We know that at least 3 characters (Wooderson, Floyd and Slater) were based on real people that Linklater went to high school with so which character was Linklater?
shareI would guess more of a mixture of Pink and maybe Tony. Just based on the vibe he gives in his interviews.
shareNone of the above. It was definitely Mitch. RL was born in 1960 and places him at about Mitch's age. In any case, Mitch is the emotional center of the film. To some extent, all characters are the Id of the author, but Mitch is most like RL.
shareWere Wooderson, Floyd and Slater based on people linklater knew?
shareWhy the hell was Milla on the DVD cover when she only had two lines compared to the rest of the female cast?
shareMilla Jovovich was also on the vhs cover.
shareI kinda thought that was weird. Maybe she was the only one willing to stick around to do that photo shoot, or somebody liked her picture well enough to put it on there. If I had done the poster, I think I would have put Wooderson, Pink, Slater and maybe Simone or Michelle. Although the other two big characters, Mitch and Mike, are kind of given the finger on the poster as well no matter what.
The day Chuck Norris dies is the day the world ends.
I read in an article that Milla's character had a great deal more parts that were eventually cut. There was a whole scene that showed how she stole the statues and then painted them like Kiss. In the cut version, the statues are shown in the back of the pickup already painted.
Yes. In fact, the three people he based them on sued him for using their likenesses and surnames in the film without permission. The suit was eventually dropped, though.
The day Chuck Norris dies is the day the world ends.
Actually, Linklater is somewhere in between the older characters and Mitch.
Floyd et al. are juniors in the spring of 1976, meaning they're the class of 1977. It depends on age cutoffs, but someone born in the summer of 1960 would most likely be in the class of 1978 (September 1 age cutoff).
It's a bit unclear to me exactly what grade Mitch was in. At the time, the usual structure had junior highs, rather than middle schools, so the kids coming into high school would have been finishing 9th grade the prior spring. I think they actually mention "junior high" in the movie. That would make Mitch the class of 1979, putting Linklater squarely between the two groups.
On the other hand, they talk about "freshmen" in the movie, which suggests it's a four-year high school. When I was in high school, there simply was no such thing as a freshman.
My guess is that they either refer to 9th-graders as freshmen based on their current year, or that in referring to high-school classes they dropped out "sophomore" rather than "freshman" (so the years are freshman-junior-senior). Then again, they refer to one character as a sophomore. In any event, one of the kids in Mitch's year seems to have a driver's license. This pushes the envelope if he's in 9th grade, but it's pretty much impossible if he's in 8th.
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EDITED TO ADD:
I just heard an interview with Linklater on the radio in which he referred to Mitch and friends as being "between 8th and 9th grade" in the movie. That's awfully odd, given that I'm pretty sure Texas had 7-9 junior highs at the time, and the presence of a 16-year-old 8th grader, but ... it's his movie.
He also confirmed the impression of many that Jake is essentially an older version of Mitch, even if he's not actually the same character.
I remember reading young adult books in the 80's in which high school started in 10th grade, but it wasn't "freshmen" who didn't exist, it was "juniors." Pretty sure it was the same in "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" - Stacey, Jennifer Jason Leigh's character, was 15 and a freshman in that film. I thought it was weird because while I went to high school in the late 80's/early 90's, my high school in New York was 4 years even when my oldest brother, who graduated in '77, went there. We had a junior high too but it was 6th, 7th and 8th grade. Since we know that in D&C there were freshmen (Mitch), sophomores (Julie) and seniors, but we never hear anyone mention junior year, I'm gonna guess that there WAS no junior year.
He also confirmed the impression of many that Jake is essentially an older version of Mitch, even if he's not actually the same character.
is Jake the main character in Everyone Wants Some?
That would fit with the timeline if they're at a 4 year high school, as it would put Mitch in the class of 1980.
The high schoolers clearly drive to a different school for the initial paddling and Mitch and in particular the other kids (his blond friend and the chubby lad with long hair) do look a good 3 years younger than the rest of the party goers, although the girl that Mike's friend gets with looks older, maybe because she's tall?
It did confuse me that they were calling them "freshman" throughout the movie - I can only assume that once the school bell went that day, they considered themselves "seniors" (even though their senior year wouldn't begin for another 3 months), and so, by that logic, they'd also consider the middle-school (or whatever it is) leavers "freshmen".
You'd think they'd save that kind of initiation for the first day of high school but whatever.
Oh wow, just realised Jake's an ace pitcher just like Mitch!
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