Pump Up the Volume is Talk Radio (1988) for teenagers.
Although a far more hopeful entity than Oliver Stone’s claustrophobic slice of
media pessimism, the film orbits around similar themes. It touches on free
speech and the intimate power of radio as a medium. However, despite holding a
sizable amount of darkness, Pump Up the Volume is a cuter view on similar ideas
highlighted in Talk Radio. Christian Slater plays Mark, a sullen loner who finds
solace in performing outrageously on his short-wave radio show. Mark uses his
radio to communicate with his friends back east after he and his
parents move from New York to a quiet suburb in Phoenix, Arizona. However, his
persona of ‘Hard Harry’ becomes a solitary voice that delivers truth bombs to
isolated and lonely teenagers. A tragic accident occurs after Mark makes some
unwittingly flippant comments, and soon the town's adults look to condemn and
stifle the voice that is stirring up high school rebellion.
Director Allan Moyle adds a touch of futurism to Pump Up the
Volume, which helps it become a companion piece with Talk Radio. Both movies
draw attention to the idea of the virility of radio, along with its intimacy.
During the opening credits, radio recordings of ‘Hard Harry’ are passed from
pupil to pupil via tape recording. Late in the film, background graffiti
broadly states, “The Truth is a virus”. But while there’s foreshadowing on the future of media circulation, the sensibilities of its
director, and possibly the coming-of-age narrative, give Pump Up the Volume a
sweeter taste in comparison to the bitter pill of Talk Radio. Amusingly, both
films feature Ellen Green as a quiet voice of reason, who wishes to appeal to
the empathy of the characters. Oliver Stone’s movie senses the growing sense of
haplessness and frustration, helped by the encroaching capitalist system. Pump
up the Volume, with its pirated tapes, rebellious rock music, and sometimes
youthful idealism, walks a different path for the adolescent listeners of Hard
Harry. One that suggests a sense of belonging. Mark’s Harry persona holds
empathy that Talk Radio’s Barry no longer has. If he ever had time for it.
Despite the film having a strand about popularity, Pump Up
the Volume was not popular itself. The film suffered a similar fate to Moyle’s
Empire Records (1995) in that while it seemingly had all the ingredients to be
a mainstream classic, it found itself roundly ignored by audiences upon
release. It brought in a measly $11 million during its theatrical run. Pump Up the Volume’s mainstream failure is
another unfortunate chapter in the cinematic career of Moyles, who previously
spent 10 years in self-imposed exile due to having a dreadful time on his New
York set, punk-enthused, teenage lesbian story, Times Square (1980). For some
reason, whenever Moyle wanted to tell stories about teenage lives, he was
hampered by unseen cinematic overlords. It is a strange bug within Moyles'
features. In 1980, more people were interested in The Blue Lagoon than Times
Square, most likely for sleazy reasons. In 1995, Empire Records was
overshadowed by Clueless and Kids. In 1990, Pump Up the Volume went against
Whit Stillman’s Oscar-nominated Metropolitan and Reginald Hudlin’s House Party.
Metropolitan gained a Criterion release in 2006 (DVD) and 2018 (Blu-Ray). House
Party was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry
by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or
aesthetically significant" in 2022. Pump up the Volume, alas, garners no
such plaudits.
When watching the film, it’s surprising that there isn’t more popularity behind it. Pump Up the Volume seemed primed for the mainstage. It appeared in the middle of what some may consider MTV's golden age. Coming out two years after Slater’s other pitch-black teen flick, Heathers (1988), PUTV’s teenage rebellion arrives just in time before the '90s went into alienation overdrive. Its commentary on teenage angst sets the tone for the decade and feels so bleeding edge that it feels like the era takes a few years to catch up. Smudges of John Hughes-like residue cling to the sides of the film. The sentimentality and acute teenage awkwardness are the key signatures.
However, the blending of growing pains, teenage kicks and
sincerity delivers a fresh sense of optimism, which makes PUTV an interesting
contrast to Talk Radio, which actively swims in its jadedness. Despite his
loudmouth persona, what makes Mark/Harry interesting is that he knows he
doesn’t have all the answers. His desire to bring a sense of community towards
the very listeners he struggles to connect with in real life is compelling. The
film's inciting incident, in which a suicidal teen calls Mark for help, is
the film's best example. Christian Slater
considers his role in Pump Up the Volume his favourite, and it’s not hard to
see why. When viewed next to his breakthrough role as JD in Heathers, Slater
has much more to do here. He balances an immature yet charismatic audio persona
with his more inward personality. At school, he is the proto-Milhouse,
struggling to maintain eye contact with his love interest, Nora, spiritedly
played by Samantha Mathis in her film debut. At night, Mark becomes a masturbating
John Peel, charming his teenage audience with Alt-rock and hard truths. Slater
does well here. The actor who was struggling with alcohol problems around the
same time seems to have taken the weight of that battle and focused that energy
into the role. If the actor was
channelling Jack Nicholson as the infamous JD in Heathers, then Hard Harry was
summoning the burgeoning Howard Stern, along with a touch of the personal.
