Line #51 Film/DetroitRockCity


1	[[quoteright:344:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/detroit_5.jpg]]
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4	''Detroit Rock City'' is a 1999 teen comedy film staring Creator/EdwardFurlong, Creator/GuiseppeAndrews, Creator/JamesDeBello, and Creator/SamHuntington. Set in January of 1978, the film follows the journey of four high school students who are trying to gain entry to a sold-out Music/{{KISS}} concert after their tickets are destroyed by an over-zealous parent. The film was a box office flop and was met with mixed reviews from critics, but among KISS fans (as well as among people who dislike KISS/rock music in general, surprisingly) it has become a CultClassic.
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6	!! This Movie Contains Examples Of:
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8	* AbusiveParents: Jam's mom never turns down the opportunity to belittle him and tell him how horrible of a son he is simply because he listens to "Satanic" [=KISS=] records.
9	--> '''Jam's Mom:''' "God forbid you have a son like you one day Jeremiah - a boy who lies through his teeth, buys demonic records, and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking smokes the]] [[TheStoner dope.]]"
10	* AllDrummersAreAnimals: Inverted and referenced; Jam is easily the sweetest of the four, and at one point, he's ridiculed by his other bandmates for being a drummer without "some fucking balls".
11	* BadToTheBone: Given the rock-heavy soundtrack, some songs are obviously used to underscore badass moments. Hawk's response to disco bullies earns [[Music/BlackSabbath "Iron Man"]], Lex rescuing Christine has [[Music/AcDc "Whole Lotta Rosie"]], Jam gets his drumsticks back with [[Music/VanHalen "Running with the Devil"]]...
12	* BigBrotherInstinct: It's hard to fault Chongo for roughing up Trip, considering that Trip did attempt to rob Chongo's little brother.
13	* BerserkButton: When Kenny and Bobby destroy Hawk's ''Love Gun'' 8-track, it prompts Hawk to retaliate with violence. His friends quickly follow suit, resulting in Kenny and Bobby tied to a guardrail with KISS inspired "fag makeup" on their faces, and their car driven into a ditch.
14	** Hawk goes absolutely ballistic when [[spoiler: Trip]] costs them a set of replacement tickets, and literally has to be pulled off of him.
15	* BigNo: Elvis belts out one of these when the boys successfully leave school property.
16	* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:While the boys did succeed in their goal of making it to the KISS concert - as well as showing some CharacterDevelopment along the way - Jam mentions that he'll be spending the next two years of his life at a religious boarding school (that openly admitted that they have no problem punishing him for the slightest infraction, but that they'll never expel him even for the largest) where he'll be cut off from his friends and likely miserable]]... or perhaps not, given that [[CallingTheOldManOut he did, finally and publicly, stand up to his mom]].
17	* ChekhovsGun: [[spoiler: Trip's stolen wallet.]]
18	* ChristianityIsCatholic: All three of the film's Christian characters (Jam's mom, the headmaster at the boarding school, and the priest in the confessional) are Catholic.
19	* CoincidentalBroadcast: The boys rig up a radio to play music in class to cheer them up after their tickets are destroyed. The very first thing they run into is a broadcast advertising a giveaway for four tickets and four backstage passes to the KISS show.
20	* ComicallyMissingThePoint: After Trip calls Lex's mom a "dyke":
21	--> '''Lex:''' "Just because she's a female gynecologist, that doesn't mean she's a lesbian. And even if she was, at least my mom didn't give birth to me while she was on ''LSD''." \
22	'''Trip:''' "'Shrooms!"
23	* CoolCar: Averted. The car that the boys "borrow" from Lex's mom to get to the concert is a brown Volvo sedan.
24	** A brown Volvo sedan with "OB GYN" custom license plates, at that.
25	* ContrivedCoincidence: In Jam's subplot, he runs into both his mother ''and'' Beth while wandering the streets of Detroit.
26	** [[spoiler: The boys' plot to [[WoundedGazelleGambit beat the hell out of each other and say they were mugged for their KISS tickets]] in a last ditch effort to get inside is about to fail, when Trip notices Chongo, his little brother, and their group of friends - who actually ''did'' mug him - in the audience. He points them out and identifies the contents of his wallet to the security guard, backing up their claim, and the boys get inside the show without a hitch.]]
27	* CreatorCameo: Director Adam Rifkin appears in the poster outside the strip club.
28	* TheDitz: Trip.
29	* FaceYourFears: Every one of the boys has to overcome his own personal demons over the course of this film.
30	** Lex has to face his fear of dogs.
31	** Hawk has to overcome his stage fright.
32	** Jam has to stand up to his mother.
33	** Trip actually has to use his brain to solve a dilemma.
34	* FailedASpotCheck: Jam is happily passing the time in study hall filling his notebook with variations on the [=KISS=] logo and touching up the "Mystery" logo on his drumstick. Right next to him, Beth, his gorgeous classmate, has filled ''her'' notebook with hearts containing "Beth + Jeremiah," "I Love Jeremiah" and the like... and he never notices.
