The Explosive Generation

Unlike its lurid publicity posters -- which show wanton, defiant delinquents -- The Explosive Generation is a realistic portrayal of the inter-generational tensions that were starting to change American society in the 1960s. The movie is about teens experiencing adult feelings and fears, looking for guidance in a world that still treats them as children, and beginning to demand respect -- and fight for it. The issues are real, the characters are realistic, and William Shatner's sensitive performance is a treat. (He really was a good actor before Star Trek turned him into a blowhard.)

From the title I was expecting some fluffy 50's style juvenile delinquency. Actually, for folks wishing to bridge the gap between conformist youth 50's style and the rebellious 60's youth, this is a good flick to catch. 50's teacher Shatner is tired of processing his high school classes into dull adult conformity. So, he tries one day to get them to discuss topics that interest them apart from the settled curriculum. It just so happens that many of the kids attended an all-night stay-over at a beach house where many boy-girl things happened. Thus sex is upper-most for many, even though that's not fit subject matter outside of hygiene class. Still, teacher Shatner wants to fudge precedent and thus has them write about their concerns. However, one thing leads to another and the innovative-minded teacher's job is jeopardized once parents learn of the assignment and take their traditionalist concerns to the principal. Things reach a climax when the kids, hungering for treatment of their personal issues, react to Shatner's dismissal.

In many ways the script confronts the cultural conformity of the 50's with issues simmering beneath the outward calm. Among them-- education is more than simply preparing students for adult-level jobs; sex is as much a personal issue as a parental one; pressure to conform is reinforced by profits at the business level (Dunne's used car lot); real reform only comes about through mass action.

There may be more, but these are issues brought to the fore by what amounts to a daring script for its time (1961). It's also revealing that the movie was produced by independents and not a big studio. Anyway, the acting is skillfully unmannered and doesn't overshadow the important topics, while the staging uses location shots rather than studio sets giving the results a better sense of realism, even though I found the upshot to be a little too "Hollywood". All in all, the movie may be obscure; still, the 90-minutes reflects a significant undercurrent in the evolution of modern American culture. After all, Vietnam may have triggered the youth explosion, but the fuse was smoldering long before as the movie providentially suggests.

Progressive teacher Peter Gifford (William Shatner) allows the students in his class to write essays about anything they want. Most write about sex and their feelings about it. One student tells her mother, other parents find out, go crazy about their kids talking about sex in school (this WAS 1961) and order the principal (Edward Platt!!!) to fire Gifford. He does but the students led by Bobby (Billy Grey), Dan (Lee Kinsolving) and Janet (Patricia McCormack) decide to fight back. But will they win?

This film is laughably dated but still is not bad at all. The kids naivety is actually pretty interesting and the parents overreaction is convincing. This could have become a camp classic but competence at every level makes it work. The acting is pretty good--this is before Shatner became full of himself and it's amusing to see McCormack all grown up from "The Bad Seed". However Billy Grey is TERRIBLE in his role. And look for a young Beau Bridges in a few scenes. It's well-written (and based on a true incident) and I really liked how the students fought back in a non-violent fashion. Also well-directed in stark black & white. It also treats the teenagers (and parents) with respect. The ending was a little TOO goody-goody but still worked.

Worth seeing as a (I think) pretty accurate look at teen life back in 1961. Recommended.

A high school teacher (Wiliam Shatner) gets in trouble when he tries to teach a class in sex education.

This was the directing debut of Buzz Kulik, who went on to make the cult classic "Bad Ronald" as well as several episodes of "Twilight Zone" (though not, oddly, the ones with William Shatner).

I had low expectations for this film and only watched it because today was Shatner's 82nd birthday. Seemed like a good time to check out career highlights. And this one is a bit of a stunner.

For being 1961, which is really more the 1950s than the 1960s, it has a very honest look at sex and the idea that high school teenagers engage in sexual activity. While times have changed and kids today are certainly more "free" than fifty years ago, it is nice to see a film that actually addressed the subject rather than pretending it did not exist.

This film stars William Shatner as a teacher who teaches class for Seniors on subjects related to graduation and adulthood. However, when he is having a discussion with them, they begin asking about sex and dating. Considering they are graduating soon and many are already 18, the request is pretty reasonable. While the talk never even remotely becomes smutty, when the parents find out about it, the older generation does what every responsible parent would do--they become hysterical and want the teacher's head on a platter! The main thrust (so to speak) of the film is healthy sexuality as well as academic freedom and non-violent resistance.

What surprised me, however, about this film is that the topic was dealt with very realistically and responsibly. In addition, the kids and especially Shatner did a good job of acting. This really was a shock, as Shatner did NOT talk in his usual staccato voice nor did he overact in the least. While I have loved watching Shatner and his histrionics in such terrible films as IMPULSE, here he has nothing to be ashamed of--his acting (pre-star days) was good.