Nowhere
is a movie from 1997, written and directed by
Gregg Araki and starring
James Duvall as a teen boy appropriately named Dark, doing his best
Emo Teen version of
Keanu Reeves from
Bill & Ted.
The "plot" revolves around Dark's
petty,
pretty, vacuous, bisexual, drug-addled L.A. teen friends who
get abducted by aliens, get killed, or commit suicide amidst lots of
Sex, Drugs, & Rock and Roll as they try to
get to an exclusive, rave-type party for more of the same.
The movie is supposed to be some sort of
homage to Bret Easton Ellis, specifically Rules Of Attraction,
American Psycho, and Less Than Zero. There are also references to Kafka (the cockroach), and Warhol (the soup can). It rounds out the supposed "Teen Apocalypse Trilogy" started by "Totally Fucked Up" and "The Doom Generation" (both also written and directed by Gregg Araki and starring
Keanu Reeves James Duvall). It is described as "
90210 on acid" on the
VHS cover box, which is apt.
Tropes:
- A Date with Rosie Palms - Dark in the beginning after crying that "L.A. is like nowhere"
- Alien Abduction - A man in a big green rubber lizard suit uses his Ray Gun to zap multiple teens.
- An Aesop - Ranging and overlapping Aesops, including Accidental, Spoof, and Broken. Are we supposed to learn that sexual freedom equals CrapSackWorld? But mostly Gay Aesop turned Clueless Aesop
- Anything That Moves - Mel
- Big "NO!" - after the credits
- Bi the Way
- Brace Face - Dingbat
- Brother-Sister Incest - Twins Alyssa and Shad's Dirty Mind Reading as they think of their Parental Incest.
- But Not Too Black - The white actors, and the partially white actors. Such variation.
- Caught with Your Pants Down - When Egg meets The Teen Idol
- Club Kid - Just about everyone
- Corrupt Church - The televangelist that makes teens an hero
- CPR: Clean, Pretty, Reliable - Dingbat on Ducky
- Dawson Casting - Some actors in their 30s
- Downer Ending - "I love you." "I love you, too." "I'm outta here." "Big "NO!"!" (Elton John ballad)
- Drag Queen - Scary Drags Queens 1, 2, and 3
- Drugs Are Bad - The world is going to end because everyone is a bisexual drug user
- Everybody Has Lots of Sex
Dingbat: Have you ever like - I know it's none of my business or anything but - I kinda heard this rumor that you're kinda like waiting for the right person?
Ducky: That is not true. Kay? I've done it. I'm so sure.
Dingbat: With who?!
Ducky: Lots of people a bunch of different times. Okay?
Dingbat: Oh.
- Every One Is Jesus In Purgatory, the supposed symbolism and messages
- Evil is Cool - "Dogs eating people is cool!" "Blood is cool!" "I'm full of hate! I want to kill!"
- Evil Is Sexy
- Evil Is Stylish
- Evil Foreigner - The Teen Idol
- Evil Laugh - Elvis, after beating Handjob's face in
- Fetish - BDSM, armpit licking, threeways, and hermaphrodite porn stars that can Screw Yourself and other Conveniently Common Kink.
- Fetish Retardant - Nipple rings torn out. "How do you spell relief?"
- Flat "What." - the ending, and all throughout
- Gay Cowboy - The gay guy called Cowboy
Dark: I feel it. Like a prenomination.
Lucifer: You mean premonition?!
- Gayngst - Dark's constant whining for true love and lamenting about being doomed
- Grammar Nazi
- I Call Him "Mister Happy" - "I missed you." "You mean Gilligan here missed me?"
- If Jesus Then Aliens
- Hollywood Atheist - "You have to believe in something!" "No I don't. Tie me up."
- Hollywood Sex - No breasts allowed
- Kick the Dog - Multiple times, but especially the affable Handjob's Warhol soupcan-to-the-head murder, and also when The Teen Idol beats Egg and says I Have You Now, My Pretty before raping her. And also the effect of suicide on friends and family.
- Lipstick Lesbian - Lucifer
- Lust - Shad and Lilith
- My Girl Is a Slut - Mel Really Gets Around
- Notable Non-Sequitur - Half the dialogue. "Bend over, robot."
- Obliviously Evil - Ignoring a car wreck and talking about zits
- Only Known by Their Nickname - Most everyone
Egg: Well, I mean my real name's Polly, but my friends all call me Egg. Dweeby, I know. But it just kinda stuck.
- Cringe Comedy - Lots of talk about bodily functions and diseases.
Cowboy: Did you hear about Marcus? His butt hole fell out and he has to have surgery!
Dark: Oh, Henry.
- Phone Booth - No one has a cell phone!
- Refuge in Audacity
- Schoolgirl Lesbians - Lucifer and Mel
- Sex Is Cool: "Your tongue is cool!"
- Sex Montage
- Sorry, I'm Gay - Lucifer's fist when a guy asks, "My jizz on your face?"
- The Stoner - Bart and Handjob mostly, but everyone else too
- Straight Gay - They're all so straight-acting
- The Twink - Bart. Also Montgomery, trying to be averted with his duel-colored eyes and stutter
- Twin Threesome Fantasy - Mel with Surf & Ski
- Valley Girl - Valley Girls 1, 2, and 3
0 reviews