Freeze Frame: AMERICAN GRAFFITI

Oh, to have one more Endless Summer. One more block of ten weeks with no school and no responsibilities. They don’t tell you how much you should savour them at the time, but they really should. What’s more – you should savour them just as they happened.

One film that epitomizes a lot about being young in the summertime is AMERICAN GRAFFITI, a George Lucas joint that does not involve midichlorians. It’s the last night of the summer, and a group of friends in small town America are getting into all manner of situations. This one long night is dotted by laughter, life, and love in ways that will stick with them all forever.

For Curt, played by a fresh-faced Richard Dreyfuss, the night will be defined forever by this one fleeting moment you see above.

Sitting in the backseat of someone else’s ride, he looks over and sees what you see a: a goddess in a great car…smiling back at him. He tries to roll down his window and actually talk to her, but it’s too late – the light turns green and off she goes. He’ll spend the rest of the night looking for her, hoping for at least one more moment.

I love how much this shot, and this moment sums up the film, and likewise, our youth.

As time goes on, a carefree moment like this will look right at us from the next car and smile. It will ignite a memory, and perhaps even a desire to spend one more moment in the sun. Like Curt, we could well spend a great deal of time and effort trying to catch up to it…but like Curt, we never find it. And y’know what? That’s OK.

If we’re anything like Curt, the search itself will provide just as many moments of joy. Maybe more. After all it was just a glimpse – a glimmer of something exciting. There’s no way to know if that glimmer would fulfil its promise. For all we know he could have spent two minutes talking to her and found out she wasn’t his type. Since she remains only “a glimmer”, she remains perfect.

But let’s say we try fulfilling this promise. In doing so, we control who joins us, what happens along the way, and with that potentially set ourselves up for something even greater…if we’re observant enough to realize it at the time. We might not catch up with The Blonde in The Thunderbird, but the hours we spend with our friends as we try will create moments and memories that are just as precious.

That’s one of the best themes of AMERICAN GRAFFITI: While Curt and other characters are spending much of the night looking for “one more moment”, they are continually distracted, and eventually forced to leave things where they lay. Like The Blonde in The Thunderbird, these moments are short, and eventually the light will change and they will drive off forever. And y’know what? That’s OK.

The want for one more summer…one more night…one more moment…that want turns its back on the joys that life continue to bring us as we drive further down the road.

In the end, it’s probably better to leave things where they lay. We’re better off looking at these scenes from a distance – like Curt does in the film’s final moments. With time and distance, these experiences will gain a warm glow and beautiful nostalgia…something they might not have gained if we ever managed to catch up with them.

Here’s three more from AMERICAN GRAFFITI for the road…

This series of posts is inspired by the “Hit Me With Your Best Shot” series at The Film Experience. Do check out all of the awesome entires in their series so far