Released: 1973

Dir. George Lucas

     After spending years going to the cinema to see, The Jungle Book, The Love Bug, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory(twice!), Bedknobs and Broomsticks, there comes a time in a young person’s life to start seeing ‘grown up’ movies. On my 10^th birthday that dream became a reality, and I was scared.

    Seeing a grown-up movie meant subjecting yourself to a whole new demographic of audience member, and in 1974 that included…hippies. By then, because of the number of cop shows on TV, and a small minority of really bad characters in the news, hippies were getting a pretty bad rap.  Gone it seemed were the days of peace, love, no war, and replaced by drugged out, homicidal maniacs, and followers of Charles Manson. That’s how I perceived the average audience member of the early 1970s. So, it’s kind of ironic that my first grown up movie was to be, American Graffiti.

     Released in August of 1973, and held over repeatedly through March of 1974, American Graffiti appealed to me for two reasons, the music and the cars. Especially the cars. But, there was that nagging obstacle, hippies. As much as I wanted to see the movie, I was severely almost debilitatingly apprehensive.

     “There’s going to be hippies there,” I said bashful, just as much afraid of my parents’ reaction, then the hippies themselves.

     “Don’t be silly,” mom said, and loaded my older sister and I into the VW and off we went to the cinema.

     Mom dropped us off at the Pen Centre Cinemas, two big screens, for the Sunday afternoon matinee. My fears where quickly evaporated, as there were no hippies in the audience, only a couple of bikers seated a few rows in front of us. The local chapter of the Satan’s Choice motorcycle club had a clubhouse not far from the theater. I would be safe here.

    After the national anthem and some coming attractions, America Graffiti began with Bill Haley and His Comets’ Rock around the Clock, appropriate, as the movie covers approximately a 12 hour time span. My most vivid memories of that first viewing come toward the end of the film, the procession of cars heading to the climactic drag race to the music of Booker T and the MG’s, and the audience reaction to the fates of John Milner and Toad just before the final credits rolled. The ending is ironic, and sad, as we seem to be witnessing the end of much simpler time.

     Revisiting American Graffiti is much different but still a wonderful experience. As a ten year old I made it home from the theatre, alive and none the worse for wear having seen some cool cars and heard lots of great music. Now, I have the luxury of being reflective about the movie and my own life experiences.

    Released in 1973, only 11 years after the films’ events, American Graffiti was undeniably nostalgic. Writing this in 2022, does 2011 seem nostalgic? Not really, but the transformation from 1962 to 1973 is drastic in every sense of the word. Although the real 1962 was hardly the Leave it to Beaver image people seem to envision of the 50s and early 60s, it would pale in comparison of what was to come. Western society transformed into a much more violent and cynical world, which I suppose added to American Graffiti’s ultimate nostalgic appeal. The movie is a time machine, with a tremendous sense of time and place, as seen by George Lucas, via the lens of Haskell Wexler, whose memories and experiences the film are loosely based. Everything feels authentic, as we flow back and forth between four stories of a group of friends on the night before two of them are to leave for collage.

     Arguably, at the centre of the film is Curt Henderson(Richard Dreyfuss) as he hums and haws about whether he is going to leave or not, obsessed with a mystery woman who drives a white T-bird. Meanwhile, his sister, Laurie(Cindy Williams) spars with her boyfriend Steve(Ron Howard) after Steve suggests they be able to see other people while he’s off at collage, thinking it will bring them closer together. John Milner(Paul Le Mat), the hot rod driving rebel, who’s having a difficult time growing up, unwittingly ends up baby-sitting Carol(MacKenzie Phillips). And Terry ‘The Toad’ Fields(Charles Martin Smith), who is honoured with taking care of Steve’s precious 58 Chevy, meets up with the kooky Debbie Dunham(Candy Clark) and looses Steve’s car. There are situations that are resolved in a way that only a movie can. But, the most important ideas, like life, are less tangible, and left unresolved.

     Unknowingly, all these characters are chasing after something. Steve, seemingly after freedom of some kind that he’s not sure of, John after Bob Falfa(Harrison Ford) and his ‘boss’ 55 Chevy, over bragging rights to who is the fastest on the strip, not being able to see beyond the grill of his 32 Ford Coupe, but rather his rear view mirror, and Toad is after something he really isn’t, a bigtime operator and ladies man. Finally, Curt, not sure of anything, is after a fantasy. DJ Wolfman Jack, playing himself, is Curt’s link to that fantasy.

       There are other themes to the film, about simpler times, changing times, the uncertainty of the future, bigger issues about the 60s and its transformation, but today I look at it as a character study. I was asked one time which character I related to most, and at first I said Toad, but I had to change that, after some serious thought, and another viewing of the film, and I decided I relate mostly to Curt. Curt is chasing the fantasy of the blond in the T-bird, someone he cannot have, and in no way live up to his expectations. When he learns that she may be a prostitute, it’s a bit of knowledge he chooses to reject. Now I haven’t had this experience with a prostitute, but I can definitely relate to the pursuit of the fantasy, the rejection of the truth, and the desire for something we just plain and simply can’t have. The love of someone who can never love you back. Okay, I confess, I can also relate to Toad and trying to be something you’re not, but I’ll leave that discussion for another day.

     Curt’s indecisiveness about his future, is a common theme, as he has different choices put before him. College, staying home, pursuing the blond in the T-bird, rekindling the relationship with an ex-girlfriend, sticking it out with and joining the Pharaohs. The only thing that seems certain in his mind is his desire for the blonde goddess. The least obtainable of his goals. Success in both college and with the Pharaohs appear to be sure things.

     I think, anyone watching American Graffiti can see a bit of themselves in the characters of the film. Obviously, the ideas are universal, and not solely the realm of 1962. But it seems, 1962 is as nice a place as any to be. Everything feels authentic as we ride along in the cars and experience the long lost idea of the Sock Hop.

    The sound of American Graffiti is one of the main elements that grounds the film into reality. The music, an amazing soundtrack of 50s and early 60s rock and roll, almost always seems to be coming from a car radio speaker, or other source of the environment, at times distorted and echoing off the buildings on the main drag. The music amplifying the action of each scene.

     I can easily put my first, past, experience with American Graffiti behind me. But re-enjoying it is something you can always look forward to.