Values Of American Graffiti Essay, Research Paper
The movie, American Graffiti, has many values to it including being cool, having fun, school (parents), and dating. It is a movie where teens can relate to. How teen life is really like in those days. American Graffiti is a movie that shows the American youth culture and its values is the early 1960 s. Even though American values have been changed a lot, during a long period of time, depending on the countries situation, entrance of different cultures, and people, some values are always parts of American life and are being unchangeable. These values can be seen in American Graffiti.
Another value was success of being cool is very important to a teenager. How they have to use slang words like bitchin which is another word for cool and some teens would say bore which is another word for not cool . They also have different kinds of look is more rebel like, he wears a tight white t-shirt with a cigarette pack rolled in his sleeve, his hair slicked back with one curl hanging over his head and they are always combing their hair. Another group of people known as the Pharaohs, which is a group of thugs or a gang, wear the same trend as a rebel but wear the same jackets in the group so everyone knows who they are and whom they represent. Then there is this preppy, goody two shoes group where they wear a regular shirt with khaki pants and comb their hair to the side, clothes that are a little in the expensive side. Then there are people like Bob who is a country guy and he wears clothes that a typical cowboy would wear, a cowboy hat with cowboy boots and he drove the fastest car in town.
The movie also shows the cultural importance of having fun. Teens have to have fun in their life. They go out and drink with their friends to get drunk and be cool. Or they would compete each other in drag racing. Or they would go partying everyday, get drunk, and stay out late until they want to go home. In the movie, there are always teens that eat in Mel s Diner in the movie.
Teens have to fall in love or have a little crush on someone. They would have sex or make out in the back seat of their car. Consequently, they will end up getting pregnant in an early age. However, some kids worry about getting to home base and wait until they get married or find the right girl/boy. When Kirk saw the girl in the white car, he referred her as The most beautiful woman he had ever seen. But he hardly knows her and still does everything he can to at least hear her voice or see her.
Conclusively, there are so much different values in a teen life.