The Kids Don't Care About History

Imagine my shock - SHOCK! - last night when I realized that for some reason I didn't own Rock 'n Roll High School. I immediately remedied the situation on iTunes, but still. Chilling!

Xmastime in 2008:

I just watched Rock n Roll High School. Which I also dvr'd, so I can watch it all day very day if I want. I also see it's coming on tv in 2 hours again anyway. Boy, watching tv has really changed, ain't it? Remember when you were a kid, and if you missed a special or a movie you had no idea if you'd ever get to see it again? "Well, that's that!" you pictured the tv execs saying after the movie was over as they loaded it into a cannon and shot it to Saturn. When I was in 8th grade my friend Ryan told me that he had Rock n Roll High School on VHS at his house - I hyperventilated for days, counting the seconds til I could get over to his house for a viewing. Of course I get there and...had been taped over. Devestated. My one chance ever to see my gods on film for 2 hours, gone forever.

Then three years later I saw that the flick was coming on tv one night. FINALLY!!!! Monday night at 7pm, Channel 35. To use a phrase I would later coin, I'm SO there! Of course that Monday we ended up having an extra long football practice cause we had gotten our asses handed to us the previous Friday...IN A SCRIMMAGE. Not even a real game!!! Our Coach was furious, and I remember it rained and we ran and ran and ran our guts out. The whole time, I'm going razy, knowing I'm missing my movie. Run run run, hand on the line, tweet tweet run run run. I also remember we sent Coach even more off the edge earlier while watching the game film by erupting into laughter when we watched James Beverly intercept a pass and start running the wrong way. Comedy ensued onscreen, we laughed, Coach was pissed. Tweet tweet. Hand on the line.

Finally we get sent home, I'm begging my brother to drive like a lunatic, hoping to catch ANY of what's left of the movie. Burst into the house soaking wet, 10 minutes of the movie are left, I turn on the tv and...no reception. Like scrambled porn, could barely see through the snow onscreen to even be able to tell the Ramones were back there somewhere. Heartbroken. Can still see that gotdam screen. And now here we are...I can watch it now, I can watch it later, I can load it onto a computer and stick myself into the I Just Wanna Have something to Do car scene. Shit's changed. 

Aaaaaaaand my thoughts on while watching it right after Tommy Ramone died:

After Tommy died, I watched the movie for the first time in decades and was struck by two things:

1. Oh my God, they really do sound retarded. Like, they aspire to be retards.
2. Who took longer to show up onscreen in their own movie, The Ramones in Rock 'n Roll High School (almost 38 minutes in) or the shark in Jaws?