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No movies about High School for 10+ years!

posted 5 years ago by Redsfan001 (6220)
26 replies | jump to latest

EVERY generation should have a good movie or two depecting high school life for their era.

My generation (X) we were lucky to have several.

1. Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982)
2. Ferris Buellers Day off (1986)
3. Sixteen Candles (1984)
4. The Breakfast Club (1985)

I did some research..... NOT ONE high school themed movie in the TOP 50 (gross) in the last 10 years.

I don't know why this is...Any guesses? Maybe depecting honest sexual situations and growing pains for high schoolers has gone out of style. Maybe superhero movies crowded them out.

The last good one I remember was Superbad (2008)

It is kind of a shame.. with no movies to confirm a young persons fears, hopes and desires, they will have less options to identify and understand REAL LIFE situations.

Gen Z is getting shortchanged, time to speak up!

[–] Mrmojo4700 (21722) 5 years ago

Didn’t Generation Z have Napoleon Dynamite??? 😄

[–] Redsfan001 (6220) 5 years ago

Yeah there's one! Sixteen years ago (2004) so I would give that along with Superbad (2008) to Millennials.

Also millennials can claim the American Pie (1999) movies.

Gen Z is now in college. No good movie exist (to my knowledge) for the years they spent in HS (2012-)

[–] actionkamen (23176) 5 years ago

There were 21 and 22 Jump Street from 2012 and 2014 respectively. And The House Bunny before that in 2008.

[–] Redsfan001 (6220) 5 years ago

Never heard of House Bunny. I'll check it out.

But 21 Jump Street is not a reality based high school movie.

(I can't believe Hollywood made a movie after a mediocre TV series, they must be running out of good ideas)

[–] actionkamen (23176) 5 years ago

Does Monsters University (2013) count? Also the 9th installment of American Pie series, American Pie Presents: Girls' Rules is set to 2020 release (direct-to-DVD.) This franchise just refuses to die lol.

[–] Redsfan001 (6220) 5 years ago

I don't know, but I do feel kinda bad for Gen Z for not having a really memorable reality based High School flick...my theory is that The Hunger Games (2012) and its box office appeal to the young, killed High School themed movies for awhile.

[–] ShogunofYonkers (78608) 5 years ago

Oh, they seem mostly out of fresh ideas but Jump Street was pretty funny, silly entertainment

[–] TandyMan (11355) 5 years ago

Got thinking about this the other day. I've always had an interest in high school movies, even more so as I got older. See the reflection of changing times on new generations and all that kind of thing. They used to crank out a dozen of them things a year. I can't remember the last time a new one came out. Way back in the early 00s. I was watching Bring it On the other day and I was like, where did these movies go?

[–] Redsfan001 (6220) 5 years ago

My guess is that the movie The Hunger Games (2012) was the death dagger to high school flicks.

The movie was so unexpectedly successful in bringing in High Schoolers and Jr High that Hollywood's business model changed.

Teenage superhero movies were in, real life high school drama/comedy's were out.

[–] TandyMan (11355) 5 years ago

There were high school shootings every year, and other escalating violence and the metal detectors and locked doors. Less teachers, more crowded classrooms, more chaos. I think High School just stopped being a fun medium. No longer something that could be romanticized in a relatable sense.

[–] Redsfan001 (6220) 5 years ago

That's a good thought also.

[–] blue1981 (8199) 5 years ago

The last teen movie I can think of that was any good was The Duff and that came out in 2015.

[–] Redsfan001 (6220) 5 years ago

Thank you, I was unaware of this movie.

The Duff (2015) was the #76 money maker for 2015.

[–] blue1981 (8199) 5 years ago

I'd call it entertaining, has a good message, and devoid of any "woke" nonsense. That's a win for me.

[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

They got replaced by the younger crowd it seems.

Eigth Grade, good boys, Mid 90s, Booksmart, Dope, etc..

[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

booksmart would qualify. they were both graduating shortly in that movie if i remember correctly.

i didn't like it much myself - hated hated hated it would be the most accurate description of my reaction - but it certainly got loads of good reviews.

8th grade, on the other hand, is absolutely perfect.

[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

I haven't actually seen either of those. I was under the impression that Booksmart was about middle school, so if not, we might have found one high school movie.

[–] chilidoggg (14609) 5 years ago

Eighth Grade, and Edge of Seventeen.

I also really liked the British series "Skins" which apparently originally aired 2006.(?)

[–] chilidoggg (14609) 5 years ago

And,

Easy "A" (2010)
Juno (2007)

[–] jriley555 (8552) 5 years ago

Netflix is littered with frothy H.S.-themed multi-part, multi-season melodramas.

[–] Artisan (3464) 5 years ago

I put it down to the last 20 years being really boring on a pop culture level. Clothing wise it's boring, music is terrible. Everyone is too concerned with trying to be PC to do anything cool or interesting. I doubt you could make a fun high school film now.

Unless you set it in the 80's.

[–] moviechatterer (16326) 5 years ago

Call me cynical but...
Do high schoolers even watch movies anymore?
Too busy watching idiots on youtube rolling around in the money they make through idiots watching them?
Perhaps im showning my age there , i bet youtube's out now , and its all , um , snapchat?
tiktok? dingdong?
Ow my balls?

They probly only sit still for 90 minutes if things are exploding , or there a superhero on screen , or both.
High school films , even the dumb ones , have elements of drama , maybe even a plot which would require following...
.

[–] degree7 (821) 5 years ago

Yeah, films about high school probably aren’t culturally relevant anymore.

[–] Redsfan001 (6220) 5 years ago

Good point, media (and attention spans) has changed.

[–] jekporkins (1985) 5 years ago

I got a 13-year old daughter. She watches super hero movies (Captain America, Batman, etc), Bones, and The Office.

[–] Mrmojo4700 (21722) 5 years ago

I have a 16 year old daughter who loves good film and almost only watched older stuff.