Wednesday, March 26, 2014
American Fake!
I don't believe that this movie was actually a documentary. We spent the entire half of the movie thinking that it was a mockumentary. When we learned that it was a documentary we all could not believe it. Between the flashy animation scenes and the real life scenes that seemed like they were out of a high school romance film. Also they always had access to both sides of a conversation. I knew that they ending would have been happy because something similar would of happened in a high school romance film. I felt like I was watching High School Musical without the musical numbers. Also all the characters were an archtype in a movie. The nerd, the artistic outcast, the popular girl, and the jock. I mean the nerdy character even had like 500 zits. I feel like I was watching a mockumentary or just a regular narrative film. Real life isnt a narrative. Somethings in real life are never solved. My last and final point is how do you get accepted to a California College when you werent even there for half the year. I think it was fake.
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It might be worth considering that Burnstein chose to portray the cliches (nerd, jock, etc) to show their more personal sides that movies and TV don't. In this sense, doesn't American Teen operate exactly opposite to "high school romances?"
ReplyDeleteAlso, the question isn't exactly whether this film is real or fake, Brian. We know that it's a DOCUMENTARY that happens to have many fabricated or otherwise embellished elements. The question is more related to how accurately Burnstein portrayed the life (lives, rather) of an "average" American high-schooler. Most stereotypes exist for a reason - the students they chose to film were not made up in the slightest. I think you need to focus on broader issues, such as the original intent of the filmmakers, before chastising the students for being too "fake."
I don't necessarily think flashy animation makes this film less "documentary." It did exaggerate some characters' romantic (and other) emotion, but that just to portray their feeling in more entertaining way for audience. Nonetheless, I agree with the part where camera men had access to both side of conversation. That was just too convenient to be realistic.
ReplyDeleteI think you raise a lot of excellent points, Brian. The fact that everyone thought it was a mockumentary from the beginning made it hard to take the film seriously as a documentary after discovering the truth. While watching the film believing it was a mockumentary, I thought it was hilarious. The title "American Teen" is just so vague that what seemed like fabricated drama and personal issues came off as a ridiculous spoof of what it's like to be. All of these things just made the film difficult to take seriously and thus difficult to believe. This might make the film less effective as a documentary.
ReplyDeleteSo, you fault the film because it seems like a mockumentary. Isn't the humor in a mockumentary based on the contrast between perceived vs actual reality? Where is that going on?
ReplyDeleteIt's important to understand that American Teen was not fake. These were in fact real people and it was in fact a real high school. Things *seeming* unbelievable is not a good argument for them being fake. Truth is stranger than fiction.
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