American Graffiti

As soon as the opening credits for American Graffiti roll with the 60s music and a frame of Mel’s Diner full of adolescents, it is easily distinguishable that this film is a complete 180 from THX 1138.  The underlying themes and characteristics of the film give it away as a Lucas creation, but it is not cinematically similar to his other work at this point in his career.  Many critics have fawned over Lucas’ decision to make this movie and whether or not it was his way of selling out and appealing to the more commercial nature of the film industry in the 70s especially after THX 1138 proved unsuccessful with building himself a fan base.  Still, he hold true to his values of paying respects to machinery and technology and subtly commenting on the ways in which they hold up the societal structure of the era.

  

We can see this power play and construction of a hierarchy between the machinery, namely the cars each character inhabits, starting with each of the main characters identifying with a specific vehicle and only gaining agency through their association with their vehicle of choice.  Curt, the endearing protagonist and character with the most depth throughout the film, drives an unpolished car that suggests he does not need the shiny new-ness of an automobile to reflect the setting and space he is situated within.  Still though, for the majority of the film Curt bounces between cars and discovers more about himself because he does not remain within one enclosed space surrounded by the same people for any lengthy period of time.  His car greatly contrasts John Milner’s souped up muscle car that Milner prides himself on and bases much of his life around, including any sense of pride or self-confidence he gains from drag racing along their short stretch of road in town.  Toad is only considered a character once he is allowed the privilege of driving Steve’s car, and only then his personality and actions are solely centered on his interactions with the vehicle or people that notice the vehicle and not the person driving it.  Steve’s loss of his own vehicle and reliance on Laurie for transportation bonds these two characters thereby making them ultimately inseparable. Their conflicts that develop throughout the film are exacerbated by their separation when Laurie joins Milner’s foe (Bob Falfa) but are immediately mended when she severs those ties and joins Steve’s side once again.  As each of the characters switches and borrows each others cars we can see that their personalities are determined a lot by which vehicle they inhabit.  Toad’s sense of confidence stems from Steve’s car and Curt’s desperation to follow the blonde in the white T-bird due to his own lack of a vehicle exemplify Lucas’ attempt to join man and machinery in a more digestible way than THX 1138. 

The one element that connects all of the teenagers is their ever-present DJ, Wolfman Jack.  His words are heard by all and listened to religiously by his cult followers, the leader of which would be Curt.  Wolfman Jack is Curt’s connection to the reality that he will eventually have to leave his small hometown in search of a more fulfilling life.  This relationship between the DJ’s words and Curt’s own thoughts culminates in Curt unknowingly meeting his idol and receiving the message that unless he leaves he will never attain anything more than what he already knows.  Curt’s character is full of promise and hope, traits that his friends lack, and it is validated by his final act of leaving them behind in a plane, a new form of transportation not explored throughout the entirety of the film. 

American Graffiti marks a beginning of the genre of teen films that appeal to a younger audience struggling with real psychological and social conflicts.  Lucas investigates the importance of forming relationships at this stage in life and how various relationships and interactions during adolescence develop into adult feelings and emotions.  Although his beginning to this genre is wholly rough and clumsy, he still addressed many issues that teens then and still today face.  In his landmark flourish to the end of his film we conclude on a shot of a sunrise symbolizing hope and freedom in a world that Lucas has built up to be an entrapment of mechanical constraints placed on us by society.