It's been a fairly horrifying realization lately; people use the phrase "90's" in the same way that people use "80's" to describe a film/song/band/artist/designer/musician of the period. Y'know, like you would say "checkered shoes are so 80's" or "Judd Nelson is such an 80's icon". I often used to wonder, what will "90's" be in the future? Will it be Grunge and Kurt Cobain, or Nu Metal and Fred Durst? Pulp Fiction or The Spice Girls Movie? What would the 90's be?
So late the other night I was getting ready to go to bed when a movie came on Showtime. The movie was S.F.W. starring Stephen Dorff and Reese Witherspoon. Back when I was an undergrad at Central Michigan University there was a period that I affectionately remember as being the "Semester in the Dark". There was an extended 4 to 5 month length of time where my roommates and I blocked out the windows, did not leave the apartment (except for supplies), slept until 6 or 7 at night, went to bed around noon, watched dozens of films, and would listen to Jeff Buckley bootlegs in repeated silent intensity. We literally would not see the sun for weeks, and it was a long cold winter in Mt. Pleasant. As anyone who has spent a long cold winter in mid-Michigan can attest, the endless gray skies can give anyone the blues, and we certainly embraced it.
It was during this period that we first ran into the 1994 film S.F.W. We wound up buying it, so we could replay it over and over. We wrote down quotes by Cliff Spab, the protagonist, and hung them on our living room wall. Stephen Dorff is Cliff Spab, a greasy haired slacker who was held captive by terrorists and filmed for a live 24 broadcast on TV. Upon ending his confinement, he finds that he is now a media star and an icon of youth. The film soundtrack features prominent grunge era bands like Soundgarden, Radiohead, Hole, and others.
From youtube:
Stephen Dorff (Blade, The Power of One) and Oscar winner Reese Witherspoon (2006: Walk The Line) are slacker teens who discover that fame can be a four-letter word in this raucous send-up of the cult of celebrity. Featuring "hilarious moments" (Movieline), "brash drama" (Los Angeles Times) and an ending that "packs all the wit and satirical edge [you] could hope for" (Entertainment Today), S.F.W. is a cult classic...to swear by. Held captive for 36 days by terrorists who broadcast their ordeal live on network news, Cliff (Dorff) and Wendy (Witherspoon) have become national idols whose words are parroted by the masses. But when they finally escape, only to be hounded by reporters and sold out by "friends", TV's most popular hostages realize they're still prisoners-this time, of the media-and the only place left to run...is to each other.
But the first thing that struck me was that it was not a good movie. In fact, it was kind of awful. What seemed like cool at the time was really just sad whining. And those quotes we so adored? Yeah, they were pseudo philosophical babble; sample line - "I'd like to live forever, but only for a little while". (But the slow motion sequence of Spab walking to Creep by Radiohead was still pretty sweet). But what also struck me was how earnest it was, and in a sense, my entire generation. I know I sound like some hippie reminiscing about the 60's, but it all seemed to mean something. It sure seems like things changed after Kurt died. His death was so cataclysmic - it seemed significant at the time, but in actuality it was the end of the entire era. It just seemed like irony and crappy pop followed. Wow, this is a rambling post.
Anyway, it seems to me that 90's music is Grunge, and that 90's films are Reservoir Dogs, and 90's fashion were flannel shirts and ripped jeans. In other words, the term 90's mostly relates to the good things, not what came after 1994. And that makes me feel nostalgic, and old, and kind of irrelevant. But that's ok as I sit up tonight and watch S.F.W. for the second time this week. Because I guess I still want to live forever, but only for a little while...
