Owen’s Oldies: ‘Dazed and Confused’

Marcus Falcão / THE GATEPOST

By Owen Glancy

Arts & Features Editor

“Owen’s Oldies” has historically been a column dedicated to exposing readers

to a new world of cinema, films that are either too obscure or too old for most to have seen, let alone heard of. Across four semesters, that’s what “Owen’s Oldies” has done, quite successfully too. A few people have come up to me saying that they’ve watched films such as “The Umbrellas of Cherbourg” or “The Long Goodbye” thanks to “Owen’s Oldies.” 

While I personally like every single one of the films I’ve talked about in this column, I’ve yet to discuss my personal favorites since the vast majority of them are more popular and less obscure. However, I’ve decided that to truly convince someone of anything, passion must be a guiding factor, and to that end, we arrive at “Dazed and Confused,” my favorite movie. 

Richard Linklater’s 1993 followup to his directorial debut “Slacker,” “Dazed and Confused” carried that lackadaisical stoner energy from his prior work into his most iconic film. The movie follows an ensemble cast of Texan high school students on their last day of school in 1976 and the trouble they all get into. 

In similar fashion to “Slacker,” “Dazed and Confused” is a love letter to Linklater’s own upbringing, told through a thick and incredibly rosy lens. The film feels like being told a story by a new friend about their times in high school, in all of the best ways. Not everything is in chronological order, acts that are morally dubious such as destruction of property and hazing rituals are looked back upon fondly, and the future seemed like such a far away thing no matter which character was considering it. 

The film is considered by many to be a seminal stoner classic, and this almost dream-like tone combined with the truly ludicrous amount of pot smoked on screen, definitely creates that perfect atmosphere. 

“Dazed and Confused” also enhances its perfect atmosphere with incredible performances. The two stand outs are undeniably Ben Affleck and Matthew McConaughey in their breakout roles. Affleck plays the brutish super-senior O’Bannion, a bully who purposefully stayed back a year of high school so he could participate in the town’s hazing ritual twice in a row. Affleck’s musculature and hard-headed attitude make this role one that’s incredibly memorable, even if he doesn’t stick around for long. 

McConaughey on the other hand, played the charismatic and controversial Wooderson, an older bad boy with some concerning tendencies toward the women of the film who nonetheless manages to be incredibly memorable thanks to McConaughey’s performance. By all metrics, we should hate Wooderson just as much as we hate O’Bannion, but McConaughey’s line delivery and signature relaxed style make him impossible to truly despise. 

Jason London’s performance as Pink, the protagonist of the film, deserves special attention as well. He perfectly embodies this idea of the “senior mentor,” a kind upperclassman who shows you the ropes in your freshman year, but isn’t necessarily a paragon of virtue. Pink is lazy, addicted to both alcohol and weed, and unfaithful to his girlfriend, yet he’s so grounded. These flaws mix with his kindness and sense of responsibility he feels toward his friends and underclassmen to make a character who, while not perfect, is undeniably human. 

“Dazed and Confused” is certainly not a movie for everyone. It’s a little slow paced, there’s essentially no plot, it’s a celebration of vice and of outdated social constructs, and it barely even has a protagonist for most of its run time. However, as a stoner hangout comedy, this film is top class. Every joke is funny, every character is memorable, and every performance is perfect. 

To this day, this is the only film where immediately after I finished watching it for the first time, I started it up again, and then again a third time. If you haven’t seen “Dazed and Confused,” you’d be a lot cooler if you did. 

“Dazed and Confused” is currently streaming on the Criterion Channel.