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MOVIE REVIEW:
PUMP UP THE VOLUME
(1990)
DIRECTOR:
Allan Moyle.
STARRING:
Christian Slater, Samantha Mathis.
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I've said it before and I'll say it again - the 90s was a special fucking time. We still retained the daggy innocence of the 80s, but fresh perspectives
and bold new ideas were slowly being introduced at the same time. Material, superficial, artifical - all those words ending in "al" didn't mean shit
anymore. Grunge had influenced a new generation. Weed stop being looked at as a drug. The 90s was a reincarnation of the 70s where being plastic was
ugly. Being rich was just greedy. Thoughtlessness was criminal. Kids wanted to be treated with respect. They didn't want to go through the motions of
parental/peer pressure, become the jock or the cheerleader and strive to be the most popular. They just wanted to live and discover meaning. As Adam
Sandler's only good movie, Billy Madison, shows - a material brat from the 80s does NOT gel with an el naturale student of the 90s... you capatalist, consumer PIG!
If any film were more faithfully able to represent the teen angst movement of the 90s than PUMP UP THE VOLUME - then I don't know about it. Not only does
the film celebrate the unique sound movement of the 90s (and some 80s), with songs from groups like Camper Van Beethoven, Primal Scream, Ice-T, Bad Brains,
Concrete Blonde, Henry Rollins and The Pixies, but it also stars the leading male face of the 90s - Christian Slater. I'll be straight
up too - I'm a fan of Slater. Whether it be his 80s Gleaming The Cube type movies or some of his later roles, eg. Very Bad Things, He Was a Quiet Man (a must see), I think there's only
a small selection of Christian Slater films I don't dig. Of which Alone in the Dark is easily at the top of that list.
Director (and writer) Allan Moyle, is also responsible for directing 90s hit Empire Records, which I personally hate. Don't let that discourage you though, this movie is nothing
like that fairy, fluffy, whimsical poo-fest. Released in 1990, Pump Up The Volume feels right at home and touches it's target audience in every way. The movie supports a great
young cast including an amazing performance by Samantha Mathis. The script alone is gold and the film is full of memorable and inspiring quotes for people
who feel they do not fit in, such as:
"We're all worried, we're all in pain. That just comes with having eyes and having ears. But just remember one thing - it can't get any worse, it can only
get better. High school is the bottom, being a teenager sucks, but that's the point, surviving it is the whole point. Quitting is not going to make you
stronger, living will.
You hear about some kid who did something stupid, something desperate; what possessed him? How could he do such a terrible thing? Well, it's really quite
simple, actually. Consider the life of a teenager - you have parents, teachers telling you what to do, you have movies, magazines and TV telling you what
to do, but you know what you have to do. Your job, your purpose is to get accepted, get a cute girlfriend, think up something great to do with the rest
of your life. What if you're confused and can't imagine a career? What if you're funny looking and can't get a girlfriend? You see, no-one wants to hear
it. But the terrible secret is that being young is sometimes less fun than being dead.
Feeling screwed up at a screwed up time in a screwed up place does not necessarily make you screwed up."
My particular favourite:
"I'm sick of being ashamed. I don't mind being dejected and rejected, but I'm not going to be ashamed about it. At least pain is real. I mean, you look
around and you see nothing is real, but at least the pain is real."
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Who are all these quotes spoken by you ask? They're spoken by Slater's lead character in the film, Happy Harry Hard-on.
Mark Hunter (Slater) is your every day nerd, who's dad, Brian (Scott Paulin), is a respected and influential teacher at his new school, Hubert Humphrey High. Mark has been moved around from state
to state by his parents every time his dad moves from schooling job to schooling job. Mark feels detached from his parents, clearly seperated from his old
friends "back home" and has lost his hunger for life. He, like every other teenager, is beginning to feel the burden of hormones kicking in. The uncontrollable
thoughts and questions looping through the mind. The feelings of emptiness. The need to rebel. The insufferable pressures of EVERYTHING around you expecting
you to be something you may not even want to be.
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^^ Happy Harry Hard-on - in his element. |
This leads Mark to assume an alternate identity as a pirate radio DJ, Happy Harry Hard-On, who broadcasts random shows from his basement. Originally Mark was meant to use this radio system his parents got
for him as a way to talk to his friends back home but he since grew tired of that and... as his hormones driven mind urged him to... he rebelled. Mark started using
the radio system as a way to expel and vent his frustrations out into the world. Little did he know his audience was growing and his alias is becoming famous amongst the local town teens.
Each day he walks into school to acheive the good grades his parents expect of him, only to see signs quoting his words from his show the night before
posted everywhere. His shows started being taped and played over hilariously out of date boom boxes in classes and something is stirring among the students
at Hubert Humphrey High, all because of Mark.
