I weirdly have a soft spot for teen comedies (loved Sex Education, To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before) and I know this comes down to nostalgia and a lot of the ‘80s flicks I grew up with (The Breakfast Club, Can’t Buy Me Love, etc.). But I just watched Tall Girl and I find it ironic how so many of the more recent teen flicks insist on including a big speech scene - literally, like a speech into a mic - generally at a dance or general assembly...or both. Like when did teens become such awesome public speakers? Whatever happened to just quietly submitting the essay and getting the diamond earring? Or just walking into the dance then out of the dance to show “they didn’t break me”? For a generation that was so over-the-top in every other way, the ‘80s sometimes gave the audience a just a tiny little breathing room to just get it. No such subtlety these days.
