Sean Penn’s career has seen the actor take on a myriad of diverse roles. From his dramatic appearances in films such as Dead Man Walking and The Thin Red Line to the often maligned Shanghai Surprise, in which he starred alongside Madonna. Penn’s career is certainly notable, and one of his most entertaining roles also happens to be one of his first, that of Jeff Spicoli in the 1982 film Fast Times at Ridgemont High. Fans of Penn’s body of work and the coming-of-age teen comedies that permeated the 1980s have a chance to catch his performance as it’s currently streaming on Netflix.
The many teenage-oriented dramas and comedies that were prominent in the 1980s, such as The Breakfast Club, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, and others, can be looked at in one of two ways. The optimist might see them as being full of interesting and enjoyable characters who are learning important life lessons as they explore the growing pains of adolescence while dealing with various authority figures. The pessimist might see them as highly superficial, existing in a teenage dream world that never existed, one where character development and individuality are scorned in favor of fitting in among their peers and somehow coming out on top, regardless of their predicament. No matter how one slices it, there’s no denying these films’ impact on the generation who saw them and the actors who had long, fruitful careers afterward.
Release Date August 13, 1982
Runtime 90 minutes
Classification and Subdivisions
Going back to the days of Grease and American Graffiti, a common thread with many of the teen dramas and comedies is the means of creating subdivisions, not based on economic backgrounds or social classes, but on the various schoolyard classifications they belong to. Because high school tends to be dominated by cliques and groups of easily identifiable individuals, classes such as jocks, nerds, the in-crowd, and the outcasts and misfits tend to be the most utilized.
In Fast Times at Ridgemont High, a host of different groups are established through its most prominent characters. Brad Hamilton (Judge Reinhold), the go-getter with his Dodge Dart and multiple entry-level jobs, is certainly emblematic of the capitalist-driven youth of Reagan’s 1980s America. Charles Jefferson (Forrest Whitaker) is the prototypical jock, the star athlete and “big man on campus” celebrated for his accolades on the football field. Lynda Barrett (Phoebe Cates) is the “it-girl,” a product of Brad’s fantasies and the one who garners attention from both the students at Ridgemont High and the audience members of the film.
Then, there’s Jeff Spicoli (Sean Penn), who’s easily the most memorable character in Fast Times at Ridgemont High and emblematic of the “stoner” culture made famous by the duo of Cheech and Chong during the previous decade. A surfer who’s described by one student as being “stoned since the third grade,” Spicoli is ultimately the definitive character who’s the antithesis of the establishment. Not possessing any drive to succeed in high school, and only having the ambition to get high and surf. Looking past the comedic aspects of Sean Penn’s performance as Jeff Spicoli, something needs to be stated regarding his part in the classifications. The expectations of young people to conform during the Reagan ’80s, young people were agreeable to some, but not all. In fact, Spicoli is the complete opposite and goes against these puritanical standards in a farcical way.
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The Ideal Comic Foil of the Establishment
Universal Pictures
Like many teenage comedies that use the classroom or high school as their primary setting, some form of establishment needs to exist for our teenage characters to go up against as they navigate the blackboard jungle. Some examples of these nemeses would include Richard Vernon (Paul Gleason) in The Breakfast Club or Ed Rooney (Geoffrey Jones) in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. Jeff Spicoli finds his foil in Mr. Hand (Ray Walston).
Mr. Hand, the straight-laced conservative history teacher who spends the entire film duking it out with Spicoli in the classroom over his tardiness and not taking his education seriously, is the perfect opposite of Penn’s portrayal of the laid-back surfer who doesn’t have a care in the world that exists outside of battling what he calls some “humongous waves.” Truth be told, the chemistry shared between Walston and Penn is nothing short of perfect. More than just being a wayward youth not getting along with a dissatisfied and frustrated educator, Mr. Hand and Spicoli’s conflicts are a clever and comical way of poking fun at the generation gap.
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Superficial or Super Fun?
Universal Pictures
It’s easy to be cynical and look at any one of the teen comedies or coming-of-age movies from the 1980s and dismiss them as being highly superficial and taking place in an ideal high school world that never existed. Fast Times at Ridgemont High might be one of these, but this actually works in its favor as an entertaining farce of 1980s America. While being wildly exaggerated, the characterizations that make up the student body of Ridgemont High have attributes and likenesses that we recognize in people with whom we attended high school or even know in our circle of friends.
From start to finish, Fast Times at Ridgemont High doesn’t let up on being comical and entertaining. Perhaps the enjoyment exists in the fact that it’s so far removed from the realistic experience that we know of in high school. If you’ve never had the opportunity to walk the hallowed halls of Ridgemont High and partake in the shenanigans of Jeff Spicoli and his classmates, or you’re a long-term fan and are looking to gain entry into the alumni reunion, Fast Times at Ridgemont High is currently streaming on Netflix.
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