular kids at my school always had big parties. But alternative, goth and geeks weren’t invited.
banality_of_ervil@reddit
If we're expanding to tv shows, then Freaks and Geeks
Tootalou25@reddit
My first thought.
altiuscitiusfortius@reddit
Rayanne: You wanna have sex with him. Angela: Who? Rayanne: Who. Jordan. Catalano. Come on, I'm not gonna tell anyone, just admit it. Angela: I just like how he's always leaning. Against stuff. He leans great. Well, either sex or a conversation. Ideally both.
brainvheart143@reddit
His cuticles look like little moons. 🤣
omvargas@reddit
I have never seen anything that feels as real as My So-Called Life to what being in high school at the time was. I have yet to watch another TV show or movie (from any time) that makes you feel like like you're stuck in that classroom. And I'm not even American.
Sofagirrl79@reddit
I was a freshman in 94-95 when that show came out,I could relate somewhat to it but in true TV shows and teen movies fashion the cast looked more like college freshman
IIRC Claire Danes was the youngest cast member and was a sophomore or junior when the show was running
mattjh@reddit
I was going to say. MSCL during the actual time, but Mid-90s the movie resonates more as an adult.
Traditional_Entry183@reddit
A movie that was as boring and tame as my teen years would be a total bomb, lol.
RocktoberBlood@reddit
If they made a movie about my teen years it'd be called "LAN Party" and it'd be us spending 90% of the movie setting up and 10% of it actually playing the game before heading home.
Fickle_Wrangler_7439@reddit
Right? Not all of us were rocking up to houses parties. I mostly played video games and read books.
I did start going to anime cons when I was 15. That was an education.
Traditional_Entry183@reddit
That's awesome. I went to my first con at 46 because my kids wanted to go, though my wife and I also had a good time.
As teens, my friends and I were all marching band geeks. We played D&D, Magic the Gathering and watched funny movies while playing cards and drinking Mountain Dew, and when I was alone I played video games and read books too.
I didn't drink or party until my 20s, and even then I wasn't getting into trouble. Just chilling.
guyincognito121@reddit
Well at least we had GoldenEye, right?
Traditional_Entry183@reddit
My favorite Bond movie. So good. But that was while I was in college.
MrVeazey@reddit
Mine was like if Napoleon Dynamite couldn't really dance that well.
DookieMcDookface@reddit
The Inbetweeners. They’re not our demo (mid/late 2000 millennials high school kids in the UK), but no show/movie better captured what my group of awkward friends in HS was like. We weren’t the popular kids. We weren’t nerds. We didn’t drink or do drugs. We were just average kids whose goals in life at the time was to touch a boob.
erinrachelcat@reddit
That show is so funny!
wrathofthewhatever2@reddit
My schools yearbook was used as the prop that Melissa Joan Hart carried around and you can actually see some of my friends and teachers when they flip through the book a couple of times. So yeah, this one is close to the heart, plus it’s funny as hell and we still quote it a lot
erinrachelcat@reddit
I forgot she was in this one!
Checked_Out_6@reddit (OP)
That is honestly awesome!
wrathofthewhatever2@reddit
Thanks! It’s my fun fact and I definitely share it everytime this movie comes up online or IRL!
Kraken_Main1@reddit
Literally watched this movie on opening night the week of my High school graduation.
ChrisChuck1@reddit
6BigZ6@reddit
Our HS parties, the big out of control ones, were all almost exactly like this. Complete random mayhem.
erinrachelcat@reddit
Yeah Theo e grad party I went to was pretty much exactly like this movie, random hookups and all.
bbbbears@reddit
AmanDUH!
Actual-Bandicoot6947@reddit
Whenever I hear the youngins say "rizz," this is all I can think of
Checked_Out_6@reddit (OP)
Stereo-soundS@reddit
Selma Blair, Seth Green, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Lauren Ambrose, Jason Segel, Jaime Pressley.
Kind of crazy how many people in that film actually had careers after it.
bcnjake@reddit
God, I love this movie.
FriarTurk@reddit
He was just flossing while those two hoes scratched it out over who got to knock the boots with him.
Santos_L_Halper_II@reddit
DENISE FLEMMING IS A TAMPON.
Turbogato@reddit
Denise is a Flaming Tampon
Sighlina@reddit
prstele01@reddit
I say this all the time.
Elmo-Mcphearson@reddit
Superbad. None of the party shit, but the awkward, weird feelings parts.
_ism_@reddit
welcome to the dollhouse, i guess. although even she got more play than me.
Dame_Ingenue@reddit
the_most_fortunate@reddit
Mall Rats
blamberr@reddit
Empire Records because of my high school job and plaid skirts with black boots
revel911@reddit
I grew up friends with some of the guys from Gwar so always get very nostalgic during those scenes.
blamberr@reddit
I live in RVA!
revel911@reddit
Hello fellow richmonder
blamberr@reddit
LunchboxDiablo@reddit
I knew I’d gotten old when I saw Empire Records for the first time in about 20 years and I empathized with the manager more than any other character.
The whole time I was like ‘when are these goddamn kids gonna stop acting the fool and do some freaking work?!?!?’ Haha
beerdeer101@reddit
I started feeling old when Benny from Rent started making a whole lot of sense
siriusthinking@reddit
I remember feeling this shift on a My So Called Life re-watch 😂
Danny-Wah@reddit
hahahaha! Now I want to watch it!
sundaemourning@reddit
my husband and i watch it every few years and the last couple of times, we were like “poor guy. he’s just trying to do his best and these kids keep freaking out on him.”
DavesLegsDotCom@reddit
I never had the pleasure of working in a music store but was deeply involved in the music scene where I grew up and this movie captures so so much of the general vibe as I remember it.
blamberr@reddit
Tbf I basically worked for Music Town, so your experience sounds more legit
DavesLegsDotCom@reddit
I’m sure I’m romanticizing a bit lol. Nostalgia is 20 - 200 and all. My frame of reference was this crappy (like, actually crappy, not endearingly crappy) music venue in my hometown. Place was always an inch away from going under. The cast of “regulars” would infight about damn near everything, but we’d put all that aside and go to the mat for our beloved all ages venue lol.
Anyway, what’s with you today Lucas?
araisingirly@reddit
Was it called Reid's?
DavesLegsDotCom@reddit
It was called Cafe Metropolis :-)
blamberr@reddit
What’s with today, today?
silver_tongued_devil@reddit
Did you celebrate Rex Manning day?
blamberr@reddit
Celebrate annually by sending a gif to my two best girlfriends from high school? Why, yes I do
silver_tongued_devil@reddit
Its free on Tubi! Just letting the world out there know.
chaosmanager@reddit
Perfect, because I recently (this past Rex Manning Day, in fact) discovered my husband has never seen it.
ominous_squirrel@reddit
Popular_Dot_4691@reddit
Say no more mone, mon amor
The_Mellow_Tiger@reddit
My mom died on Rex Manning day... :(
blamberr@reddit
My mom died on the 4th of July :(
ominous_squirrel@reddit
/**** So sorry. So so sorry.
Material-Imagination@reddit
I buzzed my hair recently and felt like Deb
wesborland1234@reddit
Well Sinead O’Rebellion! Shock me, shock me, shock me with your deviant behavior
Material-Imagination@reddit
Well, that is so clever! I swear you get smarter the shorter your skirt gets
pugilist_at_rest@reddit
Damn the man!
blamberr@reddit
Save the empire!
hairballcouture@reddit
Freaks and Geeks (and punks).
SavageOphelia@reddit
Dazed & Confused mixed with My So Called Life with a splash of Empire Records
the_owl_syndicate@reddit
I grew up in a football town in Texas, so Friday Night Lights.
Red_bearrr@reddit
Combination of American Pie and Varsity Blues. Sports ran the town and it was glorious for the jocks, though not quite as toxic. But we were more focused on getting drunk and laid like American pie.
rexy8577@reddit
Never been kissed minus the creepy teacher
8secondsOnTheClock@reddit
Not a movie, The Wonder Years.
