This program weaves together narrative and visual vignettes with expressive footage of rave music events. The vignettes are selected from months of intense videotaping during school lunch breaks, at parties, at night, with friends and even during the most intimate moments. The rave, an underground music scene catering to adolescents, thrives in the Reno area and in nearby Sacramento. Adolescents live in the best of times and in the worst of times.
Statistical analyses reflect greater participation by adults in adolescent's lives.
But these are also dangerous times. The variety of after-school programs, while frequently beneficial to adolescents, reflects busy adult lives. Families are not what they seem. The terrible prospect of AIDS and sexually transmitted diseases complicates the adolescent tendency to experiment with themselves and their bodies. Body scarification, tattooing, and piercing are now common marks within middle class adolescents.