Teenage Dirtbag -- my new favorite movie

The other day I went roaming the video store looking for some random movie to watch (or rather listen to) as I worked. I spotted the movie "Teenage Dirtbag" with actor Scott Michael Foster's name. I have loved watching Scott on the TV show "Greek" for years, but I've never seen him in anything else. I had never heard of "Teenage Dirtbag." I had no clue it existed, but I rented it because Scott was in it, and boy was I glad I rented it.

The official synopsis is: "TEENAGE DIRTBAG intelligently tells the story of a popular high school cheerleader (Noa Hegesh) who is harassed by a delinquent classmate (Scott Michael Foster) until they are both placed in the same creative writing class. Through written words, they develop a strong bond of trust, companionship and love; but is it a bond that can withstand her elitist social pressures and his brutal home life? This film is inspired by true events."

I instantly fell in love with this movie, and I'd recommend it to anyone. It's a very dramatic storyline shot in very artistic color schemes which match the movie's mood better than anything I've ever watched.

The message I took away from it is that no matter what your life looks like from the outside, you can be suffering horribly on the inside. The girl is a popular cheerleader and appears to have a wonderful life, but under the surface her life isn't great. Her parents are hardly ever home and when her dad is around he treats her like a big disappointment. She is surrounded by friends all the time, but she feels completely alone. The boy is the "from the wrong side of the tracks" type of character. His father is abusive to him and his sister. His older brother tries to rape the sister, at least once. He's constantly acting out in school and getting in trouble.

The cheerleader and the bad boy form a friendship through poetry and writing notes to each other in study hall. Some people may argue that it's a really dark love story, but I disagree. I think they fall in love, but their story is an ANTI-love story. As much as they care about each other, they hate each other because they don't want to admit that they share the same type of internal pain.

I'd love to go on, but I will stop there because I don't want to ruin it for anyone who wants to go watch it, and I really recommend you check it out. I've placed a bid on eBay on a copy of the movie, because I desperately want to own a copy of it.

You can watch the official movie trailer below.