SomethingaboutAugust@reddit
Graduated in late 90s but honestly Dazed and Confused minus the bell bottoms
Fartknocker46@reddit
“Amanduhhh!” Hahaha! Jennifer Love Hewitt was my #1 all time crush.
Pineapple_Towel@reddit
Naked Lunch. Because we did a lot of drugs.
here_we_go2324@reddit
The movie Go. Not exactly high school movie, but I started college when that came out. A few friends and I worked at a grocery store and made bad decisions, so, relatable. Great soundtrack too.
Sedona83@reddit
Can I say a tv show? Because Daria fits perfectly.
anikill@reddit
Yessss
geirmundtheshifty@reddit
Yeah, not only because it's just a very well-written show, but the little touches like that episode where Jane dates the swing dancing obsessed guy. It's a time capsule.
too_old_to_be_clever@reddit
diarrhea cha cha cha, diarrhea cha cha cha
Additional-Sundae932@reddit
"Sick Sad World" was ON POINT for the news programming name.
theladyroy@reddit
Yup. This is mine, for sure.
kdollarsign2@reddit
I vote Daria. Because there was a lot of hanging out in bedrooms
sprinklesadded@reddit
Yes, absolutely this. Down to the soundtrack.
Checked_Out_6@reddit (OP)
Of course! Daria is a damned great show too.
MisterD00d@reddit
LFG Daria is the perfect fit
ValancyNeverReadsit@reddit
Someone else is going to have to make a comparison about me for me, because I was an overprotected non-religious-private-school* kid who didn’t get into any drinking, drugs, or even any shenanigans, and also wasn’t allowed to watch most of these movies at that time & didn’t see them after the fact
*the school wasn’t religious, but I was
sepsie@reddit
I grew up in a very, very small school, and Napolean Dynamite captured the underwhelming feeling of it.
Fun-Huckleberry-4499@reddit
People who didn't grow up in the early / mid 90s NYC think KIDS is shock value, but for those of us who were there, it’s basically a documentary... we were totally feral, the internet barely existed, no cell phones, parents wanted us out of the house and had no clue what we were doing or where we were...
nickorea@reddit
Supposedly, The Craft was partially inspired by my high school - but the experience was more like a blend of Boy Meets World and Freaks and Geeks.
digitalgraffiti-ca@reddit
Awwww, it's Oz! (I'm watching Buffy right now)
WilliamtheBard@reddit
The Shawshank Redemption
Checked_Out_6@reddit (OP)
Cute
Mike_Honcho_Summer@reddit
Mad Max: Fury Road
CauliflowerBoomerang@reddit
Welcome to the Dollhouse
Gatorae@reddit
I had to scroll a lot to find this, which is probably a good sign for society.
miltonwadd@reddit
Yeah probably the closest to my experience then I graduated to the Daria/Freaks and Geeks stage where I just excluded myself voluntarily so I was off the radar and hung out with other losers and made our own fun lol
CauliflowerBoomerang@reddit
Daria became my role model, but there was no Jane to hang out with so I was extremely lonely. The bullying stopped but I just became invisible.
gottarespondtothis@reddit
Heh. I used to be offended when people told me I looked like Heather matarazzo. Not anymore, she’s totally bitchin.
Sofagirrl79@reddit
I hated that movie but not because I thought the acting and plot were bad,it just hit too close to home since I was constantly bullied in JR high (thanks autism!) and found it mostly depressing 😞
Luckily my HS years were better but you'd have to pay me at least 10 million bucks to spend more than a week in JR high lol
More-read-than-eddit@reddit
Be there.
Decent-Unit-5303@reddit
If my son ever asks me what living in the 90s was like as a teenager, I will show him this and Beevis and Butthead.
More_Astronaut_8575@reddit
I am sex machine.
Checked_Out_6@reddit (OP)
Would you like to touch my penis?
Superb-Fail-9937@reddit
Loved this movie!!
Mine was 13. We were little punks! I still can’t believe I’m alive sometimes and doing very well.
NYTravelerBD@reddit
I was 29 when it came out, but Superbad (written many years earlier) was spot on for my senior year of high school. I was very much like Michael Cera's character and had a co-dependent best friend who was much more fun and wild like Jonah Hill. I also threw a huge party when my parents were away and the cops came, although they weren't Bill Hader and Seth Rogen!
ScaresBums@reddit
For me it is this one, Can’t Hardly Wait.
For my dad, it was Dazed and Confused. He said it was like watching a documentary. Also his favorite soundtrack!
requiemguy@reddit
Half my school were vatos and the other half fell in love with swing music for some reason.
malaysiaplaya@reddit
Superbad
FJCruiser1999@reddit
Oh cool
red286@reddit
Cross between Superbad and The Perks of Being a Wallflower.
MagicWandererFF@reddit
Mine had to be a mixture of Waiting and Stanford by Me.
Outrageous-Suspect82@reddit
Can’t Hardly Wait…………………………………………my HS………………..Dangerous Minds My experience was closer to Dangerous Minds than Can’t Hardly Wait, just not as extreme. There were almost daily fights, going through metal detectors (which were a pain in mornings), but no one was shot or stabbed. Some kids used the locker locks in their hands in fights. Bats were an issue too. Since we wore them huge baggy pants, girls would sneak them in that way. We were still considered a safe school because other city schools were exactly like Dangerous Minds.
fullthrottletomboy@reddit
Kids
msheehan418@reddit
I’m so happy mine wasn’t like this
Checked_Out_6@reddit (OP)
I had a heavy dose of that experience too, but damn, that movie is heavy. So many of my high school friends are just gone from drugs, DUI car crashes, and other fucked up shit. Just lost an old friend, from fent a week ago. Shit was and still is fucked up.
ilikedirt@reddit
Friend of mine just sent me a pic I’d never seen of us and our crew from high school. Out of the nine of us in the pic, only 3 are still alive. And one of those is back to heavy drinking after nearly paralyzing himself and crashing his truck while drunk driving a couple years ago. Class of ‘97
Bermnerfs@reddit
Same, I grew up in a medium size town but for some reason there was a massive population of teens born between 1979 and 1985. There was nothing much to do except drink, drugs, party, screw, fight, and hang around random spots around town. We also had a lot of crazy parties in the woods with hundreds of people that would get out of control.
It wasn't exactly like kids because it wasn't in a big city, but the overall atmosphere and attitudes were the same.
cloudydays2021@reddit
Yes, same. Grew up in NYC and the accuracy of what it was like was so on point that it felt like watching a documentary.
Vixxannie@reddit
I grew up in the Midwest and it was so real, life imitating art. It’s a messed up movie but life is also messed up. My own children’s teenage years were so different, thank goodness.
Allureme@reddit
It’s ok Jenny, it’s me Casper
probablyatargaryen@reddit
Jfc I haven’t seen this movie in 30 years and reading that gave me shivers and nausea
fullthrottletomboy@reddit
I have no legs
Stabbing_Monkey@reddit
Shit man, same. I was thinking "Trainspotting," but kids is waaaay more accurate.
detourne@reddit
GingerLawyerGirl@reddit
A hybrid of Varsity Blues and American Pie.
msheehan418@reddit
Ok. Yea. Varsity Blues for a guy and Mean girls for a girl.
Anyone who went to school in Texas can agree on VB. Any girl who went to school ever can agree with MG
Constant_Concert_936@reddit
Same. Varsity Blues but less of the football and more of the beer, pickups and raising Hell.
Sofagirrl79@reddit
R.I.P James Vanderbeek 😞
PvtHudson093@reddit
RIP Billy Bob
LKayRB@reddit
RIP Lance Harbor (aka Tha Busta)
WidderWillZie@reddit
Also, RIP half that squad.
larryb78@reddit
this - life was centered around the wrestling team and trying to get laid...not by fellow wrestlers
Checked_Out_6@reddit (OP)
I have never watched varsity blues, i’ll add that to my list!
sixstringsage5150@reddit
You're in for a treat!
pepperstems@reddit
The soundtrack was bangin too.
pepperstems@reddit
I grew up in the south, so ours was Varsity Blues too. Football was a religion.
