Reality Bites
Reality Bites theatrical poster
Directed by	Ben Stiller
Produced by	Jersey Films
Written by	Helen Childress
Starring	Winona Ryder Ben Stiller Ethan Hawke Janeane Garofalo Steve Zahn
Music by	Karyn Rachtman
Cinematography	Emmanuel Lubezki
Editing by	Lisa Zeno Churgin John Spence
Distributed by	Universal Pictures
Release date(s)	February 18, 1994 (USA)
Running time	99 min.
Language	English
Official website
All Movie Guide profile
IMDb profile

Reality Bites is a 1994 film written by Helen Childress and featuring the directorial debut of Ben Stiller. It stars Stiller, Winona Ryder, and Ethan Hawke, with major supporting roles played by Janeane Garofalo and Steve Zahn. The film was shot on location in Austin, and Houston, Texas. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Benjamin Edward Stiller (born November 30, 1965) is an Emmy-winning American comedian, actor, film producer and director. ... Winona Ryder (born October 29, 1971) is a two-time Academy Award-nominated and Golden Globe-winning American actress. ... Benjamin Edward Stiller (born November 30, 1965) is an Emmy-winning American comedian, actor, film producer and director. ... Ethan Green Hawke (born November 6, 1970) is an Academy Award-nominated American actor, writer and film director. ... Janeane Garofalo (born September 28, 1964 in Newton, New Jersey), is an American stand-up comedian, actress, political activist, writer and former co-host on Air America Radios The Majority Report. ... Steven James Zahn (born November 13, 1967) is an American comedian and actor of both film and stage. ... Emmanuel Lubezki is a Mexican cinematographer born in 1964. ... Universal Studios (sometimes called Universal Pictures or Universal City Studios), a subsidiary of NBC Universal, is one of the major American film studios that has production studios and offices located at 100 Universal City Plaza Drive in Universal City, California, an unincorporated area of Los Angeles County between Los Angeles... February 18 is the 49th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... // November 1 - George Lucas leaves the day-to-day operations of his filmmaking business and starts a sabbatical (while on sabbatical, he wrote the prequel Star Wars trilogy). ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... // November 1 - George Lucas leaves the day-to-day operations of his filmmaking business and starts a sabbatical (while on sabbatical, he wrote the prequel Star Wars trilogy). ... Benjamin Edward Stiller (born November 30, 1965) is an Emmy-winning American comedian, actor, film producer and director. ... Winona Ryder (born October 29, 1971) is a two-time Academy Award-nominated and Golden Globe-winning American actress. ... Ethan Green Hawke (born November 6, 1970) is an Academy Award-nominated American actor, writer and film director. ... Janeane Garofalo (born September 28, 1964 in Newton, New Jersey), is an American stand-up comedian, actress, political activist, writer and former co-host on Air America Radios The Majority Report. ... Steven James Zahn (born November 13, 1967) is an American comedian and actor of both film and stage. ...

The plot is centred on Lelaina (Ryder), an aspiring videographer working on a documentary called Reality Bites about the disenfranchised lives of her friends and roommates (Hawke, Garofalo, and Zahn), and to a certain degree, about Lelaina herself. Their challenges, both documented and not, exemplify some of the career and lifestyle choices faced by Generation X. Videography refers to the process of capturing moving images on electronic media (e. ... Documentary film is a broad category of visual expression that is based on the attempt, in one fashion or another, to document reality. ... ‹ The template below (Generations) is being considered for deletion. ...

Plot

Long-time friend, temporary roommate and angry starving artist Troy Dyer (Ethan Hawke and based on an actual schoolmate of screenwriter Helen Childress) and his love interest, Lelaina Pierce (Winona Ryder) are attracted to each other, though it's an attraction that neither of them has really acted upon as the film begins, one alcohol-influenced event in the past notwithstanding. He's a slacker and nihilist grunge rock musician by night, while losing job after job in a series of minimum wage dead end endeavors during the day - the last of which he loses early in the film because of stealing a candy bar from his employer. Troy's father, who is never seen onscreen, is dying of prostate cancer; this prompts Troy to remain close with his father when he can. Grunge music (sometimes also referred to as the Seattle Sound) is an independent-rooted music genre that was inspired by hardcore punk, thrash metal, and alternative rock. ...

