YMMV / if.... (1968)

• Harsher in Hindsight: The final scene centers on Mick and his fellow misfits getting revenge on their hated school by going on a shooting spree. At the time of its release, this scene was intended to be the surreal culmination of the protagonist's revolutionary ideals. With Columbine and Virginia Tech making the news, it comes off as youth in trouble. It doesn't help that Mick is played by Malcolm McDowell (Alex DeLarge from A Clockwork Orange, which also had teenagers committing horrific crimes, such as rape and murder—and Stanley Kubrick admitted that McDowell's performance here inspired the idea of him as Alex).
• Older Than They Think: The concept of a high school massacre by disgruntled pupils is inescapably 90's, and is forever linked to the dreadful Columbine high school incident of 1999. The film predates and predicts such incidents by just over 30 years.
• Retroactive Recognition:
  • Willens is played by David Griffin, who would later be best known for playing Clive Dempster in Hi-de-Hi! and Emmet Hawksworth in Keeping Up Appearances.
  • Keating is played by Robin Askwith, who would later be best known for playing Timmy Lea in the Confessions of a... Series.
• Unintentional Period Piece: Conditions for pupils and staff are rather spartan, but this no longer applies. School fees have been rising faster than inflation since the 1970s, and a lot of the extra money has gone on a "facilities arms race." Private schools nowadays are very comfortable.
• Values Dissonance: The film ends with a School Shooting portrayed as an act of revolution after all the mistreatment the students go through. Yeah, there's no way in hell that would be portrayed either sympathetically or without making the students Villain Protagonists today.

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