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Fast Times at Ridgemont High
(1982)
In Amy Heckerling's R-rated cult teen, coming-of-age
youth sex comedy (after the success of Porky's (1981)), her
directorial debut feature film (from a script by free-lance journalist
and future film-maker Cameron Crowe, who went undercover in a SoCal
HS) - the quintessential teen comedy and seminal high-school film
of the 80s, was told from a feminine perspective:
- senior high school student Brad Hamilton (Judge
Reinhold) - was skating through his last year of Ridgemont HS,
and working entry level jobs at All-American Burger, then also
fired at Captain Hook Fish & Chips
(requiring pirate uniforms), and finally employed by the film's
ending at Mi-T-Mart (a convenience store where he foiled an armed
robbery heist by tossing a pot of hot coffee into the thief's face,
retrieving the gun, and holding the man at gunpoint - and thus
became a hero in Spicoli's eyes)
- the HS and classroom scenes involving perpetually-stoned,
often truant and tardy, happy-go-lucky, bleached-blonde California
surfer slacker-dude Jeff Spicoli (Sean Penn); when he arrived late
at school, he tumbled out of his VW min-van (filled with pot-smoke),
and then disrupted his American history class taught by Mr. Hand
(Ray Walston) - and was kicked out for tardiness and for calling
the teacher a
"dick"; later, when Spicoli was late and had no excuse, Mr.
Hand used his response for a lesson written on the chalkboard: "I
Don't Know"; in another encounter, Spicoli ordered a double cheese
and sausage pizza delivered to his desk by "Pizza Guy" delivery
man (Taylor Negron) during a class lecture, causing outrage: (Mr. Hand: "Am
I hallucinating here? Just what in the hell do you think you're doing?" -
Spicoli's laid-back response:
"Learning about Cuba, and having some food"); Mr. Hand confiscated
the pizza pie and offered some of the pieces to other students
- the scene of 'worldly', experienced, sexually-outspoken
high-school, liberated sexpot Linda Barrett (Phoebe Cates) 'tutoring'
about the finer points of performing oral sex ("blow
jobs") to Brad's younger sister - the sexually-inexperienced
but curious 15 year-old virginal friend Stacy Hamilton (Jennifer
Jason Leigh); Linda demonstrated with a carrot
in the school cafeteria: ("There's
nothin' to it. It's so easy...Relax your throat muscles. Don't bite.
And slide it in...Good. Push it slowly in and out. You got it");
the naive Stacy then asked: "When a guy has an orgasm, how much
comes out?" Linda revealed her tendency to exaggerate: "A
quart or so," but then claimed she was just kidding
Linda's Oral Sex Lesson - With a Carrot
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- the first of two uncomfortable, awkward and devastating
scenes of Stacy's sexual initiation - to "cure" her of
her virginity:
(1) first, in a night scene in a dilapidated softball dugout with older 26 year-old
home stereo salesman Ron Johnson (D.W. Brown) whom she had met at her job in
a fast-food restaurant - during her painful and uncomfortable deflowering, Stacy
(from her POV) looked up at the graffiti-covered ("SURF NAZIS") concrete
walls
- the dream-fantasy sequence of Jeff's surfing interview
with sportscaster Stu Nahan and his fantasy dream of glory and
fame as a championship-winning, world-class surfer - while surrounded
by two bikinied babes, and his line: ("Well Stu, I'll tell
ya, surfing's not a sport, it's a way of life. No hobby. It's a
way of lookin' at that wave and sayin', 'Hey bud, let's party!
Ha, ha, ha'")
- the scene of lecherous, boasting, smooth-talking,
hustling ticket-scalper Mike Damone's (Robert Romanus) 'five-point
plan' to successfully make-out and score with girls, told "for
free" to
inexperienced and shy movie-theater usher Mark "Rat" Ratner
(Brian Backer) who was secretly in love with Stacy: ("All
right, now pay attention. First of all, Rat, you never let on how
much you like a girl. 'Oh, Debbie. Hi.' Two, you always call the
shots. 'Kiss me. You won't regret it.' Now three, act like wherever
you are, that's the place to be. 'Isn't this great?' Four, when
ordering food, you find out what she wants, then order for the
both of ya. It's a classy move. 'Now, the lady will have the linguini
and white clam sauce, and a Coke with no ice.' And five, now this
is the most important, Rat. When it comes down to makin' out, whenever
possible, put on side one of Led Zeppelin IV")
- the fantasy, slow-motion sequence of the mental
disrobing of Linda at Stacy's house by the outdoor swimming pool;
Brad had returned home and saw Linda and Stacy by the pool; he
imagined the emergence of red-bikinied Linda
speaking seductively: "Hi, Brad! You know how cute I always
thought you were," and the slow opening and shedding of her
bright red-bikini top from the middle as she walked over to Stacy's
brother Brad and toplessly kissed him (to the tune of The Cars'
hit "Moving in Stereo") - often rated the best nudity
scene in any film; it was revealed that Brad was discovered pleasuring
himself in a nearby pool-side bathroom by a shocked Linda: ("Doesn't
anybody f--king knock anymore?" he asked himself after being
humiliated)
Pool Party Fantasy Scene with Linda (Phoebe Cates)
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- (2) Stacy's 2nd painful and quick impregnation
by lecherous Mike Damone in her own poolhouse's changing room; after
he kissed her and she was complimented, "You're really a good
kisser," she
asked: "You want to take off your clothes, Mike?" He responded: "You
first." She decided: "Both of us at the same time." After
stripping off her top and her panties and lying down on a sofa, he
laid on top of her and quickly and prematurely climaxed during love-less
sex, causing her to ask: "Are you OK?" He said he had come,
then hurriedly left ("See ya!") as she sat up and looked
bewildered, used, unsatisfied and hurt
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Brad Hamilton (Judge Reinhold) in One of Many Lowly Jobs
Jeff Spicoli's Arrival at School in VW Van
Tardy for Mr. Hand's History Class
Delivery of Pizza to Spicoli in History Class
Stacy (Jennifer Jason Leigh): Sex in a Dugout with Older Customer
Spicoli's Fantasy Surfing Interview
Mike Damone's 5-Point Plan
Linda Discovering Brad in Bathroom
Stacy: Sex in Her Pool House with Mike Damone
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