GingerLawyerGirl@reddit
Yep. Texas here.
msheehan418@reddit
Mean Girls is the only answer. As much as I love the other movies, mean girls really shows what it’s like in High school as a girl.
Ok_Price_4091@reddit
Donnie Darko?
ifreakovern64@reddit
I can't come up with a movie that is a good fit, but a TV show would be Freaks and Geeks.
tealraven915@reddit
Well...it definitely wasn't Can't Hardly Wait...mine was more like this, but without any friends
tealraven915@reddit
Well...it definitely wasn't Can't Hardly Wait...mine was more like this
pushdose@reddit
Superbad is really friggin close.
BagOnuts@reddit
Can’t believe I had to scroll this far down to see Superbad.
highlife562@reddit
Agreed. I know it came out 6 years after I graduated high school, but it really nailed that early 2000's feel.
BagOnuts@reddit
Yeah, it was still pre-smartphones, which makes it so relatable. Everyone’s just running around town not knowing where people are. That captures the vibe of that era well.
Dr_Steve_Brule26@reddit
Crossed with Mallrats and spinkle in some Kids
Apprehensive_Check19@reddit
Our generation's dazed and confused
Meander86@reddit
This for me, to the point where my best friend and I watched it thinking they based Jonah Hill and Michael Ceras characters off of us.
neuro_space_explorer@reddit
Yeah this is probably the closest for me, a mix of this and American pie.
GarminTamzarian@reddit
Shipwrecking_siren@reddit
19Charger@reddit
Can’t hardly wait with some project x style parties
apf6@reddit
Rushmore cause I was a terrible student but I loved activities.
handy_arson@reddit
O R they?
Vprbite@reddit
I wrote a hit play and directed it, why can't I have a little drink to unwind myself?
chinanigans@reddit
I SAVED LATIN
Vprbite@reddit
Easily still one of my favorite movies. Great score and soundtrack too
Illustrious-Lead-960@reddit
snort snorrrrrrrt
PhysicsStock2247@reddit
Great response. My experience was similar.
Checked_Out_6@reddit (OP)
Activities are fun!
moldy_laundry@reddit
Half baked
peeingdog@reddit
peeingdog@reddit
If you want to read a very interesting long form oral history of how the film got made: https://www.slashfilm.com/541326/hackers-oral-history/
Huck84@reddit
For me it was Kids or this. The soundtrack alone. Fucking classic.
neuro_space_explorer@reddit
Definitely defined me in high school, sadly nobody else, but I had the internet.
silver_tongued_devil@reddit
peeingdog@reddit
I still sometimes yell this randomly
Checked_Out_6@reddit (OP)
Oh man, I haven’t thought of that movie in ages!
Jdojcmm@reddit
Even though I graduated in '99, it's Dazed and Confused.
Appropriate-Neck-585@reddit
"The Wood" was a perfect representation of growing up Black in L.A. in the 80's & 90's
Standard_Rice_7681@reddit
Dazed and Confused
thedrunkpenguin@reddit
American Pie, American Pie 2 and Varsity Blues summed up my HS experience
khuzdul08@reddit
Der Untergang
AdFormer3063@reddit
Carrie 😳
Timmonidus@reddit
American Pie, except for the exchange student, was very authentic.
ryguymcsly@reddit
Probably sixteen candles if it had more guns and alcohol.
Missouri in the 90s was a strange place.
Character_Heart_3749@reddit
What part of MO? I was born in Springfield
demiourgos0@reddit
1nce_Again@reddit
Dazed and Confused. I didn't go to high school in that era, but was in high school when it came out. Not only was it super popular, the whole scrambling to get a keg party going in the woods was exactly what high school was like in the 90s for me
Spiritual-Promise402@reddit
probablyatargaryen@reddit
I can’t tell you how many kids at my inner city school got called “slovenly, sloppy boy” because of this movie
Trismesjistus@reddit
I call my kids this a lot because of this movie! We should watch it together so they can see where it comes from. Plus it's a badass movie
probablyatargaryen@reddit
You should and I bet they’ll love the movie! I think it’s so important to show them another perspective, since my kids did not grow up the way I did at all
AlternativeAngle7846@reddit
Yes...this is probably the closest to mine, except without the awesome principal.
Spiritual-Promise402@reddit
I think our principal cared a lot and tried to be inspiring, but he wasn't as passionate as morgan freeman
Professional-Head83@reddit
"They used to call me Crazy Joe. Now they can call me Batman."
WheelLeast1873@reddit
Friends and I met Joe Clark in high school. His daughter ran track and we met him at a track meet. Got his autograph.
TheF1na1Countdown59@reddit
Mine personal experience was like a weird mashup of 'The Craft' (1996) - meets 'Ginger Snaps' (2000) - meets 'American Pie' (1999) - meets 'Daria' (1997-02).
Now, separate your ingredients.
KEEP: The "weird girl" elements from ALL 3 movies & 'Daria', a.k.a. Goth / Outcast culture + two-fold "Music Freak" (I was in both Marching band AND multiple school Choirs!)
SUBTRACT: Actual witchcraft, werewolves, and any fornication with baked goods, or woodwinds. (I played clarinet. Sorry to disappoint. LoL)
ADD : A heaping TBSP of NJ in the mid-to-late '90s. (Blend until frothy).
TOP: With a heavy-handed sprinkle of cynicism & sarcasm. ENJOY! (ironically)
Competitive-Cuddling@reddit
“Go” and “Kids”
DontBeNoWormMan@reddit
Can't Hardly Wait feels very much like a NYE party I attended in high school.
dragon_morgan@reddit
I am once again probably just barely too young for this sub but Mean Girls might be an exaggeration of the bullshit teen drama that went on in high school in the early 2000s, but it's definitely close enough to resonate
Jayrandomer@reddit
My high school experience was way too boring to be a movie. Study, work, try to get into a good college by doing extracurriculars.
Like I have always assumed that the big high school party was an invention of the movies because I was never even remotely invited to one.
lesoiseaux@reddit
Ghost World. Particularly my downward spiral towards the end.
Jayrandomer@reddit
That was a great movie that I don’t hear a lot about anymore.
PhantoWolf@reddit
Dazed and Confused.
Though I graduated in 2001, it was from a small rural high school in western PA where life hadn't really moved on since the 70s. There was even a kind 70s fashion trend happening in the late 90s, so half the kids even dressed the way they did in the film.
Sigyn775@reddit
None of them sadly. I went to a private Catholic school.
playertd@reddit
Hot rod is basically my high-school hometown/shenanigans, they just forgot the weed.
Miserable_Return_843@reddit
Drop dead gorgeous lol
Miserable_Return_843@reddit
Calm_Comparison_6129@reddit
Napoleon Dynamite
RodinKnox@reddit
I was going to say that movies aren't really made about the type of towns I grew up in, but I didn't even think about this one. Yeah, this is probably the closest fit for mine.
seffend@reddit
That guy is washed up and maga now
Obvious-Ad1367@reddit
Are you sure you aren't talking about the fake Napoleon on Instagram? Its a dude who only looks like him and makes a bunch of dumb skits?
seffend@reddit
OH MY GOD, you're right!
okieboat@reddit
Chalk that up in things I didn't need to learn today.
seffend@reddit
I'm getting downvoted, but it's true. I just learned it myself and was super disappointed to have learned it. Sorry to share 😕
outsidebound@reddit
Genuinely asking, where did you see/learn this? I couldn’t find anything (but that doesn’t mean it’s not out there!).
HuckleberryHappy6524@reddit
You’re surprised a Mormon is conservative?
seffend@reddit
You're surprised I didn't actually know the religious background of a one hit wonder actor?
HuckleberryHappy6524@reddit
95 acting credits and 11 producer/executive producer credits is hardly a one hit wonder. Just because you only know of one of his movies and disagree with his politics doesn’t make him a washed up one hit wonder.
seffend@reddit
😂😂😂😂😂 ok! Are his 95 acting credits all of his "Cameos" that he begs people to purchase?
