Review of American Teen (2008) by Amy J — 15 Jun 2009

Warsaw, IN - I know of that town. Indiana Tech = ??/ don't think it's Division I calibre. Notre Dame legacy admission = not surprising. Most of my friends focused on Purdue, IU or Ball State. The parents were real idiots; they had no more vision of the future than the teens. Some adults actually said out loud the sublimal messages I received many years ago in Indiana. Scary.

As to the film style, I had mixed feelings. I guess the goal was to be arty as well as telling some stories. There are enjoyable video interludes of each of the five student's imaginings. Does that mean this can still be called a documentary?

I wonder why the director chose those five stereotypes to focus on - maybe those five were the most photogenic. There must have been so many other threads that could have been followed. For instance, what about the Christian teen Hannah talked about in her blog? And there are still teens in Indiana who grow up on farms and are into 4-H, AND go to college to study agriculture. What about the couples who date through high school and marry each other? The student who has a weight problem? Etc.

Overall, this was okay. I felt more of an observer than I felt empathy with the people on film.