The “she” is Tracy Flick, a preternaturally formidable teenager who dared to run for highschool class president and tried actually, actually arduous to win. Within the 25 years since “Election,” Tracy Flick (as performed by Reese Witherspoon) has develop into probably the most notorious and oft-referenced characters in trendy cinema, and her title has nearly develop into a loaded phrase, stigmatizing formidable and over-qualified girls ever since.
Filmmaker Alexander Payne (and his writing accomplice, Jim Taylor) tailored the screenplay from an unpublished-at-the-time novel by Tom Perotta, who drew inspiration for his story from three disparate sources. First, the 1992 Presidential election and the way the race was upended by a third-party candidate (Ross Perot). Second, a contemporaneous information story out of Wisconsin, the place 4 college directors conspired to dam a 17-year-old from successful the election for Homecoming Queen as a result of she was pregnant. (Reading the actual news story, you may instantly see the way it impressed a film.)
However Perotta’s third supply of inspiration is likely to be probably the most instructive one for the movie’s enduring relevance. He had been educating at Harvard and Yale, and he observed the younger girls in his lessons have been far completely different from these he grew up with. As a result of, in contrast to his contemporaries, these girls have been raised by feminist moms. As Perotta informed author Brian Raftery (in Raftery’s wonderful guide Finest. Film. Yr. Ever.), these girls “have been going to beat the world, and I may see they made folks uncomfortable.”
So Perotta created Tracy Flick, the final word generator of that discomfort, and Jim McCallister, the proper vessel of mediocrity to obtain it. And who higher to play the person who feels threatened by an over-achieving excessive schooler than an actor who got here to fame as a excessive schooler who skips class? (Although, amusingly, Payne claimed he had by no means seen “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” earlier than casting Matthew Broderick as Jim McCallister.)
Nevertheless it’s Reese Witherspoon’s efficiency as Flick that dominates the movie, in addition to the discourse round it. How ought to we really feel about Tracy Flick? Is she a sympathetic character? Did she need to win the election?
