So, morbid curiosity...

[akujunkan]

...led me to go and see American Teen the other day. I spent a good part of my childhood in Warsaw. Behold: my Random Thoughts on Yaoi this documentary.

(In no particular order:)

• Warsaw was soooo much more provincial a mere 10-15 years ago. You think what you see in the movie was bad? That was nothing.
  
• The movie avoided showing the uncomfortably poor sections of the city (e.g. our many fine trailer parks) in favor of the small (but homey) ranch homes and the interiors of the (decidedly fewer) homes of the upper caste. I know it's a movie about teens at WCHS, but woah, the socioeconomic divide is a huge issue in Warsaw you live there, and I don't feel that was fully represented.
  
• I lived a short walk away from the Krizmanichs. That whole family is a nest of vipers. The movie doesn't begin to cover it.
  
• No one ever hung out at Tokens 'n' Tickets/Gordy's (which burned up anyway)--I get the feeling it was introduced for "local color." Most kids with nothing to do can actually be found running around in Marsh or WalMart, which are open 24/7, to kill the time.
  
• Same for Tippy Boathouse.
  
• That said, Courthouse Coffee (& they filmed both locations!) was a big hit as soon as it opened.
  
• I kept wondering if they'd show my house, or the houses of my friends (they didn't).
  
• They showed a bunch of stuff near my house, though.
  
• Yes, most of Warsaw is "white." IME, though, most people in the city make a distinction between "white" and "those Mexicans that live here." (We have a lot of "them" as well, but most people seem unaware that hispanics are caucasians too.)
  
• I guess I am (alas!) at least an honorary townie now, because watching the film, I was like: WHERE ARE THE ORTHOP(A)EDICS!!!
  
• The director focused primarily on the geek kid/popular kid/cool misfit kid dynamic, and their storylines were obviously "fine-tuned" for maximum reality show interest. The other kids' storylines seemed pretty representative, though.

       *Incidentally, American Teen made me realise why all the jocks and preps were so sad when they graduated. For many of them, high school really was going to be the high point of their lives. Whereas, I am just now starting to feel that about the kids in my program, and chances are, we're going to be working together for the rest of our lives (albeit spread out over the globe as we do so).

  
  

So, all and all, interesting in that it was actually filmed in a place I know intimately (not in the least for what the director chose to show and leave out), but has nothing to say to anyone who isn't from the area. Meh.

That will be all.