The Explosive Generation

A high school teacher (Wiliam Shatner) gets in trouble when he tries to teach a class in sex education.

This was the directing debut of Buzz Kulik, who went on to make the cult classic "Bad Ronald" as well as several episodes of "Twilight Zone" (though not, oddly, the ones with William Shatner).

I had low expectations for this film and only watched it because today was Shatner's 82nd birthday. Seemed like a good time to check out career highlights. And this one is a bit of a stunner.

For being 1961, which is really more the 1950s than the 1960s, it has a very honest look at sex and the idea that high school teenagers engage in sexual activity. While times have changed and kids today are certainly more "free" than fifty years ago, it is nice to see a film that actually addressed the subject rather than pretending it did not exist.

The Explosive Generation is a harbinger of things to come. Little did they know about student protests in 1961. The best that kids could come up with as a protest concern is the dismissal of a popular English teacher. This was way before an unpopular war, a slew of assassinations, and the spread of drugs. This was before half of the Sixties was over.

These kids are as normal a group of Eisenhower era teens as you can find. But when William Shatner asks them about topics they want to discuss in his class and Patty McCormack mentions sex and not in the hygiene manual way it all mushrooms from there.

The parents of these kids particularly Arch Johnson who is McCormack's father get hysterical when their kids want to discuss grownup topics. When Shatner is canned, the protesters led by McCormack, Lee Kinsolving, Suzi Carnell and Billy Gray get creative in their protest. They would have made the kids who sat in in Columbia later in the decade proud.

The Explosive Generation isn't exactly atomic in its impact. More like a few pounds of TNT. Still those nostalgic for the era and its music will like it.

This film stars William Shatner as a teacher who teaches class for Seniors on subjects related to graduation and adulthood. However, when he is having a discussion with them, they begin asking about sex and dating. Considering they are graduating soon and many are already 18, the request is pretty reasonable. While the talk never even remotely becomes smutty, when the parents find out about it, the older generation does what every responsible parent would do--they become hysterical and want the teacher's head on a platter! The main thrust (so to speak) of the film is healthy sexuality as well as academic freedom and non-violent resistance.

What surprised me, however, about this film is that the topic was dealt with very realistically and responsibly. In addition, the kids and especially Shatner did a good job of acting. This really was a shock, as Shatner did NOT talk in his usual staccato voice nor did he overact in the least. While I have loved watching Shatner and his histrionics in such terrible films as IMPULSE, here he has nothing to be ashamed of--his acting (pre-star days) was good.

Contrary to the lurid poster and title, The Explosive Generation is an enlightened, sensitive, and even-handed treatment of the issues involved in attempting to include a sexual education curriculum in high schools in the early 1960's. William Shatner is sensitive, realistic, gentle, and winning as the teacher trying to his best only to find his words and methods distorted by those with other agendas.

Patty McCormack (known for the Bad Seed, Kathy O, the Miniskirt Mob, and the Ropers) is quite good as the ingenue made to feel suddenly uncomfortable about her own sexuality in increasingly tense and challenging times. 50's TV fans will enjoy seeing Bud from Father Knows Best (Billy Gray) as one of the students. This is truly worth seeing both as a movie and as a history lesson.

A previous comment wondered whether 21st century sarcasm should be applied to this film...I believe there's genuine enjoyment to watching this vintage film in that manner - the soundtrack alone is truly priceless.

And you should walk into this story with 21st century cynicism, sneer at the plastic performances and ridiculousness of the script, the scenarios it portrays...because it's only then that the real power of the film - I'm not kidding - comes through. When you're absolutely convinced that this generation and movie couldn't be further from "explosive" you are, with all the others, focused on the moment when our protagonist Janet reveals that which started all the fuss.

Then, even in this century, could a truth be more plainly and easily revealed to all. I danced to its music (for kicks) and ended astounded at its simple honesty. A great catalyst for discussion, if you can convince folks to relish, then release, their cynicism...