I saw this shortly after graduating from college. I must say that I was pretty embarrassed to be a part of the generation that the film sought to characterize. There are numerous misconceptions about Gen-X and "Bites" pretty much captures all of them. For one, I can say that few twenty-somethings in the 90s celebrated Shaun Cassidy, "Good Times," Frampton, "Planet of the Apes," and Schoolhouse Rock with as much zeal as the dunderhead characters in this film. In fact, many of the Gen-Xers I was friends would sneer at the thought of listening to "Frampton Comes Alice" and damn sure would not know who Dr. Zaius was. Likewise, most twenty-somethings were either jamming to Alice in Chains or even Snoop's first album instead of going nuts to the Knack. Yes, Gen-Xers helped make "retro" stuff hip again, BUT such music, films and so on were only cool because stupid films like this pushed pop culture references down everyone's throats. In reality, however, some of the stereotypes presented in the film are true. I did know several people like Winona Ryder's character who graduated from college with little focus, little talent and not flexibility to make it in the professional world. And Ethan Hawke's depiction of an oh so ironic, chain smoking slacker was not untypical of some of the era's lost souls. Inaccurate or accurate, it's still a frustrating mess and its ridiculous conclusion only leaves the audience frustrated and furious.
Review of Reality Bites
