I Rewatched A Gen X Classic Starring Christian Slater, And It Reminded Me Just How influential It Was On Me

Christian Slater is a Gen X icon for good reason. When you think of his influential movies, your first thought is probably Heathers. The appeal of the black comedy endures well into the 21st Century, having even inspired a musical based on it in 2010. Talk of a sequel has been happening for years, but Winona Ryder poured cold water on that rumor last year.

Another Slater-led movie from the era that won’t likely ever get a sequel is one of my favorite movies of the ‘90s, Pump Up the Volume. Though it never had the success of Heathers or other Slater movies like True Romance or Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves, the 1990 movie was a huge influence on me, personally, in ways I didn’t even realize at the time. A recent rewatch, which I rented on VOD with my Prime subscription for the first time in years, highlighted that.

In High School, I Wanted To Be HHH

In the movie, Slater plays a mild-mannered high school student named Mark Hunter whose alter ego is a pirate radio station host called “Happy Harry Hard-on.” His show plays kick ass music and in between cuts by Above The Law, Richard Hell and the Voidoids, and Leonard Cohen, HHH espouses wisdom that, in my then-teenage mind at least, seemed profound and insightful. On some levels, that still works, though it does come across to my now-adult mind as a little simple and childish.

Still, at the time, the character was an idol of mine. Like Lloyd Dobler holding up his boom box in Say Anything and Dante Hicks’ quips in Clerks, HHH spoke for a generation. These were our slacker heroes who helped define Generation X. More than those other two, though, HHH had a really cool gig, playing cool records in the middle of the night on his illegal low-band radio station that inspired his school to revolt. What teenager doesn’t aspire to that, as silly as it seems, once you grow up? I outgrew that rebelliousness, but the movie still left a lasting mark.

Offering My Opinions To The Public And Playing Cool Music For My Friends

Two things I am lucky enough to do these days are things HHH does throughout the movie. I have a job that allows and encourages me to speak my opinion on things, especially pop culture, like, say, the effects of ‘80s and ‘90s movies on my life. I am fortunate to get paid to write about what I love and about things I want other people to love, or at least be open to. Sure, it’s not quite as philosophical as HHH in Pump Up The Volume, but still, I love doing it.

The other thing I love doing in my personal life is discovering new music, or old Gen X music I somehow didn’t know, and playing it for my friends, hoping to get them excited for it. I love playing DJ in any gathering. I make an endless number of playlists for every occasion. I put a lot of time (some would say too much time) into curating a listening experience for something as simple as a backyard BBQ or a concert pre-party. If I’m at a bar, I’ve been known to spend too much money on the jukebox, playing deep cuts and overpaying to make sure I can keep cutting the line so I don’t have to hear “Don’t Stop Believin’” again (I’ve really come to loathe that song, but that’s not Journey’s fault).

Looking back, something I tend to do without a longing for nostalgia, there are a bunch of influences from Gen X pop culture that have shaped my career and personal life, and Pump Up The Volume seems to have had a bigger effect than I realized until recently.