HuckleberryHappy6524@reddit
Couldn’t tell you. But you sure seem to know a lot about him for not knowing much about him. Would it be ok if he begged for cameos if he were a liberal?
seffend@reddit
It would still be pathetic...but with far less fascism. I hope that helps!
HuckleberryHappy6524@reddit
Ahhh yes… hypocrisy and stupidity. The ultimate combo.
okieboat@reddit
Sure are. Just like I'm entitled to tell MAGAts to go fuck themselves with a rusty spoon.
HuckleberryHappy6524@reddit
You need help.
bitsy88@reddit
So, you're saying he didn't vote for Pedro? I feel so lied to.
seffend@reddit
I know!
CasualEveryday@reddit
Grew up in rural Idaho. If I wasn't Napoleon, he was certainly at my lunch table.
CarnivalColors@reddit
I took a detour on a road trip to Vegas and passed through Preston just for the Napoleon Dynamite sights.
revpayne@reddit
You get outside of Boise proper and there was a Napoleon kid haha
BrattyTwilis@reddit
This for sure, especially the whole "The class president is usually the one with the best skit" routine.
jasonrainbows@reddit
Came here to say this
WereFlyingOverTrout@reddit
K did you grow up in central MN? B/c we truly had a Napoleon Dynamite and he hated the movie lol
derek_potatoes@reddit
Rural Washington here. Absolutely it’s Napoleon
nakedcellist@reddit
Yeah I was a dork too. Still am, but now I've embraced it..
HuckleberryHappy6524@reddit
I grew up in semi rural south Texas. It was pretty close to my high school experience as well but less white people and more weed and beer.
CSWorldChamp@reddit
They hit the class of ‘98 hard with the nostalgic vibes. This movie and Semisonic’s “Closing Time” both landed the spring of graduation. Bittersweet Symphony had been out less than a year. We were obligated to like them, just because of our life circumstances.
WillBsGirl@reddit
Don’t forget that Green Day song and Semi Charmed Life.
CoyoteDown@reddit
Good Riddance
blessthefreaks1980@reddit
One of the best moments of my life was taking my teenager to see Green Day because she wanted to go, and scream-singing that song with her and thousands of fans.
dispassioned@reddit
Class of 98 here as well and Closing Time always takes me back. As well as that stupid sunscreen song.
PetalDriftttd@reddit
Dazed and Confused, for sure.
bahaki@reddit
Despite it being set about 20 years before my own high school experience, it did an amazing job of capturing the small-ish town, suburban Texas high school experience.
hiro111@reddit
I graduated in '91 from a school in New England and it still felt dead on accurate. - it showed that high school is clique-y but that most people hang out with most people. The nerds hang out with the jocks, It's not as bifurcated and mean-spirited as is usually shown in movies. - the movie seems sort of pointless. Nothing major happens, it's just a bunch of kids driving around in the suburbs. Still, the events that happen will have lasting effects on these kids' lives. That's the way I remember high school: sort of stumbling around, bored most of the time and making half-informed decisions that seem minor but wind up having lasting implications - the movie is accurate in how it portrays older kids dealing with younger kids. There's certainly some abuse but the older kids that take it too far (Ben Affleck and Parker Posey's characters) are immediately ostracized. Even beating someone with a paddle is shown to be somewhat good-natured.These older kids are not generally assholes... But some of them are.
Etc.
Apprehensive_Check19@reddit
a keg party in the woods is the great equalizer where you might talk to people you normally wouldn't.
Jupitersd2017@reddit
Agreed!!!
blamberr@reddit
Mine was dazed and confused only in that when the movie came out, a bunch of senior boys went out and paddled some freshman and got arrested
notgreatnotbadsoso@reddit
We made paddles in wood shop. I got paddled in front of the whole school my freshman year in the quad at lunch. Also got duct taped to a plastic lawn chair and got my head kind of butchered and had to wear it like that for a week as part of hazing for my team.
My trig teacher let the Senior captain remove me from class early so they could tie us up in front of the whole school. Rite of passage for me but they shut it down before I got to be a Senior. Columbine happened and it really did change the whole vibe of high school shenanigans
blamberr@reddit
You were living the sadistic dream of the seniors boys at my HS! Wonder why it went so differently at my school?
notgreatnotbadsoso@reddit
What grad year were you? I was '01
blamberr@reddit
99!
ScreenSensitive9148@reddit
Absolutely Dazed and Confused. And if they made it today, about the 90s, it could potentially still hit the same.
mackelnuts@reddit
The only difference between the dazed and confused era and the early nineties were the cars, fashion, and music. Aside from those things that movie could have been my youth.
username__0000@reddit
We listened to a lot of the same music.
And wore the same clothes (flared pants, etc.)
Checked_Out_6@reddit (OP)
It was minnesota though, so I can understand the lack of diversity, because Minnesota isn’t that diverse!
Sofagirrl79@reddit
I thought that movie was based in Texas?
Checked_Out_6@reddit (OP)
Fuck its been a while. You’re right! I was thinking of strange brew, but that turns out to be canada according to google! In my defense its been over 25 years since I watched either of these movies.
Negative-Wrap95@reddit
Depends where you were / are in the state.
Confident-Lead4337@reddit
Hi fellow Minnesotan Xennial!
lagervindaloo@reddit
If it was made today it would take place in 2009 (1993->1976)
Count_Emotional@reddit
CrackinBones204@reddit
Sofagirrl79@reddit
I turned 30 in '09 WTH 😭
LeftHandStir@reddit
r/BarbaraWalters4Scale
peanutbutter2178@reddit
wtfworld22@reddit
Well that was just entirely unnecessary
burnumd@reddit
Why did you wake up and choo-choo-choose violence?
Checked_Out_6@reddit (OP)
Thanks! I hate it!
djdecimation@reddit
Wtf
Expensive_Future327@reddit
Grew up in Austin, can confirm.
6BigZ6@reddit
Our varsity cheerleaders re-enacted the scene from the movie with the freshman cheerleader at a pep rally in the gym. The school did not want them to do it, but they did it anyway. It was pretty epic, up until they squirted mustard all over the freshman cheerleader outfits, stained the shit out of them, and had to replace them at close to $300 a pop.
getdownmakelooove@reddit
Agreed. It was filmed in and around Austin, I believe, and very close to the rural and suburban Texas high school experience in the mid 90s. Just change the music to Nirvana, Korn and NIИ and add more flannel shirts.
wrathofthewhatever2@reddit
Dazed and confused felt like mine only because we watched it like every Friday night we had nothing to do or after doing some stuff, and then would try to go relive the best parts.
jajamakeitclap@reddit
Kids
Goldhound807@reddit
Dazed and confused
munklunk@reddit
Dazed and Confused was awfully close to Miami HS life.
Square-Adeptness7192@reddit
Dangerous Minds
Maleficent_Copy_3076@reddit
Three O’Clock High
Dare2BeU420@reddit
Dazed and Confused. We didn't have initiations for freshman but everything else was pretty spot on (year of 2000 graduate)
slanderpanther@reddit
Heathers - Christian Dlater got away with everything I ever wanted to do in school.
_Vanilla148@reddit
The Craft
Distinct-Key7337@reddit
I definitely went through a black-clothes-only phase after seeing The Craft🖤
Eastern_Reality_9438@reddit
I was so obsessed with this movie and Earth Magic in the mall. I got in trouble for building an altar in my bedroom. 😆
Distinct-Key7337@reddit
I graduated in 98 and Can’t Hardly Wait 100% nailed it. Although we tried our best to emulate Dazed and Confused.
Flimsy_Champion_2624@reddit
3 O Clock High
slanderpanther@reddit
This was my junior high school experience.
Turd-In-Your-Pocket@reddit
Gummo
slanderpanther@reddit
Gummo feels like a documentary that was filmed in my hometown.
mr_Papini@reddit
My childhood wasn't quite as poverty stricken and bleak as in this film, but bad and dysfunctional enough for me to strongly identify with it
Disarming_Sapphire@reddit
Wrassle that chaaaiiiirrrrr!!!!
ramalledas@reddit
He got beat by his own sooooon
silver_tongued_devil@reddit
Big oof. Kids level of oof.
thisbroadreadsbooks@reddit
Go.
