The Explosive Generation

A previous comment wondered whether 21st century sarcasm should be applied to this film...I believe there's genuine enjoyment to watching this vintage film in that manner - the soundtrack alone is truly priceless.

And you should walk into this story with 21st century cynicism, sneer at the plastic performances and ridiculousness of the script, the scenarios it portrays...because it's only then that the real power of the film - I'm not kidding - comes through. When you're absolutely convinced that this generation and movie couldn't be further from "explosive" you are, with all the others, focused on the moment when our protagonist Janet reveals that which started all the fuss.

Then, even in this century, could a truth be more plainly and easily revealed to all. I danced to its music (for kicks) and ended astounded at its simple honesty. A great catalyst for discussion, if you can convince folks to relish, then release, their cynicism...

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.

William Shatner stars in this B&W classroom drama about the changing mores of the last 50s and early 60s. Released in 1961, this film would ring true to both adult and teenage viewers of the time. Only a few years before, Rebel Without a Cause had set the table for a new teenage paradigm. When we see a convertible full of teenagers speeding dangerously through a town (accentuated by a hand held camera in a trailing vehicle), we immediately recognize the form--a dangerous mix of freedom and rebellion.

It is in this setting that Shatner, as the young teacher, does his best to teach his students what they really need to know. One student (played by Patty McCormack only a few years after The Bad Seed!) suggests that the most relevant topic is sex, meaning the role of sex in teenage relationships. The newly claimed freedom of teenagers and their rebellion against the values of their parents made sexual behavior a volatile subject. When the parents discover the teacher is "making them" discuss sex, the town is ready to march with pitchforks (with a capital P, that rhymes with T, and that stands for Trouble!).

Except for the very obvious boom mike hanging over the classroom, I found the production values of this film excellent. The story was interesting. And Shatner doesn't even_talk with his_halting rhythms he became known for.

Contrary to the lurid poster and title, The Explosive Generation is an enlightened, sensitive, and even-handed treatment of the issues involved in attempting to include a sexual education curriculum in high schools in the early 1960's. William Shatner is sensitive, realistic, gentle, and winning as the teacher trying to his best only to find his words and methods distorted by those with other agendas.

Patty McCormack (known for the Bad Seed, Kathy O, the Miniskirt Mob, and the Ropers) is quite good as the ingenue made to feel suddenly uncomfortable about her own sexuality in increasingly tense and challenging times. 50's TV fans will enjoy seeing Bud from Father Knows Best (Billy Gray) as one of the students. This is truly worth seeing both as a movie and as a history lesson.

I didn't expect much when I began watching this movie. By the end, I was completely stunned. Although it's billed as a film about teaching sex education in high school in 1961, it is, in fact, about the pivot point at which the silent generation gave way to the "explosive" boomers- the generation that wouldn't take no for an answer. What could have been filled with cheap platitudes about honesty in education and life, turned out to be a really deep exploration of how and why the generations changed from the 1950s to 1960s. The fact that it was made at the time it was happening and no one could know where this would all lead made it more amazing.