Review of Slacker (1990) by Jennifer A — 14 Jul 2009

Who would have thought a movie with no plot featuring a bunch of twentysomethings who are basically mainstream dropouts would help reshape American Indie Cinema?

Slacker (1991) - 7.5/10.

Director - Richard Linklater.

Richard Linklater's "Slacker" would indeed inspire a new breed of filmmakers to DYI on shoestring budgets and even more importantly their own terms. It flew in the face of conventional filmaking (no real plot, storyline or main characters) and somehow managed to gain a cult following in the process. Around the same time "Generation X" was the new buzzword used to label the post-Baby Boomers, Linklater delved deep into a Gen-X subculture of misfits, drop-outs, artists and musicians called "slackers", effectively creating another buzzword. If you just skim the surface it would be easy to dismiss this film as mindless meanderings but deep down Linklater really touched the pulse of a signicant segment of disaffected youth.

So for me it was as much of a reflection of my own life rather than some obscure movie. Yep an age spoiler here; I was in college when this came out! I resented Baby Boomers who I increasingly found hypocritical as they reached middle age. I changed majors as often as I changed the sheets on my bed because I couldn't fathom becoming a corporate clone, or worse yet a hypocrit! I rebelled against traditional institutions like marriage because I saw how my parents (and so many of my friend's parents) screwed that up. Money wasn't going to be my motivator either. So I was all about splashing paint on a canvas, writing bad poetry, or photographing urban decay. I didn't want to make any decisions I would regret so I put off decisions altogether. So back then the big choices would be what band do I want to see this weekend? The Flaming Lips? The Pixies are in town? Who am I going to hang out with? Or maybe I'll just spend the night talking to strangers at the downtown coffee house.

Perhaps this film doesn't make any sense at all or perhaps it's meaning is perfectly clear. Who freaking knows but at least this film gave me a name for my dog, may he rest in peace. He was a lazy mutt!