Mid 90's

    Introducing the film that got me into skateboarding. Mid 90's is a coming-of-age film about a boy (Stevie) with a troubled home life finding a passion for skateboarding through a group of older boys that treat him like family. The film was written and directed by Jonah Hill and although it is not about his own life he took inspiration from where he grew up. The story takes place in Los Angles in the mid-1990s where people of lower incomes reside. The boys' main hangout is Motor Avene Skate Shop where one of the older boys (Ray) works, and they often go to new areas to skate the streets. Most of the older boys have accepted that they don't have anywhere to go in life and they will just live in the slums, but a couple have aspirations of making it out. One of the older boys wants to become a pro skater, and another wants to become a filmmaker. In the end, it is revealed that the whole movie is actually all the film from that boy.

    Storytelling

    Mid 90's starts off with a scene of Stevie looking at his body in the mirror to see all the bruises and injuries that his older brother (Ian) inflicted on him. When Ian leaves, Stevie sneaks into Ian's room to look at all of Ian's things including skateboards, shoes, jerseys, hats, and music CDs. It is clear that Stevie admires his older brother and wishes he could grow up and be "cool" like his brother, even though Ian abuses him. Stevie actually tries to make Ian like him by getting him a CD he didn't have for his 18th birthday, which Ian pretends not to care about to not "show weakness". Later that day Stevie is riding his bike in town and sees a group of skaters. He ends up trading Ian for an old trashy cruiser board and begins practicing skateboarding through the day and night until he can finally push and ride around on it. 

    Stevie goes into the skate shop and meets the skaters, it's clear that Stevie doesn't fit in with them since he's never hung out with people like that. Even though the skaters think Stevie is weird they admire his desire to skate and tell him to come skate with them. Ray talks with Stevie about his past and bonds with him over time, Stevie is like a little brother figure to Ray since Ray lost his little brother. Ray even gives Stevie a new real board to ride. Stevie hangs out with the boys even though they are not a good influence on him, they are like a family to him and teach him important lessons like not caring what other people think, and doing what makes you happy. Stevie and the boys love skateboarding because it takes them out of their troubled home lives and gives them freedom. Even though Stevie's mother originally disapproves of the boys he hangs out with, by the end of the movie, she realizes how much the boys care about each other when they all show up to support Stevie in the hospital after their car accident.

Cultural Relevance

    This movie portrays growing up around street and skate culture extremely well. Everything is perfect from the language the boys use, the humor, and the things they like to do for fun. It was really easy to connect to all the characters in this movie because of how real the characters are on screen. The entire time I was watching I kept thinking, "That's exactly how my friend group was growing up!".

Cinematography

    One element of this film that I think ties the whole thing together is how the entire movie is meant to be clips of one of the boys' (nick-named "Fourth Grade") films that he put together. The movie is shot on Super 16mm film and in 4:3 aspect ratio to replicate the VHS-watching experience of the 90s. You don't find this out till the end because it doesn't have that handheld camera point of view, and Fourth Grade is in the movie himself.