35	* FanserviceExtra: Averted. The strip-club patron who takes an interest in Hawk is played by Shannon Tweed, a former Playboy Playmate who made a career out of taking her clothes off in B-movies that typically aired on late-night Cinemax or Showtime. In this movie, however, she keeps her clothes on.
36	** Perhaps understandably, since she was by this point the mother of [[Series/GeneSimmonsFamilyJewels Nick and Sophie Simmons]]. Eventually [[spoiler: she and Gene tied the knot, too.]]
37	** Played straight with some topless girls seen backstage at Cobo Hall.
38	* GarageBand: Mystery, the band that the boys are in. Despite this, they haven't officially played a show, due to Hawk's stage fright leading him to "drop like a dead deer" before their first show at a party.
39	* GeniusDitz: [[spoiler:In an uncharacteristic moment of quick thinking, Trip tricks the security at the [=KISS=] concert into believing that Chongo and his crew beat he and his friends up and stole their tickets. This ultimately enables the boys to gain entry to the concert.]]
40	* InJoke[=/=]ItWillNeverCatchOn:
41	** At one point in the film, Christine comments that "disco is so huge right now it wouldn't surprise me if KISS did a disco song," prompting dismissive laughs from the guys. One year after the one the film takes place in, KISS would release the disco song "I Was Made For Lovin' You", much to the dismay of many of their fans.
42	** Another in-joke regards how the boys parallel KISS: the singer gets a supermodel; the drummer gets Beth (a song which Peter Criss did write and sing); the guitarist is a stoner and gets a spacey girl (Ace Frehley loved to drink and is the Space Ace); and the bassist gets Christine (Gene Simmons wrote "Christine Sixteen").
43	* IronicEcho: "Tisk, tisk, tisk. I was really hoping things would work out for you. You got spunk." [[spoiler: First spoken by Chongo's little brother to Trip after Trip failed to come up with the $200 needed to buy his way out of an ass-kicking, and later spoken by Trip after he successfully convinced the guards that Chongo and his crew beat them up (see LaserGuidedKarma below) for their KISS tickets.]]
44	* JerkJock: Chongo - but then again his aggression is understandable since Trip tried to rob his little brother.
45	* {{Joisey}}: Although the film is set in Michigan, all of the disco fans speak with New Jersey accents for some reason.
46	* KnightTemplarParent: Jam's mom, big time.
47	* LargeHamAnnouncer: The MC in the strip club, played by adult film star Ron Jeremy.
48	* LaserGuidedKarma: [[spoiler: Shortly after Chongo beat up Trip, Trip claimed that Chongo and his crew beat up the main four boys and stole their tickets.]]
49	-->[[spoiler:'''Trip:''' [[IronicEcho Tisk, tisk, tisk, my midget weaselly friend. I was really hoping things would work out. You got spunk]].]]
50	* LiquidCourage: In order to overcome his stage fright before his performance at the strip club, Hawk drinks a large amount of alcohol first. This ends up backfiring when he vomits the entire contents of his stomach into an empty beer pitcher in front of the entire crowd.
51	* LogoJoke: The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=713EMNySKYY New Line Cinema logo]] has an EpicRiff variation of the theme.
52	* TheMovie: The working title for ''Detroit Rock City'' was ''The KISS Movie''.
53	* MakingLoveInAllTheWrongPlaces: Jam loses his virginity in a church confessional booth.
54	* MouthCam: The camera appears inside Gene Simmons' mouth as he's doing the tongue-wriggling during the KISS concert.
55	* MrsRobinson: The aforementioned Ms. Tweed plays a cougar who offers money to Hawk for sex. [[spoiler: He refuses the money up front, they have sex anyway, and she STILL gives him the money.]]
56	* MyBelovedSmother: Jam's chain-smoking, bible-thumping mom who burns the gang's KISS tickets. She doesn't even let him get dressed in private after picking her son up from Lex's house the night after she found his "demonic KISS record".
57	* NiceJobBreakingItHero: When the gang seems to have miraculously obtained a second set of tickets to the sold-out concert, [[spoiler: Trip hung up before the DJ asked for his contact information to ensure the gang would actually ''get'' the passes they had won on the radio.]]
58	* NiceJobFixingItVillain: If [[spoiler: Chongo and his little brother]] hadn't decided to PayEvilUntoEvil by actually robbing [[spoiler: Trip]] of his wallet -- with KISS Army ID -- the boys would've never made the show.
59	* NobodyLovesTheBassist: Lex is definitely the fourth man of the lineup.
60	* OhCrap:
61	** The boys have this reaction when Jam's mom burns the tickets in front of them.
62	** Jam has this reaction when he's wandering the streets of Detroit in search of KISS tickets, and realizes that his mom's "church meeting" that she was going to be at for the entire night is the [[MoralGuardians Mothers Against The Music Of KISS]] rally outside of the show.
63	--> '''Jam:''' "...''Shit.''"
64	* RockersSmashGuitars: Paul Stanley does this in the concert.
65	* TheSeventies: And how. The opening title sequence is a catalog of every significant media trend of the decade, interlaced with KISS footage.
66	* SexAsRiteOfPassage: After losing his virginity to [[spoiler: Beth]], Jam finally works up the courage to stand up to his mother, and acts noticeably more self-confident and less meek for the remainder of the film.
