Houstonist had a thought yesterday as we were boarding our 7 AM flight to Dallas for yet another business trip, "This sucks," which got us pining for the way-too-few days sandwiched between our college graduation and our 8-to-8 gig inhabiting cubes around the country. Then a scene from Ben Stiller's 1994 release, Reality Bites, flashed through our head: Winona Ryder's character, LeLaina a.k.a. Lainey, is "show[ing] some ingenuity" by using her dad's gas card to pay for other customer's gas in exchange for cash. O.K. Houstonist has been there and is in no rush to go back. But, we did keep thinking about the movie.
Reality Bites is a story about the struggles of LeLaina and her friends as they try to adjust to the harsh realities of real world Houston after having emerged from the shelter of college life. Janeane Garofalo's promiscuous girl Vicky is trying to dodge the HIV/AIDS epidemic and keep The Gap t-shirts folded - "crew neck, v-neck, what-have-you." Sammy, portrayed by Steve Zahm, is trying to figure out how to come out to his parents while Ethan Hawke's Troy is a too smart, greasy-haired hipster too cool to hold down even the most low key job. And, Lainey is having zero luck trying to launch a film making career with a documentary about her friends until Stiller's Michael, a producer at an MTV-type channel, picks up her documentary.
More Reality after the jump.
Those expecting a deep, cinematic experience will be disappointed; those seeking light comedy that may or may not feature a reflection of themselves in their early 20's won't be. Who hasn't gone out to the car for private time with your date when you roommates made private time in the house impossible? Who hasn't wrecked a douche bag's car by hitting them with your cigarette butt? What about the time you and you friends rocked out like a lunatic to "My Sharona" inside the Stop 'N Rob? Who's feeling us? Anyone? Anyone?
Aside from our case of the Mondays on Tuesday, the film has other ties to Houston. It is set here and was filmed in the greater Houston-area (and by that we mean Houston and Austin). Further, the screenplay was written by Helen Childress, a Missouri City native, who bailed on a degree at USC to finish the film.
Unfortunately for Childress, reality does bite. Childress is being sued for defamation by real-life Troy Dyer. Ain't that always the way?
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