I thank the 80s.

For completely skewing my perception of teen-life. "Lucas." "Fast times at Ridgemont High". "Ferris Bueller's Day off". "The Breakfast Club". Most John Cusack films from this decade. Think about it. "Not Another Teen Movie" nailed a few of the conventions right on the head, especially that really poignant moment where one person claps, followed by the rest of the school, even the people that made fun of the main character that FINALLY CAME AROUND. Happy happy joy joy.

There was the snobby rich, talented, special motherfucker that made life hell for the often socially ill-equipped/misfit/poor protagonist who was special in a nontraditional kind of way (look at "Karate Kid" for the archetype of the anatagonist and "Revenge of the Nerds" as our usual heroes.) These guys always came out on top. With a bit of drive, motivation, and a montage 2 hours later, they were victorious to thunderous applause and Queen on the soundtrack.

I grew up on these flicks but by the time they would have applied to my life, I was 10 years out of date. Those "bad" guys did not exist. I ended up trying to make sense of the world by applying all those situations I only knew about from film to my everyday life, and in doing so I became those archetypes. I became that social misfit. I wasn't able to see what I was doing or catch myself because I wanted to see myself in those roles, and eventually come out on top to thunderous applause. Sadly, I had no "Duckey" or "Goose" or "Louis" to call me on my own BS. (Coincidence that two of those characters were played by Anthony Edwards? Who knows?) Cliche after cliche, "scene" upon scene was what I was doing. I considered myself so highly that I wanted to be that tragic hero. The only thing tragic was that I believed what came off of some hack's typewriter and though Hollywood = 4LYFE. But what can you do, huh? I love those films. With all the suspension of disbelief included, they told good stories. But that's all. Stories.