The Vine: September 24, 2010
I have gone crazy trying to find two “movies” that were aired on (I think) HBO back in the early to mid-1980s. Google and other sites have failed my usually pop-culture-infused brain.
(Note: I think these were both Canadian productions. They both have an Afterschool Special feel to them, too. They were shown late afternoon — after school? — and in the wee hours of the AM.)
The first one is about a girl starting high school. She has big Christine from You Can’t Do That On Television hair. She is awkward and gets a really bad student ID picture. Wants to write for the school paper or magazine but it’s run by some (pre-) goth/punk kids. The year progresses and she evolves, etc. She submits a writing sample to the paper/magazine and her poem is something like this, “I hate you. I hate you neo-fascist pigs. For you I do not give two figs…”
That’s all I can remember.
The second one is more difficult. A teenage boy just out of high school (?) has major life issues with his family. He runs off to a big city (Toronto?) and shacks up with an older lady. He runs a marathon or some kind of race. He looks skinny and sort of like he could be the guy who played Kidd Video (Bryan Scott); but it’s not. That’s it.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
SG
Tags: Ask The Readers popcult PSAs You Can't Do That On Television
I can’t help at all, but I had to OMG over the Kidd Video reference! It’s always fun to find out that you’re not the only person who remembers and can easily reference such things!!
Just by googling the phrase you seemed pretty of sure of, I was able to find this:
I hate you, neo-fascist pigs
For you I do not give two figs.
I hate you, capitalistic scum,
And damn your eyes to kingdom come.
You money-grubbing corporations
gouging the poor into starvation
You giant factories with waste polluting
you military madmen, you too politicians,
you spend nothing for ecology and billions for munitions.
I hate you all fare-thee-well
And I hope you all go straight to hell.
It didn’t give a source though, which is a shame. I thought I was onto something for a second there.
I remember the hating of the neo-fascist pigs, but I recall that as a short story, not a movie. I definitely read that line; I didn’t hear it. Ugh. Wish I could be more helpful.
That poem rings a bell, but I’m pretty sure that I remember it from a book, not a movie. So maybe you’re looking for a movie made of a YA book?
_Dear Lovey Hart, I am Desperate_ by Ellen Conford has the freshman trying to get onto the school paper thing. I’d give that one a try… or maybe something by Paula Danziger?
Haras: On DeviantART, yes? The poster is claiming that he or she had written it (“i guess i was too angry and i didnt know what else to do but write”). Suuuuuuure.
The poem is from the novel “The Alfred G. Graebner Memorial High School Handbook of Rules and Regulations” which is, in fact, by Ellen Conford. So I’m guessing that the movie you saw is based on the book.
Marnie is right! And according to wikipedia, The Alfred G. Graebner Memorial High School Handbook of Rules and Regulations was a “CBS Schoolbreak Special”. A knock-off of the “After School Special”, I guess. There are a few clips on YouTube, and the hair looks right!
If both movies were “Schoolbreak Specials”, that might help you track down the runaway boy movie, too…
I really have nothing to add, other than it gave me a warm-fuzzy to load the TN homepage and see the YCDTOTV image staring back at me. Ahhh… those were the days!
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0986493/
The Alfred G. Graebner Memorial High School of Rules and Regulations is indeed, the first one.
I knew I could count on you guys and Sars!
I still can’t find the other one but there’s not much to go on, admittedly.
Thanks!
@Rachel: YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9n2nCqTJ_I
And…you’re welcome! :-)
The previously scheduled program, “Carl Sagan Meets Billions and Billions of Aliens,” will not be shown today…
Could the second one be the 1985 feature film Vision Quest? http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0090270/
Matthew Modine was a wrestler so he was always trying to keep his weight down, and I think he ran a lot. He got involved with an older woman. Not in Toronto, though.
@PJ: No. Thanks for the suggestion though.
Vision quest was actually set (and filmed) in my hometown, Spokane Washington. And my high school’s wrestling coach is the opposing coach in one scene. Hee
So, definitely not set in Canada.
Kelly Wolf! Fisher Stevens!
Time warp TV. I loved that book and those shows. I thought when Oprah acquired the ABC Afterschool franchise she’d reboot or at least DVD them…
The second one sounds like A Tiger’s Tale with Ann-Margaret and C. Thomas Howell. I was an extra in it. =)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094148/
@Heidi: Not it, either. I’d remember C. Thomas Howell! Hee.