I grew up in Los Alamos, NM in the 80s and 90s, not Austin in the 70s. And yet, this movie spoke to me when I was 15. It was both reminiscent of my high school experience and what I wished high school had been.
Like "Clerks," Linklater's "Slacker" and "Dazed and Confused" typified the lighter side of the 90s indie boom. But where "Clerks" is compact, lewd and grimy, "Dazed" is sort of loose and breezy. There's very little story here, but somehow it all adds up to something, and it's just a world you want to live in for awhile.
The 90s were all about darkness for some reason. We were living in the most peaceful and prosperous time we'd had as a nation for several generations, but we were still experiencing one big collective 80s hangover. We OD'd on all the blatant consumerism and nationalism of the Reagan era, and tossed aside its more obnoxious trappings — Hollywood blockbusters, hair metal, etc. — for Seriousness with a capital "S." The grunge guys were all about glowering and Having Something To Say. Nine Inch Nails inspired reams of terrible high-school poetry. And indie movies rose to real prominence and — like their 70s godfathers — went about trying to outdo each other in edge and ick-factor.
To be honest, I ate all that stuff up. But even then, I recognized that we needed Linklater and Smith. They managed to eschew the gloomy trappings of their contemporaries while still maintaining that rowdy indie spirit. They made it okay to have fun. They've both had their hits and misses since, but I'll always respect them for that. That era is largely gone now, but we still have a few great films to hang on to.
I loved this movie. I lived the soundtrack. It was like home to me. And every few years I like to go back and visit.
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