Rushmore - Opening Montage.

Is Max a stereotypical teenager? Explain your answer using only the montage sequence. Refer explicitly to mise-en-scene.


A stereotypical American teenager is thought to be rude, disrespectful, lazy and someone who doesn't care about anything or anyone else. They don't want to do anything for anyone and don't really care about what their actions will mean for the future. Most American teenagers are patriotic to their country as well, because that's how they've been brought up. The opening montage of Rushmore, set in an all boys, American, private school, shows the main character, Max, to be a rather unique teenager.

The first part of the montage starts with a book that is decorated with bees on the front cover. This signifies to me that Max is always busy, like a 'busy bee', and that he's proud of the fact because the bees look like they've been added to the cover, presumably by himself. The book is then opened to show the first page which has a black and white picture of Max, like one you'd see in a newspaper, wearing a beret and possibly holding a cigarette, complete with the caption 'Editor-in-chief'. This makes me think that Max is not a stereotypical teenager because even teenagers interested in journalism, or just writing for their school magazine, are not likely to wear a beret and be holding a cigarette in a picture of themselves so that they seem more mature/older than they are.

In the next school activity Max is shown to be the President of the French Club. In the shot Max is sitting in the front row, right in the middle, wearing a red beret (which might possibly be his own beret as the other students are wearing different ones), with a sash designed to look like the French flag and a statue of the Eiffel Tower. This is not like a stereotypical American teenager because Max is shown to be slightly obsessed with France, however you would expect an American teenager to be proud of and love their own country over any other, but Max seems to want to belong to France and doesn't seem to have any patriotic tendencies towards America at all. He also chooses to represent Russia in the Model United Nations, instead of America.

Also Max proves to not be a stereotypical teenager when the montage says that he is the Vice-President of the Stamp and Coin Club. Stamp and coin collecting is considered to be something that older people do, such as pensioners, and not something that would interest teenagers.

However Max takes part in the track and field events at the school, which puts him in the frame of a stereotypical teenager, because teenagers are supposed to be interested in sports and American high schools focus a lot on their school teams. Therefore because Max takes part in the school sports it makes him seem more 'normal' for a teenager. Though Max is still shown to be different from the stereotypical teenager with regards to his school team because he is the manager of the team, rather than a team player as you would expect him to be. This shows Max's desire for control and makes him seem more mature than the usual teenager.

To conclude Max is portrayed in the opening montage to be a little different from the average American teenager because he has different hobbies and interests, and because he has joined so many school activities, whereas most teenagers would only join one or two at most. Also because he is either the founder, captain or president or these clubs it cuts him off from other teenagers because they just go to have fun, whilst Max goes so that he has power/control. He does take part in some ordinary teenage activities, such as the Yankee Racers, but most of the activities he belongs to are consider to be either a little eccentric or for people of a much older age. I believe that most teenagers would see Max as someone to make fun of because he doesn't seem to fit in anywhere, and is seen as an outcast as he is not the sort of person teenagers would want to associate themselves with.

Liana :)