I've always been a fan of George Lucas, his 70's work of course. I had always meant to watch American Graffiti but had never gotten around to it. The timing of the movie in my life couldn't be better. The film stands as an excellent example of using rock music in a film in its own contemporary setting. For most of the film its kids having a good time, for some of them maybe the last good time they will have together. In the end, especially with the final title cards, it is clear the film is about the passage of time and not dwelling on what has already happened. The characters must look forward in their lives and grow up. The reading talks about Lucas adding the fates of the teenagers to "drive that point home" (Flowers in the Dustbin). I'm not a teenager and I graduated high school four years ago, but college graduation is almost a bigger and scarier version to me. I knew college was on the other side of high school and I knew most people I knew would in some way would in some way still be close to me. On the other side of this next step I don't know. Curt debating whether he should get on the plane the next morning for the whole movie is something I relate to. Which plane to I get on? Where do I go from here?

The reading says that the treatment stated American Graffiti as "a musical... but it is not a musical in the traditional sense because the characters neither sing nor dance" (Flowers in the Dustbin). This to me describes what modern audiences want instead of a regular musical. Every once and a while a musical film gains popularity but on the whole they never gain mainstream popularity. The mainstream musical isn't a musical at all. The best recent example is obviously the ridiculously popular Guardians of the Galaxy that featured the characters listening to popular rock songs of the 70's and 80's. There is some singing and dancing by characters but the music is used as background and not performed by the onscreen characters. Much like American Graffiti before it the soundtrack to Guardians sold exceptionally well, being charted on Itunes for several months after its release. In comparison, last year Disney also released an actual musical Into the Woods which was only a small success and who's soundtrack sold moderately well. It wasn't even marketed as a musical. Musicals don't sell well, but musically inclined films do.