A stereotypical teenager?

We were asked to write about a character called Max Fischer in the film Rushmore which was made in 1998 and directed by Wez Anderson. What we had to focus on was to see if Max was a stereotypical teenager by analysing him from the beginning of the film. From the minute you meet Max as a character he looks different from the other students in his class. He looks different due to what he is wearing, his class mates have a shirt on, chinos and a casual pair of shoes (converse) on, but Max looks the odd one out as he has a blazer on which also has badges on ( to show authority?) a shirt with a tie on and some smart looking shoes. Just from what Max wears you can see that he takes his school very seriously as he looks very smart compared to the other students. One opinion of a stereotypical teenager is that they look scruffy but Max is dressed smart all the time in the section of the film we watched, showing that he may not be a ‘scruffy teenager’.

Further into the film you see that Max likes to get involved in a lot of the groups at his school, either being founder of some of them or being in charge of them. Before the clip of Max and all the groups you see ‘ The Yankee’ which is the school book. On the front of the book there are bees down one side of the book, I think this could represent Max as he is as the old saying goes ‘ as busy as a bee’ because he is part of all these different clubs and groups. It could also show that he may think of himself as the ‘bees knees’ because he is head of most of the clubs. The song played in the background is by a band called The Creation and the song is called ‘Making Time’, this also represents max’s like because he has to make time for all the clubs as well as school work.

The groups that max is involved in are-

The School newspaper ( The Yankee)- Publisher, leading the others. Wearing uniform.

French Club- President- wearing a beret ( French hat) and a French sash. Sat in the middle, shows leadership.

Model United Nations- sat in the middle, he is Russia (rich country) sat between Mexico and India ( poor countries). Also America and Russia hate each other so wants so cause an argument?

Stamp and Coin Club- Vice president, not a typical past time for teenagers. Only member of the club?

Debate Team- Captain, got school uniform on again other have bow tie on.

Lacrosse Team- Manager, wearing school uniform again. Does not fit in, the ‘jocks’ are have big muscles and are tall he is small and instead of paying attention to the game he is messing around with the equipment.

Calligraphy Club- President, strange club and you only see him, may be the only member.

Astronomy Society- Founder, standing away from the group, doesn’t fit in?

Fencing Team- Captain, still has his uniform on underneath fencing outfit. ‘ Rich man’s sport’ maybe cannot afford fencing clothes.

Track and Field J.V Decathlon- On his own, lonely?

Bombardment Society- Founder, shows a competitive side. Still has uniform on.

Kung Fu Club- Yellow belt, all younger members and they have more advanced belts on.

Trap and Skeet- Founder, only him and his friend who is with him a lot.

Beekeeper- President, him and his friend again, still in school uniform.

Yankee Racers- Founder, has the French beret on again. He looks like he has crashed, his cart may not be as good as the others.

Max Fischer Players- Named the group after him self, sitting in the middle.

Piper Cub Club- Club only lasted 4.5 hours, only member.

My overall view on Max is that he is a very busy student as he is part of all these different groups. The only reason I think he is part of all the groups is because he wants to be involved with all the different groups of people at his school so they all know who he is. I think that underneath Max seems like quite a lonely character. Max as a character does not seem like a stereotypical teenager because he gets involved in a lot of different and strange groups.