Boots

There seems to be a lot people don't understand about this movie, and its time period. 'Boots' may be one of them. The detective tries to get a rise out of Jim by demanding to know why he's not wearing his boots.
They may have had different names, in different areas, but in mine, they were called 'engineer boots', like army boots. Bikers, tough guys and wanna be's wore them. I never looked, but Buzz and the gang likely wore them - heavy, high-topped work boots, like Doc Martin's, without the fancy?
So, it was a sign of an anti-social tough guy, or of gang affiliation.
Today's factoid is presented to you by Professor Old Guy...

And remember - it was just a movie. It wasn't a case study of all teens and their interactions. The characters were shown to make the story move forward. So if Judy quickly falls for Jim, she's lost her hot guy, and needs a white knight. If granny isn't in the final scene - it's because she wasn't needed. Sheesh!

I was 6 when this movie came out, and wonder when I finally got to see it. On TV? Later, at a revival film theater? As a pre-teen, I had an older B+S, so I got to see a lot of these kinds of movies - the dragstrip/biker/'badboy gets taught a lesson' films. (and a lot of 'too bad for words' sci fi movies! Yay!)