Film Analysis: Half Chips And Half Air

Half Chips and Half Air “American teen” is a movie made in 2006 and released in 2008 as a documentary following teens from a small town High School in Indiana. Although it’s labeled as a documentary it’s more along the lines of a reality show because of how the actors play to the camera. Parents start actually parenting there in like the last 20 minutes of the film. I see that the filmmaker is trying to bring more awareness to the pressure that seniors face in high school. And it serves its purpose. Teens in high school now have way more pressure than teens in this movie: for example, colleges want well rounded persons not just a one note Sally. This is why I think the movie is like opening a bag of chips. It’s really exciting until you realize that it’s half air. Leaving you with unrealistic ideas about high school.
I can see why the director picked her to stir the pot in the movie, but we can still sympathize with her. Who ever said that pressure makes diamonds probably never met a mean high school girl. Though she sticks to her queen bee status, and has her own personal struggles with her sister’s traumatic death. However, we can see that Megan plays to the camera. Which for me make its inauthentic for a documentary it’s more like reality T.V. Like “the real world” television show. Megan also harasses her classmates throughout the film, and she gets minimal punishment because of her family’s economic status. In retrospect she is portrayed as your everyday rich and privileged girl with family pressures to go their alma mater for college. She is definitely the main character, but if we saw her in the mall. We would probably walk right past her, because she is kind of boring all on her