‘Excellent’ Education
An endlessly quotable comedic touchstone of the early 1990s, Wayne’s World can still hold a great amount of appeal for today’s junior secondary students. LOUISE LAVERY explores ways in which the film can be used as a Media text, both as a means of teaching filmmaking techniques and as a tool for assisting students in their own creative practices.
The year 1992 was a heady time to be growing up in Australia. The High Court passed judgement on the Mabo case, which paved the way for the introduction of the Native Title Act in Australia the following year. Paul Keating was helping us manage the ‘recession we had to have’. The goods and services tax was shaping up to be introduced to the Australian public. And, in cinemas all around the country, Australian teenagers were introduced to Wayne’s World (Penelope Spheeris, 1992). What a time to be alive.
The madcap antics of Wayne (Mike Myers) and Garth (Dana Carvey), metalheads from Aurora, Illinois, captivated audiences, and quotes from the film quickly worked their way into the vernacular of Australian teenagers. The quirks of the lead characters, particularly Garth, have become so ingrained in our cultural lexicon that they’ve almost become a conversational shortcut: ‘if you’re gonna spew, spew into this’, ‘I’d like to get by now’ and ‘it will be mine, oh yes, it will be mine’ are great social levellers
