I recently saw a preview of the new documentary, "American Teen," which opens in theaters nationwide July 25, and found it to be an excellent, and sometimes painful, journey through modern high school life. And even a few disability themes cropped up.Set in Warsaw, Indiana, the doc focuses on five teens primarily: the popular (and mean) girl, the misfit/rebel, the jock, the geek and the heartthrob. (You can "meet" all the teens on Facebook.) The film follows them through their turbulent senior year, where they deal with the phenomenal pressure of trying to figure out their lives after high school. The film is so brutally honest that it makes you squirm with the discomfort of remembering your own high school years.
I don't want to give too much away because one of the disability themes comes in a major revelation about the popular/mean girl. Suffice it to say that the extraordinary academic pressure she's under had an even more devastating effect on her older sister, who was learning disabled.
The other disability theme swirled around in the family of Hannah Bailey, the rebel/misfit, who explains that she must live with her grandmother because her mother has bipolar disorder. Hannah herself struggles with depression in the face of a romantic break-up and fears about her ability to escape small-town Indiana.
Hannah was my favorite teen because she was trying the hardest to be authentic and to live the life she knows is meant for her beyond small-town Indiana. As she pleads her case to her parents about leaving Indiana for college, her mother tells her, "You're not special." The audience gasped, and it just reinforced all our desire for Hannah to make her mark on the world, just as she wants.
My only criticism of the documentary is how white and heterosexual it is. Even in small towns, there's ethnic diversity and kids figuring out their sexual identity. But I'll forgive this brilliant film because the filmmaker obviously found a group of truly compelling teens to be front and center.
The film premiered at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival, where it received the Directing Award: Documentary. You can read a Q&A with the filmmaker, Academy Award-nominated director, Nanette Burstein, in North by Northwestern, Northwestern University's online publication.