We’re really not normal, we’re teens, that in itself is bad enough. What’s worse is high school brings out what can be considered the best in us, or the worst. Which reminds me of a bumper sticker I once saw “Teens: Not a force to be reckoned with.” In the movie there are many average teen themes, dating, relationships, and winning; but there is also one not so normal theme, “The weak are always trying to overcome the strong.” Reese Witherspoo

In directing this movie, Alexander Payne, was going for a satirical view of our democratic election system, but in doing so he set it in a high school setting. This can only mean that he has to take into account teen lives, and hopefully an accurate protrayal of them. He does this through the faults of the characters; further professing that no one is perfect. Mr. McAllister is trying to have an affair with his divorced colleague’s wife, Tracy had an affair with Mr. McAllister’s colleague causing that divorce, Paul is as dumb as a goal post, and Tammy is a delinquent and damn proud of it.

But in the end everyone has manipulated their ways into what they want to happen, sometimes a typical teen habit. For example,Tracy is President, Paul is happy at college, Tammy has weaseled her way into being put into an all girls school, and Mr. McAllister is living in New York. It is completely plausible to see all these things happening to a group of people. Not necessarily all at the same time or in the same environment but rumors of things like a student having an affair with the teacher, and the jock’s sister being a lesbian have been around longer than I can personally attest to.

n’s character Tracy says it, her mother says it, Mr. McAllister (Matthew Broderick) says it, and the janitor executes it very well in the scene where he turns Mr. McAllister in for rigging the election.

However, a few things change when you throw a teacher’s voice into the mixture of all these thoughts swirling around in a supposedly innocent teen’s mind. The character of Jim McAllister is seen to meddle in more than one student’s life d

Some topics in this essay:
President Paul, Irony Normally, Tracy Flick, Alexander Payne, Yes Tracy, Tracy Crush, DC Tracy, Jim McAllister, Jessica Campbell, Matthew Broderick, teen movies, it’s true, alexander payne,