Diaries of a Cinebum #2: How to Stay Young Forever

Written by Luke Mueller

In my early 20s, I couldn’t stop watching Quentin Tarantino’s favorite movie list on Youtube. You’ve probably seen it… Boogie Nights is on there, number one is Battle Royale, he says that The Matrix would be number one if it weren’t for the sequels, etc… Looking back on it, the most beneficial part of that video, for me at least, was his description of Dazed N’ Confused. 

“I think maybe the greatest, maybe along with Rio Bravo, the greatest hangout movie ever made. One of the things about Dazed N’ Confused that is just so terrific.. Every time you watch it, if you watch it every three years, or four years, the characters are like your friends, and it’s just like you’re hanging out with them again, seeing your old friends.” 

So fucking Quentin, but so fucking true. I had never heard of the term ‘hangout movie’ before. And as a young stoner kid from the suburbs that only cared about movies and hip-hop at the time, I quickly became obsessed with this little subgenre of film. Yes, ashamedly so, Quentin Tarantino was like my cool cinema Uncle, except instead of recommending Led Zeppelin II in a vinyl shop, he was recommending Rio Bravo, Blow Out, and Taxi Driver at Video Archives. 

Since we’re on the subject, one of my favorite hangout scenes ever is from Pineapple Express, where Seth first picks up from Saul, and they begin to talk about Euthanasia. It’s one of my favorite scenes ever, I could watch it on a loop, and it’s just two guys bumming it in an apartment. The hangout genre influenced a lot of my early writing, which I might say from a structural standpoint, was atrocious. Picture what happens when your friends come over… How you guys speak with a plot-less lack of urgency… That is how I wrote. To me, the best plot was none. I was obsessed with this idea. Mainly, because plot was all I had ever been exposed to. All I wanted was to try to write like Dazed N’ Confused. “Say man, you got a joint?” “No, not on me, man.” (Laughs) “It’d be a lot cooler if you did.” That was my Shakespeare… “I may play ball.. But I will never sign that..” That line probably hits me harder than any in all of cinema. Randall ‘Pink’, looked upon by his coaches, friends, girlfriends as a troubled/disgruntled high school quarterback, reminds us that he is the true role model of the film, and the symbol of spending the time of your short youth on your own terms. 

I can relate to the way the coaches guilt Randall. I went to Catholic school. I also rode the bench for two years of high school football. When the coaches told us not to smoke weed and party, I supported them, looking down upon anyone who was foolish to do so. After further reflection, I realized that none of these guys had any future in football to begin with, and hence weren’t necessarily throwing their youth away, but instead cherishing it before it was too late. 

For me, to spend high school like the kids in Dazed N’ Confused would be like taking the red pill. I partied for the first time in college, which was a mistake, because I ended up going too hard for too long. Although, it would be a few years later where I would first see this film and the timing couldn’t have been more perfect. I would watch it over and over with friends ‘cross-faded’, as we used to call it. I watched it alone. I would watch it ten times in a year and then watch it some more. It is true that my cousin Brendon and I watch it whenever we get together. After we’ve shared lots of laughs and drinks, we share more over this film. Having visits with my cousin were like the high school party times I never had. Our apartments were like my moon tower. Whenever we got together I always wanted to drink belligerently. Alcoholism through family I suppose.

I’ve also driven around the suburbs of Chicago for hours with friends in a stoned out haze, listening to really laid back hip-hop and Pink Floyd. I never smashed mailboxes. I didn’t have the balls. Instead I ‘egg’d’ houses, including one of my family members. Much like in life, Dazed N’ Confused portrays its emotions through its musical cues. “Tuesday’s Gone” sounds like the end of one of those vacations that you don’t want to end. “Slow Ride” feels like a triumphant win at the end of a sports movie. The “Hurricane” needle-drop is for me, what turns these average high school partiers into a subculture, as we watch McConaughey and the crew walk in slow motion through the pool hall, looking cooler than Han solo. 

For me, Dazed N’ Confused borders on fantasy. My high school experience didn’t come close. I was raised Catholic, coddled, sheltered. I didn’t drink or smoke or party, until I was eighteen. I went off to college and just pretended I was cool, like Mitch Kramer after being hazed by crazy O’Bannon. But yet the film makes it feel like you’re a part of it. That it’s yours. It’s like watching the fun high school experience I never had, but thanks to Richard Linklater, I’ll have it forever… 

In preparation for writing this I watched the infamous Linklater commentary. And yes, this watch was accompanied by two joints and a couple of Stella Artois. It’s eye-opening to hear him talk about his story/characters. As you might expect, he doesn’t view this as a plot-less film. In fact, he sounds just as calculated, if not more, than a writer who is busy constructing the most complicated of narratives. I will always respect a writer more that is able to write their characters this personally then say, one that thinks of a twist like ‘Memento.’ Because it’s knowing who these characters truly are, down to their bones, that keeps you coming back. 

It is astounding that Dazed N’ Confused is a Hollywood film. In story, cast, budget, look, everything checks the boxes of an indie production that happened to blow up at Sundance. It’s like I subconsciously ‘block out’ the Universal logo at the beginning, as if it helps make the watch more pure. (And by the way, when are we getting a Dazed N’ Confused ride?) I always pictured the principal photography of Dazed N’ Confused to be like a Jarmusch set: chill, quick, drama-free. But it sounded much more like a Coppola set- with Linklater having to exhaustingly fight the studio for his personal vision every day. 

I’m obviously biased, but in the end, I can’t help but feel confident that all the fighting he did was worth it. He made me forget the Universal logo. He made a bunch of no-name actors (at the time at least), whose character names I can hardly remember, endlessly rewatchable. Like the greatest directors of the 70s, Linklater tricked the studios into producing an indie high school movie with no sellable cast or premise. What it has instead is a philosophy class in the high school summer setting with partying used as a middle finger to the establishment. 

Like Randall ignoring his coaches to buy Aerosmith tickets, Linklater ignored the studio pressure and made the exact movie he wanted to make. I can’t help but think that he too listened to “Slow Ride” when it was all said and done.