I totally agree -- I started high school 4 years later, in 1980, and it was eerie how well they capture the vibe, and I live in a totally different part of the country and in a much more urban area.
Amusingly the year I graduated was the year "Breakfast Club" was released and we actually spent two days of my senior current events class discussing the movie, and I remember how animated everyone was about *that* movie being a totally realistic depiction of high school. I think it was, too.
I think Dazed's appeal is much stronger if you lived in the era or its immediate twilight. For me, the vibe definitely shifted from 1980 to 1985. 1980 was still the 1970s and the 1960s in some ways. By 1985, it was way more punk-rock and not hippie/counterculture focused.
Oddly, I never found "Fast Times.." to have a lot of realism to it. I have a friend who grew up in LA during that time and he's convinced it's almost a documentary, but I think it was very much a lot of a LA/California thing that didn't export as well to the rest of the country.
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