Happy 20th Anniversary, Dazed and Confused!

Austin is the home of so much greatness: The State Capitol, The University of Texas, Friday Night Lights (Tim Riggins alone), 6^th street, the beautiful southern boys and my personal all time favorite, the cult classic Dazed and Confused. Set in an Austin suburb on May 26^th, 1976, Rick Linklater’s Dazed and Confused perfectly illustrated the life of a 70s teen without any crazy clichés. There were no teen pregnancies, deaths, divorces, just a bunch of kids trying to have a good time on their last day of school. While seniors ponder where the party will be for the night, the future freshmen either suffer or run from the initiation rites forced upon them. Despite this simple plot, the soundtrack, the quotes, and the characters make this film irresistible to fall in love with. 

It’s crazy to believe that the film has now reached its 20^th anniversary after premiering on September 24^th 1993. Yes, many of us were neither born nor walking but the film can still be appreciated by our generation due to its timeless nature.  The fact that it was filmed here in Austin only makes our connection even stronger. I mean in reality we all could have a huge party at the actual moon tower, who’s down? I don’t think they could have chosen a better place to film than Austin, there is a just a vibe here that you can’t find anywhere else. Speaking of finding, one of the films main characters was found here in Austin as a student. You may know him, he goes by the name of Matthew McConaughey a.k.a. everyones favorite UT alum. Yes, he was just one of the few stars who had their break in Dazed and Confused including Ben Affleck and Renee Zellwegger. Little did they know at the time they had a real all-star cast. But there isn’t just one great character in this film, all of the characters hold their own and leave us with something. Therefore, in honor of Dazed and Confused’s 20^th anniversary here are the ultimate lessons the characters in this movie have taught us. 

1. Your entrance is everything.

When cassettes ruled it was all about what song you had blasting as you rolled into the parking lot at school. Although today most of us don’t have a cassette of “Sweet Emotion” by Aerosmith the opening scene shows us that it’s all about having the right vibe when entering anywhere. 

2. Seniority is the Circle of Life.

Just as the seniors hazed the future freshmen in the film, we learn that no matter who you are you have to work your way up from the bottom. We may not be getting hazed but as a rookie anywhere you have to respect the veterans until you finally are one. 

3. Karma will come back to bite you.

O’Bannon learned after paddling one too many kids that karma will come back and soak you with white paint, who knew Ben Affleck could play such a bully? Lesson learned: in the end you get what you deserve so watch out. 

4. Don’t ever ditch your “loser friends” because at the end of the day they will be the ones to drive with you to get your Aerosmith tickets. 

Pink may have been pressured by his coach to drop his friends and get serious about football but that wasn’t what Pink was about. You learn that in life there aren’t too many people that you can completely be yourself with, so hold on to those that allow you to do so. 

5. Make the most out of your situation.

Dawson said it best, “I want to look back and say that I did I the best I could while I was stuck in this place. Had as much fun as I could while I was stuck in this place. Played as hard as I could while I was stuck in this place…” Live your life to the fullest despite what situation you’re in. 

6. Play it cool. 

Another great Dawson tip is to always play it cool with the opposite sex, you can’t let them know how much you like them. Dawson swears by it and well he is a pretty established ladies man and it worked for Mitch Kramer so it can work for you! 

7. You just gotta keep livin man, L-I-V-I-N 

Last but not least the quote made famous by Matthew McConaughey, “Let me tell you this, the older you do get the more rules they’re gonna try to get you to follow. You just gotta keep livin’ man, L-I-V-I-N.” Remember who you are and what you stand for, at the end of the day you got to do what you want to do. 

The quotes, the soundtrack, the celebrities, this film is pure genius. After watching this film there is a 70s teen in all of us that just wants to jump into the passenger seat of the car and drive off to ‘Slow Ride’ (or is that just me?) 

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