Mark, as Mark, has troubles talking to girls, or anyone for that matter. So naturally it worries him when Nora (Samantha Mathis), the local ratbag grunge
chick, starts hunting down who Happy Harry is. Using subtle clues like the kinds of gum he chews, Nora tracks Mark down and discovers him to be Happy Harry.
She reveals herself to be Happy Harry's biggest fan, the "Eat Me Beat Me Lady" who sends him a red scented card with explicit and erotic words on it for
him to read during his show from time to time. At least this pirate radio gig has enabled Mark to get his dick wet and their eventual hooking up is, let's
face it, predictable and inevitable.
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Tensions boil as teachers at Hubert Humphrey High treat the students like shit, in one case a student being beaten by a teacher. Kids are being expelled for "failed subjects"
and it's all being done to reinforce the once untarnished reputation of the school. Unfortunately, everything they're doing is illegal.
Fortunately Mark's dad has the documentation (for Mark to steal) to prove this and, as Happy Harry, he exposes the school for all it's worth. Naturally, the school in collaboration
with the authorities and the FCC (lead by Teen Wolf's dad, James Hampton), try to track Happy Harry down. It all heats up to a final confrontation where, with Nora's help, Mark takes his show
on the road. He and Nora drive down to the school oval where everyone goes to listen to his show together, with the addition of the FCC's attendance on this night in particular, to speak to them all face to face,
knowing full well it will be for the last time. As his penalty for his "crime" will certainly require jail time.
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Just your every day fun lovin' 90s kids ^^
hanging out with some huge cones.
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I should warn you all, by this film's conclusion you will all feel like smoking. Mmmmm Marlboro Lights... good choice, Harry! Apparently Christian Slater became
sick on set regularly due to how many cigarettes he had to smoke while filming. Harden up, Slater!
This film is apparently based on some kind of true story and if so, I fully respect the cunt who really was this "Happy Harry" character. We, the common people,
need all the fucking help we can when every fucking time you turn a corner a congolomerate, corporation or government is trying to fuck you in the anus. Teenagers
do not have a lot of fucking say anymore. They fuck up once and every parent who has too much time on their hands is pointing fingers at everything instead of just asking
their child what went wrong? If you're child is playing up, they have issues, treat them with respect and CONSULT THEM on these issues!! :O Shocking, no?
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This movie isn't timeless, it ages with the 90s and there's nothing bad about that at all.
Imagine a bunch of movies hanging out in a cafe. Higher Learning and Pump Up
The Volume are two youngsters about to hit their 20s. They're in the darkest corner of the cafe, sipping a black coffee, smoking a rolled cigarette with a light
sprinkling of weed, discussing relevant topics that affect them and counting out their change inbetween them to pay for their beverages.
In walks Transformers, 17 Again and Avatar, in their early twenties, suited up, laughing like delighted pigs in shit, arms around one another. They sit down at the biggest, most central table, being
as loud as possible. They yell out to the waiter to come to them and then hiss their orders. Transformers is having a Greygoose vodka and cranberry, 17 Again will
have a Crown Lager and Avatar is having a glass of Bollinger champagne. They shoo the waiter away and tip some cocaine out on the table, snorting some fat lines of their
favourite confidence builder. They continue to laugh obnoxiously and speak as loud as possible, coughing from the cocaine, happily existing without any personality whatsoever.
Pump and Higher look over at the group of obnoxious fucks, who are so into themselves they haven't noticed how loud, rude and ignorant they're being, nor do they care anyway. They stand up quietly to leave and go somewhere quieter, walking past the group on their way out. They are mocked by Transformers, 17 Again and Avatar as they pass them.
With this, Higher Learning and Pump move on forward still. Knowing full well that the only thing worse than being mocked by a bunch of obnoxious, loud cunts... is being one.
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^^ FCC = FREEDOM CORRUPTING CUNTS.
^^ That big black disc, kiddies, is called a RECORD.
It can only hold several songs... *GASP*!
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I realise I went off on a serious tangent there. But this is how I see films of today and good films of yesterday. Sure, Pump Up The Volume is out of date, but I'm
glad it is. It has no place or relevance in today's totally backward superficial world. Nor do I want it to have a place in today's world.
Pump Up The Volume is not only an important "time capsule" for our future generations to pick out of the weekly section on instinct and learn of a better time, but it
was culturally relevant to a generation of lost minds that needed guidance and direction. It carries a message that is lost all too often in the chaos of a modern
instant information world. This movie says with pride -
IT'S OKAY TO FEEL DIFFERENT.
IT'S OKAY TO FEEL LOST.
IT'S OKAY TO JUST BE YOURSELF.
These are all messages that are not spoken enough anymore.
While spiralling down a deep well of trippy 90s nostalgia, I scream:
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3.5 OUT OF 5 JAGER-BABIES. |
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