GarminTamzarian@reddit
Did you get talked into selling Amway?
thisbroadreadsbooks@reddit
Fuckin almost! And avon! Hahahaha
gottarespondtothis@reddit
This was my 2001-2004.
Barnitch@reddit
When they said their names were Kelly and Brenda! And the guy with tha fake pill like "I can feel it" or whatever he says.
silver_tongued_devil@reddit
Seriously, it was one of the more realistic ones.
Haven't had my cat speak to me yet though.
LilDanglyOnes@reddit
Somewhere between Saved and Mean Girls. I was at a public high school in a rural area where girls made it really trendy to go to their Christian retreat thing, and took it as a personal affront to Jesus if you didn’t go to that specific one.
SyntheticScrivner@reddit
None of 'em. High school movies are bullshit fantasy like every other movie genre.
BronskiBeatCovid@reddit
Yeah I don't think there's a movie for someone who goes to school then just goes home. My HS didn't have a football team and I didn't care about any clubs so I just went home mostly watching tv. I hung out with my friends on the weekends and even then we weren't doing anything too crazy other than the normal stupid stuff.
Sofagirrl79@reddit
Reality is often disappointing 😔 I went to a more upper middle class HS and even then it was nothing like the movies
MipTheDruid@reddit
I relate so much to Freaks and Geeks. I was Lindsay, and all the characters were my friends and people I hung out with.
Brokelynne@reddit
Any movie that revolves around feeling excluded and eating lunch alone hiding in the girls' track locker room.
Careless_Ad_9665@reddit
Clerks.
Cooper_Sharpy@reddit
This is true for well beyond highschool…. Living in Jersey, your either rich or poor as fuck, clerks 2 was a perfect sequel in my mind. Dante and Randall still slaving away at bullshit jobs wasting their lives. Just like 90% of us..
Sofagirrl79@reddit
Too bad Clerks 3 was so depressing, I get it was written after Kevin Smith almost died from a massive heart attack but it was just too melancholy for me
Cooper_Sharpy@reddit
I was told to avoid it. “Looks like it was filmed by an AV student on an iPhone” was what my buddy said. He also loves clerks and worked at a quik stop I used to skateboard out front of in high school.
akittenhasnoname@reddit
Clerks 3 is such an underrated bitter sweet movie. It's worth watching at least once.
jenesia-CakeEatnNPC-@reddit
youtube has Clerks 3
jbenze@reddit
I was thinking there wasn’t a movie that felt like high school but yeah, definitely Clerks.
pug_fugly_moe@reddit
Superbad. We would curse that much and be equally terrible at getting laid.
beavershaw@reddit
Haha 100%!
actionerror@reddit
None. Our school was a magnet school and smart honors/AP/IB kids “bullied”others by their test scores, SATs and GPA.
caddy_gent@reddit
I went to an all boys catholic high school so my answer is always The Shawshank Redemption.
A_single_droplet@reddit
Super bad
Adept_Ad_4567@reddit
Suitable-Peanut@reddit
KIDS but with less sex
Affectionate_Ask_769@reddit
The movie with Jodie Foster where Coolio sang gangsters paradise
gottarespondtothis@reddit
I remember getting that soundtrack for Christmas and making my entire extended Minnesotan family sit through it.
nefarious_angel_666@reddit
That was Michelle Pfeiffer
Affectionate_Ask_769@reddit
Oh yeah. Dangerous minds
It was based on Carlmont High School. Funny enough, Carlmont wasn’t even that bad.
RightYouAreKen1@reddit
Mr Holland’s Opus. I was a band nerd and it was filmed at my high school after my Freshman year.
AiringOGrievances@reddit
I’m jealous. My high school worshipped jocks and hated band/music nerds so much I gave up the trumpet and singing. Biggest regret of my life.
CalamityClambake@reddit
There's a nonzero chance that you and I smoked a hookah together at Pied Cow.
Cascading-Complement@reddit
Whatever happened to the Pied Cow? When I was in Portland last year I don’t remember seeing it on the bus ride up Belmont St.
CalamityClambake@reddit
It went under a couple years ago. But it's now a tapas bar with good theming and respect for the history of the spot!
ominous_squirrel@reddit
Rimsky-Korsakoffee House lives on, though
TheCheshireCatCan@reddit
Does that count? I guess that counts… what is similar to high school vs. is my high school.
SwimmingArm765@reddit
Go Generals!
AiringOGrievances@reddit
Dazed and Confused. My high school heavily adopted the “Jocks are gods and everyone else can go eat shit” with a side of Friends and 90210 for the rich kids. Everyone else partied together. The nicest people I knew were getting stoned after school so I joined them.
Ok_Mirror9843@reddit
Dazed and confused and I went to high school in the mid 2000s in the northeast not Texas
ButtSluts9@reddit
Super Bad is the best high school comedy as it’s the closest to capture the reality of the experience. Though released in the aughts, it was written in the 90s based on Rogan and Goldberg’s experiences from that period in time.
The greatest, The Breakfast Club, boils down the high school experience to five character cliches. It makes sense for the story as they’re put in a situation where only five students are together, but from experience, the different cliques weren’t walled off from one another, nor was there that much animosity between them.
Huck84@reddit
Kids.
NemaCat@reddit
Not your exact question, but I worked at an electronics store in the early 2000s and it was so much like 40 Year Old Virgin that I wondered if one of the writers worked at the same store.
theatredork@reddit
Honestly, Waiting.... captured the feeling of working in a chain restaurant in the early 2000s absolutely perfectly. In an elevated, movie way, of course, but there were absolutely versions of all of the characters in the chain Italian restaurant I worked in from 2002-2005. So I get it.
Affectionate-Yak5280@reddit
Early 2000s electronics FTW. So many glorious chrome and silver swoopy hand held gizmos.
Now we just have boring rectangle with a screen, or over here: boring rectangular screen, or how about a boring screen thats still rectangular??
Professional-Head83@reddit
It reminded me of these stores in the LA area at the time called Silo and The Good Guys where I bought a boom box CD player.
Mr_Coily@reddit
“If I hear Yah Mo B There one more time I’m gonna Yah Mo burn this place to the ground”
Checked_Out_6@reddit (OP)
Lmao, I will have to rewatch that for research!
Traditional_Entry183@reddit
Same there for sure. It was extremely relatable to my 20s. With me as the Paul Rudd character and my best friend as the Seth Rogan character. I mean, verbatim almost.
Perfect-District@reddit
Kids
Intelligent-Camera90@reddit
My friends desperately wanted it to be like The Craft. I wanted it to be like Heathers.
I was probably closest to Daria. Or Freaks & Geeks.
deathdefyingrob1344@reddit
Fear and loathing in Las Vegas. Just replace Las Vegas with Appalachia. My friends and I REALLY liked psychedelics
Nellie_blythe@reddit
Saved. I went to a public school but it was surrounded by mega churches so all the popular kids were the Young Life crew.
InternetConfessional@reddit
KIDS is exactly my high school experience except none of us got aids
CarnivalColors@reddit
Isn’t it cool that this genre of movie was super popular while we were all coming of age? I don’t know about you but I took for granted that these movies were special, I honestly just thought this was a reflection of what life really was and that I was just lamer than the norm.
seanjohntx@reddit
Dazed and Confused but twenty-ish years later.
IronWolfV@reddit
Friday Night Lights
lboehm@reddit
Romy and Michelle’s High School Reunion. Heather Mooney is the my spirit animal 😂
shoejunk@reddit
Captain Fantastic. I was homeschooled.
