Published September 1, 2008 at 12:25 p.m.
Judging from the ruckus that Burlington's various college students created this weekend in my neighborhood — and most likely will cause today on holiday — no one misses high school at all...yet. If you're a freshman, you probably shouldn't think about it, but more than likely you'll dwell just a little bit.
You'll get over it quite quickly, but for now, you have American Teen, an overtly (and overly) stylish documentary following 5 students in an Indiana high school as they finish up with their senior year. Parts of the film feel like takes lifted from the cutting room floor of MTV's superior True Life series, but you'll find yourself right at home in their stereotyped world of cliques, pom-poms and angst.
Since the limited release of the film — you can see it at the Palace 9 in South Burlington — there have been claims on various message boards that American Teen was staged. Come to think of it, you can even message the "stars" on Facebook, leading me to believe that some of the backlash might be closer to the truth than the actual film. Then again, it's smart marketing for the producers to turn these generic characters into Facebook archetypes. It just blurs the lines of realism. But seriously, was high school realistic to begin with?
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