The late 90s saw a slew of films centred on student activism and student politics. Previously, such depictions on film had been limited to tragic stories of youth cut short by student idealism (as in the many adaptations of Les Misérables), or of serious political films like Zabriskie Point. But with its whimsical and sardonic wit, the 1990s breathed new life into the genre in the form of three films – Strike!, Dick, and Election.
These films have very different aims, and indeed present markedly different opinions of teenagers, but nonetheless they formed something of a micro-genre between 1998-99 and reflected a shared lack of faith in American electoral politics and politicians. Election and Dick are most obvious in this. Election follows the candidates in a high school student government election and the increasing hostility and corruption over the course of the race. Not one candidate actually hopes to make the school a better place: overachiever Tracy Flick wants to succeed for the sake of success; Paul Metzler is running because his teacher told him he should, and his sister, Tammy, is hoping to get revenge on her ex-girlfriend. The use of emotional and immature teenagers in this context makes the message crystal-clear – our politicians are petty, corrupt and stupid, and they don’t care about us.
It could be argued that Dick, too, throws young people under the bus to make a point. The film follows two teenage girls who witness the robbery at the Watergate Hotel and ultimately become Deep Throat, the anonymous whistleblower. The protagonists, Arlene and Betsy, are far from intelligent, and the fact that two teen airheads could see through the veneer of respectability can be taken as an indictment of both Nixon and the political establishment in general. Both films are testament to a growing suspicion of politicians, perhaps as a result of Bill Clinton’s impeachment in 1998.
While Strike! (also released as All I Wanna Do and The Hairy Bird) was less concerned with electoral politics directly, it took a more radical stance, advocating collective direct action as a response to the misuse of systems of power. It too illustrated its point within a student setting. Strike! follows a group of teen girls at an all-girls’ school in the 1960s who fight to keep the school single-sex in the face of a merger with the local boys’ school, concerned that, as women, their education will be sacrificed in a mixed environment. Strike! also took a very kind view of its protagonists that I think Dick shares, even while using them to make the establishment look bad.
The characters in these movies are very young and they say stupid things, sometimes they don’t understand stuff that seems obvious to adult viewers, and their conflicts can feel petty, but these films love them for it. We were all children once, and it’s what makes the students in these movies a perfect everyman. In all their immaturity, these teenagers are still deserving of respect and they, like the viewers, are right to demand it from those in power. As Arlene says: “we’re human beings, and we’re American citizens, and four scour and seven years ago our forefathers… did something!”
“Kirsten Dunst Shankbone 2010 NYC” by david_shankbone is licensed under CC BY 2.0.