67	* SexDrugsAndRockAndRoll: The backstage area of the KISS concert is portrayed as a hive of hedonism and debauchery, complete with a jacuzzi full of beautiful topless women.
68	* ShownTheirWork:
69	** The feud between disco fans and rock fans depicted in this film was a real thing. By the late 1970s, anti-disco sentiment was growing across the United States, with many people wearing t-shirts bearing slogans such as "Disco Sucks" and "Death Before Disco". In 1979, the public backlash against disco resulted in [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disco_Demolition_Night Disco Demolition Night]], a massive anti-disco demonstration that made national news and is credited with playing a major role in disco's fall from popularity.
70	** All of the KISS merchandise shown in the film is genuine, coming from a private collection, and hand picked to ensure AnachronismStew was averted. One of the DVD extras has an anecdote where someone walked onto the set, spotted an almost hidden piece of merch in the background, and tosses it away, saying that it wasn't time-accurate.
71	* SpeedSex: Between [[spoiler: Hawk and the "cougar"]]. The second time goes better.
72	* StageNames: The main four boys are referred to by these as their standard names throughout the movie. The only character whose name is revealed is Jam (real name Jeremiah Bruce). Trip, Lex, and Hawk's real names are never identified.
73	* TheStoner: All of them to different degrees, but especially Trip. He's almost literally a walking stoner stereotype (he has long hair, slurred speech peppered with "dude" and "man", a beanie, a jacket with a pot leaf on the back...), and he's even referred to as a burnout by multiple characters.
74	* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Jam's speech delivered to his mother (which overlaps with a ShutUpHannibal moment) definitely counts:
75	--> '''Jam:''' "Hey, what's up mom? I'm gonna ask you this nicely first. Can I have my drumsticks back?"
76	--> '''Mrs. Bruce:''' "Your ''drumsticks'' are the least of your worries young man! You ran out on God! My son just ran out on God! You are in a world of-"
77	--> '''Jam:''' "Trouble?" laughs "I've been in trouble for the past twelve hours! ''Hello?!'' You know I'm going to be in St. Bernard's Boarding School for the next two years of my life, remember?"
78	--> '''Mrs. Bruce:''' "Yes!"
79	--> '''Jam:''' "I am going to be out of your hair until I am a ''legal adult!''"
80	--> '''Mrs. Bruce:''' "Yes!"
81	--> '''Jam:''' "Then all you have to do is go to church, light a candle, and pray to some stupid little statue for me and all is forgiven and forgotten, right mom? [[MoralGuardians Then you can spend your days in a guilt free pursuit of more constructive activities like telling everybody]] ''[[MoralGuardians else]]'' [[MoralGuardians how screwed up]] ''[[MoralGuardians their]]'' [[MoralGuardians lives are!]] And then you no longer need the patience and understanding required to talk to your own son on some normal plane! And then that way you don't have to ''think'' about how tough it was for you when you were growing up, and its probably a good thing too, 'cause if you did, you'd realize what a ''lousy, goddamn, shitty-ass '''parent''' you are!''"
82	--> '''Mrs. Bruce:''' stunned "Jeremiah... what has gotten into you?"
83	--> '''Jam:''' picks up a bullhorn and yells into it "I just lost my virginity in a confessional booth! '' '''[[PunctuatedForEmphasis Lord! Have! Mercy!]]''' '' Now, for the last time... Mom...give me back my ''fucking'' drumsticks! beat ...please."
84	* TelevisionGeography: The guys drive from Ohio to Detroit, and enter the city through a bridge. The only bridges into Detroit come from Canada.
85	* TestosteronePoisoning: A recurring motif...
86	** On the drive to the show, the band encounters Kenny and Bobby, a pair of cocky, aggressively macho disco fans.
87	** Backstage, the bouncers are so eager to eject Lex that they lay hands on an actual roadie by mistake:
88	--> ''Roadie'': Keep your paws to yourself, ya dumb fuckin' apes.
89	** Lex goes from the frying pan into the fire with the "Beefy Jerks" (script description) in the chop shop.
90	** Finally and ultimately, Chongo and his buddies.
91	* ThatNostalgiaShow: For TheSeventies (as numerous entires imply) and, specifically, for the height of KISS-mania.
92	* ThemeNaming: The female characters Beth and Christine both share their names with KISS songs.
93	* TitledAfterTheSong: Down to both revolving around a concert in Detroit ''and'' featuring "Detroit Rock City" in the ending.
94	* VileVillainSaccharineShow: [[spoiler:Two car thieves accidentally kidnap Christine because she happened to be asleep on the backseat of the stolen Volvo. When the car thieves realize she's there, they tie her up and imply that they're going to rape her and then kill her. This is surprisingly dark considering that the movie is a teen comedy.]]
95	* VomitIndiscretionShot: In an attempt to overcome his stage fright, Hawk drinks a large amount of alcohol before performing his strip tease. This results in him throwing up onstage and filling up ''an entire pitcher''.
96	* WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes: Lex is terrified of dogs, something that he has to overcome to [[spoiler:save Christine]].

Context Film / DetroitRockCity