VideoEvening2382@reddit
Half American Pie - half Napoleon Dynamite
elohde1@reddit
NotRadTrad05@reddit
I grew up in a Texas town that averaged 30-40 kids per grade level. Varsity Blues was a documentary not a movie.
gir6@reddit
MotorCycologist@reddit
Waiting. I worked in a restaurant all through high school.
pit_of_despair666@reddit
I was a server at a Friendly's right before this movie came out. It was pretty accurate about some stuff. I still think this movie is hilarious.
proper_specialist88@reddit
People who've never worked in food service have no idea how close to reality this movie is.
MotorCycologist@reddit
It really is close, isn't it? You know, it's probably for the best that non-hospitality people don't know. They'd probably never dine out again if they did!
MechanicalGodzilla@reddit
Varsity Blues was closest.
drworm555@reddit
Stuck on You by the Farrelly brothers was actually filmed at my high school when I was a student there, but I was never a conjoined twin so that part doesn’t track lol.
Ashamed_Item_9668@reddit
A combination of Varsity Blues and The Breakfast Club.
wonderful_rush@reddit
Chronicle, in particular how Dane DeHaan's character was treated at the beginning (not the cool alien superpower stuff obviously lol)
pit_of_despair666@reddit
I loved that movie but don't know if I can watch it again.
Church_of_Cheri@reddit
Foxfire
pit_of_despair666@reddit
I love this movie. I never see anyone else talking about it. It came out when I was a senior in high school.
silver_tongued_devil@reddit
Holy shit someone else knows this movie.
Church_of_Cheri@reddit
I actually had recommended my nephew watch it just last week, he’s 16 and struggling. I remember identifying a little bit with each one of the characters for different reasons, plus I had a similar group of outsiders as friends in my senior year of high school, never to be seen again, it just brings me right back.
silver_tongued_devil@reddit
It hits a sweet spot for me too. I remember being so upset about the ending. Baby me was certain they'd keep in touch with everyone as a famous artist, neither of which happened much.
mental-echo-@reddit
Haraldr_Hin_Harfagri@reddit
Detroit Rock City
Even though it took place decades before and we were not so much into Kiss, my friend group was basically a bunch metalheads trying to survive high school and to get to the next concert and usually some epic adventure always happens. One of us was always not allowed to go to the concert one way or another 🤣
Unfortunate-Incident@reddit
Sadly, Kids, but without the 13 yr olds and HIV and stuff.
Gh0stwrit3rs@reddit
Kids. Not the SA part but the vibe , atmosphere and shit we did.
Hey_Giant_Loser@reddit
Dazed and Confused absolutely nails it
pit_of_despair666@reddit
A combination of The Craft, Kids and Mallrats.
GoodMourning81@reddit
Dazed and Confused
Available-Maize5837@reddit
None of them.. As an Aussie, the American high school movies all looked like fake bullshit. There was never any high school parties. We all wore uniforms. There were sorts of cliques, but not like the movies depicted.
Even worse as a kid in a country town. They don't really make movies about the kid who is bullied by a whole school and then spends almost two years without a single friend in town. Having no dialogue doesn't really work.
Robofetus-5000@reddit
Super Bad
cbih@reddit
Kids
Runtywhoscunty@reddit
The breakfast club / dangerous minds
Note: Australian high schools are absolutely nothing like what’s depicted in American films
Extra note: can’t hardly wait is one of the funniest films ever - loved how Barry manilow got a mention in it
morsindutus@reddit
Saved. I went to a Christian school.
hangout927@reddit
Dazed and confused.
warningproductunsafe@reddit
For me it was the clothes and cars, the weed and the beer parties at the water towers just like in Dazed and Confused. The fights even the hazing only for me it was 1982 rural suburbs of Chicago!!
xbjedi@reddit
Maybe Mallrats?
Carpenter-Confident@reddit
Napoleon Dynamite
theAFguy200@reddit
Kids. A lot of skateboarding and debauchery.
Darthpater@reddit
Wet Hot American Summer
TwistedPepperCan@reddit
Freddy Got Fingered.
acdqnz@reddit
Honestly, Superbad hits sooo hard because that was high school. All of the situations (minus the cop) seem so real. I can feel the anxiety, excitement, stress, fear, etc in my bones from start to finish.
It’s not the best movie in the world, but it’s the best movie for me. It hits like you are listening to an embarrassing tale from high school told while sitting around the kitchen table with your now 40 year old friends. The opening scene about the porn websites, the unhinged hormones, the stress of getting booze for a party, the awkward fear of older kids, the ridiculous solutions you’d think are good ideas (tide beer), the unmatched bond of best friends pre-girlfriends, and the fear of losing it all in university. It’s perfect.
fromthedarqwaves@reddit
I went to a magnet High-school that became an integrated school in the 70s. Even into the mid-late 90s there was very much a divide between the 49% white, 49% black and 2% other. There was definitely some crossover students but for the most part it was two different schools in one. My group consisted of the people I went to middle school with and a few other outcasts (the socially awkward ones). My HS experience wasn’t a typical experience at all. It was more like a community college. Since it was an application only school, there weren’t any problem children ruining it for everyone else. So without that tension, I don’t know if there would be a movie to match.
Difficult-Coffee-219@reddit
Adventureland.
Isiotic_Mind@reddit
Mallrats would probably be the closest, mix in a little Adventureland
caddy45@reddit
A mix of Can’t Hardly Wait, Varsity Blues, and Dazed and Confused.
Grew up rural, sports were important, but we had all of the characters. All of them.
I feel kinda bad for kids these days as playing on your phone (or whatever they do) on a Friday night seems excruciatingly boring. We would cruise around town looking for someone to buy us booze until a party formed, usually out on some gravel road. Party until the cops broke it up and do it again Saturday night.
KaaboomT@reddit
High School High School
xtopherpaul@reddit
Varsity Blues - I DONT WANT YER LIIIFE
Ramone5150@reddit
100% American Pie. It came out my senior year of high school. Saw it three times in the theater. My group of friends were similar to the guys in the movie. Not exactly the same but the logic was similar.
False-Cookie3379@reddit
Dazed and Confused mixed with Varsity Blues. Small town Oklahoma.
slowbilly@reddit
welcome to the dollhouse
SoSoOhWell@reddit
Movie captures the NY scene mid 90's. Just substitute the weed for e
sammyclemenz@reddit
Amanduuuuuh
Hossflex@reddit
Varsity Blues.
Coridimus@reddit
None of them. I have never seen a Teen/High School movie that reflected my HS experience.
Kriegerian@reddit
Nope. There’s a never a character like me in any of them because I was a weird loser who wouldn’t look good on camera. Best case is that I’m one of the two dorks in Can’t Hardly Wait who don’t even go to the party because they’re too busy lightsaber fighting.
ych1686573@reddit
Donnie Darko
Kriegerian@reddit
Mood
ominous_squirrel@reddit
You okay?
etotheapplepi@reddit
The Breakfast Club
Kriegerian@reddit
Somewhere between American Beauty and Donnie Darko.
jackfaire@reddit
Honestly none of them really did. They were all what I wanted it to be like but I was socially isolated for the most part. I'd go out with people occasionally but most Fridays and Saturdays I was home alone reading or watching SNICK
Fair_Blood3176@reddit
One show that I relate to high school wise was Freaks and Geeks given it was filmed at my high school. The family's house was just down the street from my own.
LatinBotPointTwo@reddit
10 Things I Hate About You for a few reasons.
carryon4threedays@reddit
It was 20+ years later than when this movie takes place, but same cruising, same parties in a field, we just went to Sonic.
leggypepsiaddict@reddit
The Breakfast Club. Spent a decent amount of time in Saturday school.
Sam_Boundy1984@reddit
I miss the days when movie posters were just a load of badly photoshopped bullshit, and the studio were like, "Yeah, whatever, send it to print."
Skywren7@reddit
Part Kids, part 1990s suburbia with a dash of Groove and Gypsie 83.
max_power1000@reddit
Combo of American Pie and Can’t Hardly Wait, with a side helping of She’s All That for the setting. Suburban public HS in a richer zip code in south Florida. There were good parties every weekend, hot mean girls, the works.
prollyaporkchop@reddit
Napoleon dynamite
WaterAirSoil@reddit
Kids for me.
