I was at high school in the seventies and I had friends at high school in the eighties. I have never ever heard of groups like this inhabiting schools. I know it can be difficult to come up with a new idea for a television show but this is way beyond lame. And I have no idea who is supposed to be watching it. For a slice of life you need to go back and watch The wonder years. It was perfect.
If you are not busy being born, you are busy dying.
You didn't have geeks, jocks, bullies and stoners at your high school? Did you go to school on Mars?
shareit has a bit to do with your country at my school which is in australia the smart kids are normally on the rugby and football team but not necessarley the most popular the stoners and skaters are not saying their unpopular just not the most popular. the geeks aren't normally smart they are pretty stupid and spend their time playing video games.
share[deleted]
Your post was really hard to follow since you didn't use much punctuation.
Australian has never had Nerds, Geeks, Jocks, Popular kids, Cheerleeders, etc in the same way the US apparently does. In the 70's we had those who smoked a bit of dope but kept it pretty quiet, the smart ones who congregated in the library at lunchtime but who were never considered nerds, the sporties who were usually in the gym or on the footy field and the average kids who just mucked about in the playground. But there was plenty of crossover between groups and no group really derided another, except for the occasional kid who considered it cool to act tough in front of a smaller or younger kid. But certainly none of the Us versus Them that seems to be portrayed on every US show. I always think that high school in the US must have been dreadful if you weren't in the right group.
shareThe point the OP is making is that the same is true everywhere. Shows like this invent a fictional cauldron of cliques at odds with one another when in fact things are a lot less defined than that.
One cliche they seem to have avoided here (I'm only a couple of episodes in) is the queen bee type chick who leads all the pretty, popular girls in being bitches. That doesn't exist outside of movies, I think.
My experience was always that people who were mean were people with self-esteem issues. Not the biggest losers maybe but pretty close. Anyone really popular - the good athletes, the pretty girls - were all pretty decent to everyone because they had nothing to prove. I was never bullied by jocks, except maybe during phys ed., and even then never by the ones who were actually good athletes.
Of course I didn't. WTF are are freaks and jocks? Are you all crazy? No one did drugs at my high school. Of course we had bullies but they were dealt with very severely. Which sh*t hole of a school did you go to?
If you are not busy being born, you are busy dying.
This show was very much like my HS experience. In fact, I was a geeky kid and had a cooler older sister who was a "stoner." This show was dead on.
shareOf course I didn't. WTF are are freaks and jocks?
I was at high school in the seventies and I had friends at high school in the eighties. I have never ever heard of groups like this inhabiting schools. -
zapkvrsc
Nobody in your high school liked you. I've been asking around.
shareI agree with you completely. Every movie/show set in a high school pretends there are these sharp divisions between groups when in reality there's a lot of spill-over. People don't have to pretend not to be friends with each other to 'fit in' and *beep* like in the movies.
What bothers me more is that they always act like the students don't even know each other. Lines like "Weren't you in my English class?" don't happen in real life. You don't go to class with someone for 9 months without at least knowing their name. I knew everyone in my high school - grades 9-12 - by name within my first year. I certainly knew which girls were dating which guys and who you could/could not ask out. This show acts like outside of the classroom nobody has any contact or knowledge of one-another.
Sure, there are niche groups. But the idea that they all revile each other and can't speak to anyone who isn't part of their cadre is non-existent in reality. I was a huge geek in high school and was bullied a lot. Nevertheless, I had friends who were stoners, preps, etc. When there was a party my presence was accepted. The actual total pricks are rare and as you get older the distinctions blur more and more. By grade 12 nobody was really judging anyone - at least not openly.
I think they just exaggerate this for dramatic effect.
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I hate that line in all high school movies that's like:
Underdog/nerd: "I'm Stan...I have been in the same classes as you since like 2nd grade. I have been sitting behind you in English all year".
This is usually aimed at the popular girl that the nerd is crushing on. And her jock boyfriend has also been bullying Stan for like 8 years in front of her, yet she still doesn't remember being aware of his existence, let alone his name.
Who makes it through elementary school, junior high and most of high school and can't even remember that they see the same person everyday? Nobody is THAT aloof. Lol! It's definitely to add drama.
Although it has been said that many, many non viewers of F&G refrained from watching because it brought back bad memories from their high school days. This was remarkably authentic.
shareWhat bothers me more is that they always act like the students don't even know each other. Lines like "Weren't you in my English class?" don't happen in real life.
I felt the show was quite accurate. It was very well done, and although I was only 11 years old in 1980, I felt it was a pretty good portrayal of high school in the Midwest at that time.
Reading through this thread, I was wondering if there was anyone who disagreed with the OP to the point of calling this show accurate. I think you're the only one who took it this far. I grew up in the Midwest as well, a suburb of Chicago. There were definite lines drawn on all the types portrayed in this show. Some spillover, where one could successfully work with different groups, but it took finesse. Lindsay is that person to some degree.
shareVery odd. I graduated in '86. The reason I loved the show was because it was EXACTLY what life in my high school was like. There were the stoner kids who hung out in the smoking section and the brainy kids who hung out in the library and the jocks who hung out on 'the lawn.' (A big section of grass with benches.) Of course, while class was in session we all had to hang out with each other. There was a bit more violence in my school and a hell of a lot more sex... but this show perfectly encapsulated a TV safe, watered down version of what school was like in that time frame.
For me (and everyone I've ever met) at least.