This Movie is a true story. - Suburbia (1984) Discussion

[–] lilant 19 years ago

I dont think it was an true story but some of the punks in the movie are real.

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In the director's commentary, penelope spheeris mentions that most of the events in the movie are based on experiences she had. And most of the kids were real punks, she figured hiring real punks to play punks would be easier than hiring actors to play punks. Wonder where most of them are now?

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[–] karim306 19 years ago

we know that one of them plays bass guitar for a successful rock band.

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[–] 19 years ago

[deleted]

[–] shoutykitten 19 years ago

Not a true story, but she did use real kids from the scene. 2 of my friends were in this movie.

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[–] wawacore 19 years ago

yeah i was kind of wondering myself where and what they are doing now. Particularly Skinner who seemed to be a big part of the film even though he wasn't an actor.

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[–] orlanthrex 19 years ago

Most have just disappeared except Flea of course. Though Chris Pederson had a limited career in acting.

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[–] jeff-981 19 years ago

Chris Pederson can be found here www.aimotorvators.com
he has hardly dissapeared.

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[–] Atreyu_Fan 19 years ago

Wade Walston is the bassist to a well respected Punk band called U.S Bombs.

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[–] psychotronicbeatnik 19 years ago

In her commentary on the DVD, Spheeris reveals which scenes came from her own experiences (such as the kid with the drunk Mom and the vodka) and which came from newspaper stories about actual happenings (such as the pack of wild dogs killing the baby or the kids dropping off the body of their od'd friend at her parent's house). But she used these stories as a springboard to create scenes in the film -it's not a true story, although it's very true to life. She also makes this great LOL comment: "I was a good filmmaker before I sold out." So true.

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[–] splodgenight 18 years ago

I heard somewhere that the movie was made into a play, has anyone seen it?

Oh and a little trivia for some of you fans of Flea, at the time he was a punk(now in a alternative band) he was the bassist for Fear, in my opinion one of the greatest punk bands of all time, Lee Ving(the singer in Fear) actually kills Flea in a movie they did together called "Dudes". Only wish Fear had recorded when Flea was in the group.

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[–] psychotronicbeatnik 18 years ago

Dudes was also directed by Penelope Spheeris. Great 80's alternative comedy.

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[–] crankenstyne 18 years ago

Definitely not a true story. But yeah, most of the 'actors' were real punks from L.A. I knew a few of them. The guy who played the drug dealer punk was in a band called Legion. No idea what happened to him. One of the girls (Maggie Ehrig) was in a semi-successful post punk band called Twisted Roots. I'm pretty sure she's still alive and well. The punk with the peg-leg is a dude named Andre who was just a punker kid from L.A. and he is still around(He's even on myspace). Jack, the singer from TSOL is still around, in fact he actually ran for Governor of Calif. this last election. And Casey Royer (Singer from D.I.) is still in D.I. and they actually still tour.

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[–] lilant 18 years ago

I wish I can live in Cali

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[–] jcatjake 18 years ago

yah ,in 1982.

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[–] elizabeth6189 17 years ago

Yeah. I think this is the only movie about punks that got it right. All the other movies are so phony. They give off the feel that they were made by people who wanted to cash in on punk and didn't really know $hit about it. SLC Punk, for example.
In Suburbia, I can pick out characters that I think are exactly like people I know, which makes the movie so much more credible. It feels like the filmmakers knew what they were talking about and that they took a camera and filmed myself and my friends and what we were like a few years back. The only scene that's unrealistic is the one with the pink prom dress girl, but that doesn't really matter, cause I bet a lotta people wish that would actually happen haha. Nah, that girl was just a dumb *beep*
Anyway, the point was that because they didn't use real actors and because of the story line, I just think this is the MOST AMAZING effing movie ever. It isn't some commercial idea of what the punk lifestyle is like. It's just a realistic and touching story about some punk kids living in a house. Period. No bull$hit.

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[–] MiaV444 17 years ago

Maybe I missed it but I'm surprised no one mentioned Penelope's documentary on the L.A. punk scene called "The Decline of Western Civilization" It includes Black Flag, Fear, the Germs, X, Circle Jerks, Alice Bag...she made that movie because she loved the music and that was her scene. She also did "The Decline of Western Civilzation Part 2: The Metal Years" which focused on the L.A. hair metal scene. Not nearly as cool but *beep* funny as hell. Watch both. She is amazing.

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[–] nakedcitizens1 16 years ago

you guys are dumb. True punk is dead. There is no way you guys are like any of these kids.

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[–] chachadynamite 16 years ago

Good Lord, you can't just say you're a punk, that's what kids in the suburbs do. Give us one good reason why you're so disenfranchised that you have to 'tell' people you're a punk..... that's what Avril Lavigne does.

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[–] cobrademon666 16 years ago

Though not true it draws from true life. There were two main influences on the movie. One was Spheeris's experiences in the punk scene in the late 70's/early 80's (She was married to the head of Slash Magazine during this time). The other influence came from a receptionist at the magazine named Aimee Cooper and her experience with a group of outcast punks called The Connected or TC. TR was loosely based on TC and their idea of uniting as a group or family. Cooper eventually wrote a book about this time in her life called "Coloring Outside The Lines: A Punk Rock Memoir."

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