MovieChat Forums > The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012) Discussion > Would kids in High School today with Sma...

Would kids in High School today with Smartphone still interact like this


This movie, set in '91, was very relevant to my experience in High School. I graduated in '81. In the ten years between '81 and '91, the music changed and a few other things, but things mostly stayed the same. It was all pre- 9/11 and pre-internet. Teachers didn't get involved much in bullying - kids mostly had to work that stuff out by themselves, in peer groups and in the cliques that they formed (my wife is a teacher and confirmed after seeing this film that today teachers would be required to intervene in ways they never would have 30 years ago). Kids today have Common Core and a lot more testing than I did too. I could, and did, very much navigate the fringes of the system, just getting by and making the main focus of my life my friends and seeking out new experiences. As long as I kept my grades slightly above average, parents and teachers didn't really notice or get in my way. Getting into college was a lot less competitive and a lot less expensive.

I compare all this to my son's generation, kids raised by "helicopter" parents, and their time and activities much more controlled by adults and media. Lots of them are medicated from a very early age. And the vast majority of them are plugged into smartphones and computers from the time they wake up until the time they go to bed. My son surfs online with a vast network of acquaintances, but his interactions in real-space (especially as something of a Wallflower) seem very limited to me. I don't see him forming these close alliances that we see in this movie and that I had to make to get through High School. He has to keep his grades high to have a chance at a good college admission, and the cost of college means that he knows he'd better be serious and make the most out of that time. Social scene is very much secondary for him. He seems more stressed out than I remember being. Maybe I'm just getting too old and forgetting? Maybe I'm just "someones's Dad now" (to quote the movie), and clueless?

Do kids still hang out like this? Do they still make each other mixed tapes? Are the social cliques in High School still as powerful, or can kids escape all of that (and defer much of the coming of age that comes from overcoming it), by taking refuge in the internet and the echo chamber of social media?

And (totally aside) is Rocky Horror even playing anywhere anymore? I read somewhere that they are planning a remake. As if kids today need Rocky Horror as a safe place to explore and defy sexual norms, lol.
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A wrench to the head changes everything.

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And is Rocky Horror even playing anywhere anymore?


Yes, it still is. Ironically its shown regularly in the same theater that Perks filmed the Rocky Horror scene in in Pittsburgh Pa. Also one in Washington DC area shows it every Sat Night. There must be more but I didn't search for long .



https://www.showclix.com/event/RockyHorrorHollywood


http://www.universitymalltheatres.com/

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Good to know. It's probably still playing at the 8th St. Playhouse in Greenwich Village too (where I used to see it every Saturday night), but it's not in small towns everywhere like it was when I was a teen. I do see it played on Halloween in some theaters. Is there still a floor show?

What about kids making each other mixed tapes? The last time someone gave me a mix (burned on to a CD) was about 2004. With the demise of iTunes and it being replaced by streaming music services, I really feel like something personal has been lost.

_______

A wrench to the head changes everything.

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[deleted]

People always ask this at boards like Perks and Breakfast Club. As a guy who had a cellphone in high school (albeit less advanced than whatever the newest model is now), I can say yes. The majority of kids might be stuck in their little social media worlds, but there will always be those few pure, old-fashioned souls roaming the halls of America's high schools. I truly believe that.

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Good Question. I think I could have some input on this as I went into highschool right around when smartphones were coming out like the first iPhone. Honestly it seems like the group of people you hung out with determines rather its like this or not. My girlfriend then, now wife, and I hung out with people who would basically do the football game friday, go to the popular restaurant after, then to a party that night as well. It all just depends on what you're interested in really. Myspace was still a huge thing until my sophomore year when facebook came out and thats when I think things turned a bit more towards heavy social media. But still people would meet up and hangout around the school in my day, even on fridays just for the social aspect and not being around all the technology we have today.

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