Review of American Teen (2008) by Walter M — 05 Oct 2009

It is not the underage drinking or the borderline illegal activity that disturbs me so much in the partly satisfying documentary "American Teen."(I could tell you stories about high school class trips to Quebec that would curdle your blood...) Rather, it is the high school students' self-inflicted lack of privacy. The one difference between now and 20 years ago is the technology, breaking down all barriers in the form of mobile phones, text messaging and other toys. It used to be just unreliable gossip but now there is instant proof to be forwarded around at will. Take the very sad example of the high school student in the documentary who sends a picture of herself topless to a guy she likes who then forwards it to somebody he knows and before you know it, it is all over school, the subject of massive ridicule.(Pepperoni nipples?) That has to be worse than having a father who is an Elvis impersonator, right?

None of that compares to the privacy given up by the four students profiled in the senior class at Warsaw Community High School in Indiana in an attempt by the filmmakers to film a representative cross section of the student body. They are captured in their most emotionally vulnerable moments as they try to find their places in the world.(Whatever happened to locked diaries?) The central question is whether that will be in the same small town where they grew up or elsewhere. And even though the intent is to show high school through the eyes of the students, I would have liked a little more overview from the high school staff, which would give a better idea as to whether this high school is more vocational in nature or college prep. At a guess, I would have to say the former.