Meander86@reddit
Started like Napoleon Dynamite, ended like Superbad.
Kennikend@reddit
Freaks & Geeks
therealpopkiller@reddit
Angus
SBpotomus@reddit
The Perks of Being a Wallflower
SBpotomus@reddit
My So-Called Life with a splash of The Perks of Being a Wallflower
DismalIngenuity4604@reddit
The first scene in Hackers where they're at Cereal Killer's house, just a bunch of geeks doing nothing in particular.
But then that's just the next three years.
Quiet_Entertainer982@reddit
I always felt like I related most to Save The Last Dance. Unfortunately, I didn't dance, and also had no other similarities to the movie. I swear back in high school though, I thought that movie was about my life lol. 🤣
CrazyButRightOn@reddit
Fast Times
a0lmasterfender@reddit
the one where seth green is black
glorio_mainframe@reddit
Interstellar
closethebarn@reddit
I just realized.. is that clair from 6 feet under?
Automatonalist@reddit
Ghost World. I related so hard to Thora Birch's character. Obsessed with everything being fake and dumb, but kind of fake/pretentious myself, struggling to find an identity. I even had a similar strained relationship with my more conventionally attractive best friend, plus a crush/affair with a weird old guy too, lol. I LOVED the movie when it came out, like "it's me!", but rewatching it years later made me a bit sad for my lost confused teen self.
laurandisorder@reddit
Yeah it’s this one for me too.
Particular-Serve-894@reddit
Requiem for a Dream
rgthunder1@reddit
LOL, that movie…. man
ohmeursault@reddit
yikes, you ok?
rgthunder1@reddit
Not another teen movie!
ViciVibes37@reddit
Dazed and Confused … literally my first week of freshman year (fall94) the seniors made a pipe in wood shop and our teacher couldn’t gaf
big_king_swinging@reddit
My freshman year of shop class our teacher — a very shy and quiet man that didn’t like to waste words — explained how we were NOT allowed to use the planer or any equipment to make a pipe, because the last kid that did that ended up in the hospital with one less finger.
To which all of us teen dreams giggled over and joked that it wasn’t that bad bc you start out with ten fingers so if you lose one or two doing something dumb that’s ok, you got plenty more. We also said the same thing about brain cells too though….
CreEecher@reddit
The Faculty
Matty_D47@reddit
Man, ain't you seen that movie Kids?
remybanjo@reddit
Heathers. Class of 93.
qualityskootchtime@reddit
Dazed and Confused. We had names for everyone in our crew and I was Ron Slater 😂
Killjoykarl10@reddit
High school High
big_king_swinging@reddit
Dazed and Confused 💯— even though it’s set in the 70s. Like it literally could have been not only my high school, but my town as well. The football seriousness, the hazing, the party in the woods/field, etc.
Even most of the characters were identical to people I knew.
Nocturnal-Neurotic@reddit
Thirteen
arboreal_rodent@reddit
Ghost world
Electronic_Camera251@reddit
KIDS
jetblacksaint@reddit
Alpha Dogs, sadly. All I knew were wangsters
proper_specialist88@reddit
In my freshman and sophomore years, Can't Hardly Wait. Junior and senior year were similar with a lot more heavy drug use.
MrsLove2Love@reddit
Can’t Hardly Wait. I loved this movie. Felt like I was the only one in my group that did. Still quote it. it’s a vibe. Who’s with me?
rayjmaraca@reddit
Idle Hands, Bring It On, Napoleon Dynamite and Donnie Darko sorta all mixed up together.
RevolutionEasy714@reddit
Kids
TrixieBastard@reddit
Empire Records and Dead Poet's Society. I was obsessed with both of those for years!
Realistic-Western242@reddit
American pie, I graduated in 2001 so it was all about the timing and all me and my friends wanted to do was try to find girls to bang.
pogulup@reddit
Surprised I had to scroll so far to find American Pie.
dowut_ohghey@reddit
10 Things I Hate About You.
Came out in theaters when I was a junior in HS. Crazily enough, some of it was filmed locally and one of my HS friends was in it, very briefly
mylocker15@reddit
Pump up the Volume not so much for the plot but because the high school looked like schools I attended. Most high schools in movies were big 2 story indoor schools. I always went to outside hall style schools with a quad.
Plus I knew where that school was. Not too far from my grandpas. I definitely had been to the shopping center where the mailbox place was. Also the tome period was early 90’s not 80s. I was still a child when most of the John Hughs movies came out.
NiceGuy60660@reddit
Election was filmed at my high school with many of my classmates, so preeeetty accurate.
PICK FLICK
Disarming_Sapphire@reddit
Was looking for this. She is such a little shit in that movie. Everyone knew a Tracy Flick in high school!
stackpolio@reddit
The tv show Alone.
I was homeschooled.
guyincognito121@reddit
That's an awesome show. Did you ever kill a wolverine with a homemade bow?
stackpolio@reddit
Nope. But I did sleep alone at the age of 10 in the family minivan in a parking lot outside the Motel 6 in Albuquerque because we were too poor to afford more than one hotel room.
So basically I’m a wilderness survival expert.
silver_tongued_devil@reddit
That gave me a good chuckle.
HexOnLex@reddit
Saved 😬
Relevant-Bit-7394@reddit
Angus, minus the prom and the straight thing.
OcdBartender@reddit
Love this movie. High school and puberty are hard to navigate, I think Angus captured that genuinely.
silver_tongued_devil@reddit
I still remember the commercials Green Day did for it cause of the soundtrack.
Illustrious-Lead-960@reddit
My conversations weren’t anything like the ones they had in those films; I’m likelier to be reminded of high school conversations watching “Clerks”.
WaitUntilTheHighway@reddit
This was the best high school movie honestly
flittingly1@reddit
Can't Hardly Wait is the epitome of a high school party IME
bammbamkam@reddit
toxic avenger
Shaggywaffle@reddit
Boys in the hood, Juice, Colors.
LongjumpingResolve68@reddit
10 things I hate about you
Fine_Violinist5802@reddit
Breakfast club
casapantalones@reddit
Friday Night Lights, the show much more so
bloodpriestt@reddit
Fearless-String9913@reddit
Yeah the Brian Krakow character stuck with me too. He was more than just the nerd with unrequited feelings for the main character. His frustration with the tremendous pressure expected perfection and his jealousy for the freedom of others was important for me to hear. And he wasn’t all sympathetic. He was a jerk too. He was the player a-hole from another girl’s perspective. That was surprising to see but realistic.
AutomaticNovel2153@reddit
10 Things I Hate About You was literally my high school and the extras were my classmates.
MrBroham@reddit
Superbad
SentientLight@reddit
Mean Girls.
Invidiana@reddit
Welcome to the Dollhouse
sunsetporcupine@reddit
Ladybird
jikt@reddit
The virgin suicides.
Hanging out with my nerdy friends talking about girls and stuff.
Philly_3D@reddit
The Matrix
Wactout@reddit
Kids. As a Chicago kid, 99% of that movie hit too close to home. The 1% was that it took place in NYC instead.
Cigarrauuul@reddit
I‘m from Germany. There is a Movie called „Schule“ (school) that feels like soneone filmed my youth.
Jolly-Sandwich-3345@reddit
Pump Up The Volume. I was really into Alternative Rock after Nirvana broke.
BearcatInTheBurbs@reddit
Not like my school at all. But I LOVE that movie. I was always fascinated by the outdoor areas of school (being from Midwest)
KayaTay@reddit
A weird combo of Kids and Clerks, but the Jersey past lands hard there.
xstrex@reddit
Donnie Darko
Shagrrotten@reddit
Superbad
famousanonamos@reddit
Somewhere between Kids and Dazed and Confused (the parts without the hazing rituals).
LeftOn4ya@reddit
Kid n play. I was white but went to a mostly black school.
ShootinTheBreez@reddit
What color are you now?
spookyhellkitten@reddit
SLC Punk minus the drugs and alcohol. We were in SLC. We were into Punk and HardCore, we went to shows at least once a week. We got into fights. All the things.
