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It never hurts to remember triumph over misfortune as a reminder that a work
injury - even a serious one - is rarely reason to despair. Maybe you never
thought about work injuries like that before, but if not, do you remember this
movie? Hard as it may be to believe, it has been thirty years since the release
of Dazed and Confused.
That’s almost twice the span of time between its premiere in 1993 and the
film’s setting: Texas, May 28, 1976. Since it’s late May in the Lone Star
state, it seems like the perfect time to revisit Richard Linklater’s
coming-of-age classic, shot in and around the director’s adopted home of
Austin. (Disclaimer:
Events depicted therein are for viewing enjoyment only, not for emulating.)
The ensemble comedy has gained a fanatical following far exceeding its paltry
box office grosses upon initial release, and some of today’s most recognizable
faces got their big breaks from the movie, including Academy Award winners Ben
Affleck, Renee Zellweger, and University of Texas alum Matthew McConaughey.
It turned the Texas capital into a viable alternative to Hollywood for
independent-minded filmmakers: Linklater co-founded the Austin Film Society.
It also spawned arguably the biggest movie catchphrase in recent memory,
albeit decades after the fact.
Melissa Maerz’s excellent book Alright,
Alright, Alright: An Oral History of Richard Linklater’s Dazed and Confused
(HarperCollins, 2020), is packed with insight and anecdotes about the making of
the film. Among those: the revelation that the movie’s two de facto
protagonists, freshman Mitch Kramer and senior Randall “Pink” Floyd, were
avatars for the writer/director at those ages, with his older, wiser self mentoring
his baby-faced doppelganger throughout the film. “Pink is me,” Linklater
admits to Maerz. “And so is Mitch.” (Eagle-eyed viewers will notice that
the characters are even dressed identically in gray t-shirts, blue pants, and
long brown hair when they first cross paths.)
When seeking the performers who would not only carry the film but embody its
creator, Linklater did not have to look far for his Mitch; Austin native Wiley
Wiggins happened to be outside a local coffee shop when the casting director,
looking for non-professional actors, offered him a chance to audition.
Finding the right person to play Pink, though, depended on an initially
horrific twist of fate in the form of a Texas work injury.
Jason London, who eventually won the role, never intended to become an actor
either. In Alright, Alright,
Alright, he recalls being fifteen and working construction for his
father in DeSoto, Texas, until his left foot got caught in the lift mechanism
on a forklift, amputating two toes. As he tells Maerz: “My whole life at
that point was all about sports, and the only way I was gonna get to go to
college was through scholarships in sports or the military. All of [a]
sudden, that path was gone. I thought it was the worst thing that could’ve
ever happened to me. But then I decided to take drama. I guess it was
destiny. I had to think about life beyond sports, just like Pink.”
London’s unfortunate Texas work injury inadvertently set him on an alternate
career trajectory, fortuitously intersecting with Richard Linklater in Austin
five years later and providing one of the most beloved Texas-based movies its
co-lead. The anecdote is one of triumph over misfortune and a reminder
that a work injury—even a serious one—is rarely reason to despair. As we
reminded you at the beginning, if you never thought of triumph over
misfortune before…
Copyright 2023, Stone Loughlin & Swanson, LLP