Seeking out the
5000 greatest films
in a century of cinema
Suburbia
Rebel Streets
The Wild Side
Produced by Roger Corman and Bert L. Dragin
Written by Penelope Spheeris
Editing: Ross Albert and Michael Oleksinski
Music: Alex Gibson
Release Date: 13 April 1984
Aspect Ratio: 1.85 : 1
Color: Color
Penelope Spheeris was inspired to write her debut narrative feature Suburbia after her 1981 documentary about the Los Angeles punk rock scene, The Decline of Western Civilization, received a disappointingly minimal theatrical release. Spheeris teamed up with the great indie producer Roger Corman (who we lost earlier this year) to get the film made. Technically released in 1983, like many Corman movies, it was put back out later under different titles. I think more people probably saw this in cinemas in 1984 under the names Rebel Streets or The Wild Side.
Spheeris drew on characters she'd met and stories she'd heard while making The Decline of Western Civilization to create this fictional tale about a group of suburban punks who run away from home and squat in abandoned tract houses. These adolescents of various ages form a kind of family that tries to support each other through a number of challenging situations. The film has a feeling of authenticity that comes from casting many non-actors living lives close to the ones depicted in the story, but this choice cuts both ways since some of these folks aren't especially good actors. Spheeris views these wayward "orphans of a throw-away society" with compassion and presents them with dimension without ever romanticizing them or whitewashing the darker elements of the punk ethos at this time. The film captures distinctive aspects of how young people try to discover themselves by adopting new identities and looking for a chosen family.
Suburbia makes for a great companion piece to Repo Man, as both were shot the same year in the same city, but Spheeris depicts the cold, harsh realities of the punk life, whereas Repo Man is more about conveying a punk attitude. In Suburbia, the lack of opportunities for wayward youth, the neglect of their disinterested parents, and attacks on them by gun-toting "real Americans" are presented as tragic aspects of a crumbling society, whereas in Repo Man, these elements are all presented as something to laugh at.
Penelope Spheeris's narrative feature debut brings much of the authenticity found in her documentary The Decline of Western Civilization to this fictional story about a group of suburban punk runaways.