"Last Words" - The Real Tuesday Weld

I spent the week at home trying to get better from a bug but today, I finally left the house and we decided to go catch "Nick and Nora's Infinite Playlist" and this song is one of our favorites from the movie's soundtrack. And I have to admit it, I do like the teen movie. I like it for its unbelievably informed hipness of the alternate music scene in its soundtrack. But more importantly, it had the appropriately sensitive leading guy who is perhaps, a little too awkward, a little too mature for his age, and a little to normal for his peers. And, of course, he doesn't quite fit. A telling line in the movie:

It's not that easy guys. You don't know what it's like to be straight. It's awful.
-Nick (played by Michael Cera)

It reminded me of when I used to teach teenagers in Singapore. So many students in the school were coping with some "alternative" or "edgy" image and attitude, which then begs the question of who or what is truly alternative or edgy? And what does it mean to be "different"? I think that was a lesson that I have yet to be able to impart.