Anyone remember what each of the 4 main characters life bios was? Vietnam? n Insurance salesman? What else.
shareOf course, the other message here is that the girls' lives don't matter; we aren't given a single word about what they might have gone on to.
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See the "trivia" section for this movie, the women involved in making the movie were shocked Lucas wouldn't include a title card for the women.
shareYep, for example there's no mention of Laurie marrying Steve.
shareThe red-head kid with Laurie became the insurance agent in California.
The one who went on the airplane (who wanted the blond mystery girl) became a writer in California.
The drag race kid died in a drunk car accident.
The nerdy kid died in Vietnam.
The one who went on the airplane (who wanted the blond mystery girl) became a writer in California.
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Actually Curt became a writer in Canada. Suggests he fled the US to avoid the Vietnam draft.
Curt was the one who wanted to stay in Modesto, Steve wanted to see the world. But Steve ended up in Modesto and Curt got to Canada.
I return to re-affirm in a more specific way what was said above that may have had some interesting timeliness.
To me, the overall tone of American Graffiti is rather "buzz kill" all the way through the movie, even though what we are seeing are "comedy vignettes" (and a few heart to hearts) in the foreground.
The characters never mention Viet Nam. In 1962, I don't think the draft was fully functional...but it was coming.
And it would be of great importance to the lives of young men of a certain age.
So, look: Terry the Toad GOES to Vietnam. And ends up MIA.
So, look: Curt is "a writer living in Canada." He FLED to Canada, as many young men did when the draft came calling.
The draft was a powerful thing in the 60's, as it had been in the 40's(World War II) and some of the 50s (Korea.) Its funny in this age of total disrespect for Presidents to remember that Presidents once had the power to take the sons of mothers and fathers out of their homes at age 18...and kill them. All that child bearing, all that child raising and...they take them away and kill them.
Oh, there were "ways out": student deferments. Marriage and kids. And there were certainly young men and women who were proud and ready to join the military and join the fight (in WWII especially.)
Anyway, American Graffiti is a movie that one watches with pain in the pit of the stomach even as "fun hijincks" appear on screen.
More on those final cards:
Vietnam shadows both the Toad and Curt.
Steve, who swore the need to "escape this turkey town," remains there -- in Modesto. As an insurance agent. He never went anywhere (but ah, nowadays, Modesto is a cool town of distinction, because: George Lucas.)
Curt, who started the movie unsure of wanting TO leave Modesto...went far, far away(Canada) and never returned.
CONT
In short, the fate of these three young men tied directly into both the story we were being told(one boy stays, one boy goes...but its the opposite of who we thought) and the times (Vietnam will reach out to grab the boys.)
John Milner's twist ending (he will die just two years after this film ends) was at least, "fitting." He drives all the time, increasing the odds of meeting a drunk driver. But his character was also presented as "having run out of time" anyway.
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Critic Pauline Kael was among those who berated American Graffiti for not giving us sign cards for the women. But those wouldn't have been appropriate.
This was a story BY a guy(George Lucas) about his childhood and friendships AMONG guys. The core story -- "leave town for college or stay where you are?" was resolved in those cards, as was the "era" story of Vietnam. Milner's "side story" was dealt with -- and he was rather the action hero of the plot.
What of the women? The story isn't about THEM -- except for Laurie, whose story will end with Steve's no doubt. Wife. Mother.
MacKenzie Phillips pre-teen isn't tied to anything we can work with.
As for Debbie Dunham -- the only Oscar nominated performance in the movie (Candy Clark) -- there's a lot going on there, but she rather drifts out of the movie as EITHER a real potential girlfriend for Toad(she asks him to call her) or...simply one young man's night of excitement with a woman.
When they made More American Graffiti(1979) and rather betrayed the original, MacKenzie Philiips STILL didn't get a card but the other two women dic: Laurie is a wife, mother --"and heads a consumer group." Debbie is a "country western singer." Which isn't really a fate. Its an occupation. Actually More American Graffiti told us that Debbie moved to San Francisco and became...a stripper! Which rather continued her "boy toy" persona from the first movie, and suggested a hardscrabble family life.