Away-Living5278@reddit
Mean Girls even though we didn't have girls quite that mean.
Chemtrails_in_my_VD@reddit
American Pie was based on an area high school, but I feel more connected to Dazed and Confused.
neckbeardsghost@reddit
Varsity blues for the first three years, then dazed and confused
smoresporn0@reddit
Can't Hardly Wait was what my freshman year was like. By the time we graduated, there were school pigs deputizing narcs so they could break up parties, cameras everywhere, no more open lunches. Just more and more bullshit every year.
DoNotEnterDaydream@reddit
Mallrats
Inevitable-Champ336@reddit
Go
hot_girls_in_hell@reddit
Dazed and Confused was pretty close (aside from the weird hazing thing)
barelythere01@reddit
10 Things I Hate About You & Bring It On
PiginthePen@reddit
Though the themes were more serious than reality.. kids
Key_Fennel_2278@reddit
Mean girls.
Sadly. Class of 2004
411592@reddit
Friday Night Lights
monobluemill@reddit
10 Things I Hate About You
Coridimus@reddit
"The Taming of the Shrew" is a classic for a reason I suppose.
TheCheshireCatCan@reddit
I relate hard to My So Called Life and Daria.
Barnitch@reddit
Not Another Teen Movie. "Coach said it's alright to bleed from the ears!" That movie is just as good as the ones it parodies. I feel like all those movies had characters I could relate to. Watching My So Called Life was a wake up call. I was literally trying to BE Angela. Red hair and all!
Checked_Out_6@reddit (OP)
Oh damn! I haven’t thought of that show in ages! Thank you!
Kyosuke-D@reddit
The New Guy.
So many different groups/clicks.
DasKittySmoosh@reddit
Saved! But I was somewhere between Mandy Moore and Jena Malone, but proud to say today I’m a full blown Ava Amurri
mabel56@reddit
Another vote for Saved!
StarryGoose2018@reddit
Thank you for reminding me about Saved!🙏😊
VampireOnHoyt@reddit
Same here. "I am FILLED with Christ's love!"
minnowmoon@reddit
All the light hearted parts of the OC
btg1911@reddit
Can’t Hardly Wait for sure
Barnitch@reddit
A guy I formerly dated said, and I quote, "You should see it. It's about a girl who gets dumped!" I don't think he meant it to come out as bad as it sounded and we both kind of chuckled. For what it's worth he's openly gay now.
JohnnyKnifefight@reddit
Gummo
Seattle_chickey@reddit
JLH attended my high school for choir classes when filming McKenna.
SokkaHaikuBot@reddit
^Sokka-Haiku ^by ^Seattle_chickey:
JLH attended my
High school for choir classes
When filming McKenna.
^Remember ^that ^one ^time ^Sokka ^accidentally ^used ^an ^extra ^syllable ^in ^that ^Haiku ^Battle ^in ^Ba ^Sing ^Se? ^That ^was ^a ^Sokka ^Haiku ^and ^you ^just ^made ^one.
mabel56@reddit
Bring it On if it was about marching band instead of cheer. We even had rivals that accused us of stealing their moves! And our football team sucked so many people were there to watch us.
emcoffey3@reddit
silver_tongued_devil@reddit
You had a creepy uncle and an awful stepmom?
emcoffey3@reddit
Okay, so it wasn't exactly the same. But I'm fairly certain my American History teacher was a Cenobite.
ouijahead@reddit
Probably this one.
tinglep@reddit
Breakfast Club
LeftHandStir@reddit
Dazed and Confused (spiritually), but at the time I wished it was Varsity Blues.
odin_the_wiggler@reddit
Probably more like Jackass
Hung out with crazy people, had lots of fun.
Ishvale@reddit
I'm a bit older than you lot
boodgooky@reddit
Saved! But public school.
Amy_Macadamia@reddit
Kids
greaterwhiterwookiee@reddit
Go.
silver_tongued_devil@reddit
I watched 10 things I hate about you for probably the first time in 20 years this year. I have become the fucking teachers/counsilor in that show, and I'm kind of proud to be them.
VVrayth@reddit
Can't Hardly Wait is definitely our generation's equivalent of Dazed and Confused, Breakfast Club, etc.
AshDogBucket@reddit
I went to evangelical high school. Footloose is pretty damn close, even though it's not at all my generation.
wtfworld22@reddit
My high school experience was weird. I would say Varsity Blues, minus the whole quarterback worship thing, because I was a cheerleader. A PG-13 version of Kids. Well maybe NC 17. American Pie
I can pretty much relate in some way to all the movies like that in the 90s and early 2000s.
2002 grad
goodbyeshoe@reddit
Not a movie but The OC since it was based on my high school.
mrs_hippiequeen@reddit
10 things - i was a freshman and got asked to the prom by the beautiful italian, soccer-playing exchange student, and i wasn't allowed to go unless my senior older sister got a date, and she refused 😭
thepuncroc@reddit
Rushmore
They also attempted to cast for it.and screened location for possible filming at my high school do that might help explain a bit more.
tryingisbetter@reddit
I have no idea. I had a very, very odd high school experience. I really cannot complain about that time, outside of my home life being shitty, but high school was great, but college was an insanely great experience.
Pastel_Phoenix_106@reddit
Scary Movie
Chicki5150@reddit
Go Because 💃 💊 🎄
Santos_L_Halper_II@reddit
I grew up in small town Texas, varsity blues if everyone didn’t have terrible South Carolina accents.
pepperstems@reddit
"Ah. Don't wont. Yur lahf."
Santos_L_Halper_II@reddit
To this day I’ve never heard a theater full of people bust out laughing at what is supposed to be a dramatic scene like everyone did there.
No-Championship-8677@reddit
Ladybird 😂 Niche, I know
Allureme@reddit
Can’t really say. But because of this movie any girl that’s named Amanda, in my head I immediately say A-Man-Duh!
Pulp_Ficti0n@reddit
I dated an Amanda in college and would call her that by accident (😉)
Checked_Out_6@reddit (OP)
That line lives in my head too!
TiEmEnTi@reddit
Somewhere between Kids and Superbad
Pulp_Ficti0n@reddit
Helo7606@reddit
Probably a mix of Boyz in the Hood and Dazed and Confused. I grew up in a very weird school of hang bangers and pot heads.
Glass_Donut9391@reddit
Mine was a combination of can’t hardly wait, she’s all that and 10 things I hate about you.
goddamn_leeteracola@reddit
Superbad
jasonrainbows@reddit
Napoleon Dynamite
ooo-ooo-oooyea@reddit
Weirdly, Scary Movie without people getting murdered. Hear me out. Senior year I hung out with people I used to completely hate yelling "WAAAAAZZZZZZZZZUUUUUPPPPPPPPPPPPPP!" and having a great time .
Even the sex scene with the huge bush and cutting through it with a hedge clipper fellt soooooo much like my highschool experience. good times
Iceicecream22@reddit
Superbad. I’m from Vancouver and know Seth and Evan, went to neighbouring school, and hung out at Point Grey (their high school) as a buncha friends went there. That movie is literally like a slide reel of my teenage years, down to the 7-11 location, Steven Glansberg reference and so many inside Kerrisdale/Oakridge/Vancouver jokes. So nostalgic, I love it with all my heart.
Chili-Potatoe@reddit
Varsity Blues
FineIJoinedReddit@reddit
Can't Hardly Wait was nothing like my high school experience, but my friends and I saw it together in the theater. It will always be my high school movie as a result, you know?
FatboiSlimmmm@reddit
Can’t Hardly Wait will always have a special place in my heart as I got my first blowie during it 😂
DefinitionSuperb1110@reddit
the events of cinematic masterpiece, 1994's Lassie eerily resembled events that unfolded at my Jnr/Snr high school that same year.
MidwestKanaka@reddit
I grew up near where this movie was set and cruising was still a huge part of our culture even in the late 90s.
ChrisChuck1@reddit
Why y’all gotta waste my flava? Damn!