The State of the American Teen

I went to see the documentary American Teen last night. It was a cute, entertaining portrayal of a few particular teenagers from Warsaw, Indiana as they make their way through senior year. They try to pigeonhole each of the students into an archetype (the princess, the brain, the jock, the basketcase... sound familiar?) which it turns out is not that hard to do. The movie is a lot of fun and many of the students draw you into their stories - particularly Hannah Bailey (let's call her the Ally Sheedy of the bunch). Hannah's story has a lot of roller coasters and emotion but watching her cry in her friend's arms both moved me and made me feel guilty for seeking entertainment in her pain. These are real kids after all and while they agreed to submit to this process, it does feel a little wrong to be following their personal lives in such close detail. I guess MTV does it all the time though so I'll just lighten up and roll with it. If you're sentimental for John Hughes and are curious to see the real deal, this is certainly for you.