Dennis Miller once said that before people should be able to buy a video camera they should first be able to prove they have a life worth videotaping. Now I never had any delusions that my life was interesting so I never wrote down my day to day life in the hopes of writing a best selling tell all memoir. But it is my belief that someone out there, whom I have never seen or met, must've been following me all the way through high school and junior college and taken notes.

"Whatever" comes so close to capturing my days in high school and college that I now look over my shoulder and around corners because no one could get this close to my psyche and not leave any residuals.

Liza Weil is Anna, a high school art student (check) who just drags on throughout the day (check) with nothing to do except dream of going to a prestigious art college in New York City just so she can escape the apathetic and stifling town she lives in (DOUBLE check).

Anna's cohort through all this is Brenda; a promiscuous friend who engages in many self-destructive acts because she herself is damaged. Brenda's step-dad is abusing her and in a sick cat mouse game, Brenda subtly blackmails him into giving her money for whatever she endeavors to engage herself in that day. It's her way of regaining some power and respect for herself yet trading it away later on by sleeping with any guy that'll make her forget who and where she is.

Anna's family life is not as bad but just as miserable. She lives with her single mom and younger sibling (check and a half) and is constantly made aware by her mother's mood and circumstance that she must strive for more in her life (check). Her real solace comes in working in her art class and getting passes out of detention and other classes by her hippie art teacher (checks ALL over the place!). But with all the raw and potential talent Anna possesses she is about as enriched in her environment as a cypress tree in the middle of the Gobi desert, and doubts her talent and where it will lead her in life (CHECK!).

The genuineness of "Whatever" is its accurate portrayal of middle class teenage life. Where other teen films depict teenagers as happy go-lucky potheads who comically have the munchies or engage in preppy-pretty-people sexual escapades inside their parents' sprawling 4.5 bedroom homes you have kids who have to ban together to hopefully scrap together enough money to buy a six pack.

There's no hedonistic party lifestyle in "Whatever". The parties are only mildly interesting, and that's after consuming the beer and pot. The sex is about as satisfying and erotic as visiting your OB-GYN. Oh and everybody smokes because if you lived your life in a place like this you'd want to shave a couple years off your life too, not to mention the fact it gives you something to do. Which lends the idea that maybe kids don't do drugs cause their addicts and motivationless lumps of flesh, but because they’re just that bored and anything helps.

This isn't a fast paced film, and as slow as you may think it is just imagine how it must be for the characters and then realize how lucky enough you are to be able to press the STOP button when this life starts to get you down.




And Susan Skoog, if you're reading, stop hiding outside in the bushes and come on inside, have glass of Iced Tea while we discuss our next feature film project.




Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: VHS
Video Occasion: Good for a Rainy Day
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older