American Teen

Okay, so I didn't watch this last night, I watched it around New Years, but that doesn't remove the fact that after waiting patiently to see this movie for half of the year, it did not disappoint me. My boyfriend is usually poking fun at me for watching movies about high school. I didn't enjoy high school to say the least, I was a "Hanna". The creative, awkward, insane, shy and newly moved from abroad, does not fit into rich white suburban town as well as she should. So I trudged through without really thinking too much about how much of an individual I was or how few friends I had, well I didn't think about it until it was all over.

I saw my high school in this documentary. I saw that nothing has changed aside from the cut of the clothes from when I was a student. I wonder if everyone fits into a label and can see themselves in American Teen. Or if location and affluence have a large baring on how we experience the most uncomfortable 4 years of higher learning. Documentaries are not for everyone and this movie may not be for you (the way The Wrestler was not for me.) But there was something tangible and at all moments entertaining. There were animated vignettes at random intervals to portray a particular character's mood. Once the opening credits rolled in to the tune of the Black Kids "I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How to Dance With You" and Hanna's voice over, I was hooked. I have now watched it twice.