Harry also becomes a prototype for our podcasting present, where the internet
has taken over shortwave radio, and the regulated barriers of the airwaves are
diminished even more. Ultimately, however, Harry is a less aggressive, more
juvenile version of the darker, more Rebellious teenage psychopath. However,
the performance in PUTV is wider in expression. There’s more to hang on to, and
the character sees more in his peers than the nihilistic JD.
There’s a constant feeling that Pump Up the Volume is on the
cusp of something. Throughout the film, Mark’s radio rants target the parents
of his peers who are constantly disconnected from their kin. The raves at a
society caving into conformity and drudgery slowly become something of
substance. An early outburst feels telling, if only because it’s arriving
earlier than scheduled:
“I don’t find it cheerful to be living in a totally exhausted decade with nothing to look forward to and nothing to look up to”
Mark may be aiming for the excess-fueled era of the 80s.
However, many of the films which made their mark in the middle and end of the
90s had much to say about the malaise of dispassionate suburban ennui. The
middle of the decade was full of portrayals of disaffected youth struggling to
find their place in the world. At times, Pump Up the Volume feels like it’s
crawling, so the likes of Ben Stiller, Kevin Smith and Richard Linklater could
walk. This is probably not the case. Yet a persona like Hard Harry, despite his
immaturity, slots in well with the pop culture parables of Randal from Clerks
or next to the yammering of a beardy Ethan Hawke in some independent feature.
The film doesn’t seem to be suggesting, but more yelling about the upcoming
cultural anxiety. In one exchange,
Mark’s dad gives a telling statement: “You don’t rock the boat. Especially if
you’re sitting in it.” Elsewhere, we’re given shots of Mark, previously a
resident of the unpredictable city of New York, wandering down streets of indistinguishable
suburban housing. The film’s message seems clear. If only the stars had aligned
with the mainstream advent of grunge three years later.
A core strength of Pump Up the Volume resides in its idea
that the youth are being denied their voice. The film’s distribution of illicit
material resonates strongly in Jason Bailey’s piece about the film, predicting
a media untethered by regulated gatekeeping. These kids are finding a way to be
heard. While their parents and teacher scratch their heads, all gaining
collective amnesia at the fact that Mark’s brash and juvenile discourse is the
exact sort of behaviour kids of that age gravitate to. Bailey is more
dismissive of the film’s self-importance. It’s an understandable criticism.
Teenage films like this are full of kids who are heavily burdened with
dissatisfaction so huge that they cannot look past their noses. However,
moments such as the inciting suicidal incident or the freak out from popular
student Paige raging against oblivious adults at a parental meeting still
resonate, due to their sincerity.
The film’s prophetic ending highlights how these teens, nay,
all of us, will soon be heard. In the film's final moments, Mark loudly advises
his fan base to “talk hard” and be heard. The climax has dozens of teens start
their own talk radio stations, unburdened by parental control or adult
regulation. It’s quaint to consider this now that everyone broadcasts
themselves. Pump up the Volume provides a sense of optimism with the idea that
everyone having a voice may point toward some harmony cutting through the
discourse. Be it podcasts, YouTube, or TikTok, our multimedia platforms have
allowed many to have the means to “talk hard”. Of course, what’s happened can
feel more like a jaded amalgamated victory for Oliver Stone’s Talk Radio.
Despite Pump Up the Volume's more optimistic tone, once everyone had the means
to do their own broadcasts in real life, they turned their media on themselves
and now get by on a wild mix of fear, consumerism and narcissism. Scarily, Pump
Up the Volume could have been talking about this decade in which its youth are
staring into the abyss. Living in a totally exhausted decade with little to
look forward to and nothing to look up to. However, as a now jaded parent, my
words should be taken with a pinch of salt. As an amusing aside, however, in
the 1990s, Hard Harry wanted his listeners to talk hard. Now in the year 2025,
the internet content subscription service OnlyFans holds over 3 million
creators and 220 million subscribers, all getting “hard” in a different way.
But perhaps Mark would be sleeping well knowing that they are all happily
indulging in his favourite pastime.
Despite its struggles with music rights in the past, Pump Up the Volume can be found on various streaming platforms.
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