Lelaina meets Michael (Ben Stiller) in what filmmakers call a meet cute scene: in an act of derision, she throws a cigarette into his convertible, causing him to crash into her car. The two soon begin to date. He works at an MTV-like cable channel as an executive, and after learning about her documentary, he wants to get it aired on his network. In the genre of romantic comedy film, a Meet Cute is the encounter of two potential romantic partners in unusual circumstances, a comic situation contrived by the filmmakers entirely in order to bring them together. ... Saab 900 Convertible 1962 Rambler American Convertible can also refer to a convertible (security) A convertible (sometimes called cabriolet in British English) is a car body style with a folding or retracting roof (aka soft top or top in USA, hood in UK). ... MTV (Music Television) is an American cable television network based in New York City. ...

The film follows Lelaina as she struggles with her career and is forced to figure out whether it is Michael or Troy she wants.

Lelaina's roommate Vickie (Janeane Garofalo) has a series of one-night stands and short relationships with dozens of guys, motivated by a fear of being alone compounded by a fear of rejection; her promiscuity leads her to confront a very-real risk of contracting AIDS. Vickie works as a sales associate for the The Gap, a job she was initially reluctant to take. She was promoted to assistant manager and found that she had a talent for management. Look up one-night stand in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS or Aids) is a collection of symptoms and infections resulting from the specific damage to the immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). ... Gap Inc. ...

Friend Sammy (Steve Zahn) is gay; he remains celibate, not because of a fear of AIDS, but because forming a relationship would force him to come out to his conservative Republican parents. The Republican Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States of America, along with the Democratic Party. ...

The cast also includes Swoosie Kurtz and Joe Don Baker as Lelaina's divorced parents, and John Mahoney as a loathsome boss she quickly learns to despise. The film includes cameo appearances from Renée Zellweger, Harry O'Reilly, Andy Dick, David Spade, Jeanne Tripplehorn, Dave Pirner, and Stiller's mother Anne Meara. Swoosie Kurtz (born September 6, 1944) is an American actress. ... Joe Don Baker (born February 12, 1936) is an American film actor perhaps best known for his role as sheriff Buford Pusser in the American film classic Walking Tall. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Martin Scorsese appears briefly in an uncredited role in this scene from his feature film Taxi Driver. ... Renée Kathleen Zellweger (born April 25, 1969) is an Academy Award-winning American-Norwegian film actress. ... Andrew Dick[1] (born December 21, 1965) is an American comedian, actor, and voice artist best known for his roles on the sitcoms NewsRadio, The Andy Dick Show and Less Than Perfect and provided voiceovers in The Lion King II: Simbas Pride, Hoodwinked!, and Happily NEver After. ... David Wayne Spade (born July 22, 1964) is an Emmy-Award and Golden Globe-nominated American actor, comedian, television personality who gained fame in the 1990s as a castmember on Saturday Night Live. ... Tripplehorn 1990s Jeanne Tripplehorn (born June 10, 1963) is an American film actress. ... David Pirner is the lead vocalist for the band Soul Asylum. ... Anne Meara (born September 20, 1929) is an American comedian and actress. ...

Reality Bites is set in Houston, Texas (where the screenwriter's high school is located). Nickname: Location in the state of Texas Coordinates: Country United States State Texas Counties Harris County Fort Bend County Montgomery County Incorporated June 5, 1837 Government  - Mayor Bill White Area  - City  601. ... High School for the Performing and Visual Arts The High School for the Performing and Visual Arts (HSPVA for short) is a secondary school located at 4001 Stanford Street in the Montrose district of Houston, Texas. ...

Soundtrack

The film's soundtrack includes songs by World Party, Squeeze, The Knack ("My Sharona" featured prominently in one scene from the film), Juliana Hatfield, Social Distortion, and two contributions from Crowded House ("Locked Out" & "Something So Strong") in addition to the runaway hit "Stay (I Missed You)" by Lisa Loeb, which earned Loeb the distinction of being the only artist to top the Hot 100 before being signed to any record label. It also includes "Conjunction Junction" from Schoolhouse Rock!, another song brought into the foreground of a film full of pop culture references. // In film formats, the sound track is the physical area of the film which records the synchronized sound. ... World Party is a successful British pop/rock band, which is essentially the solo project of its multi-talented only member, Karl Wallinger. ... Squeeze are an English rock music band that came to prominence in the New Wave period of the late 1970s. ... Original UK 45 rpm single picture cover The Knack - My Sharona The Knack are a Los Angeles-based rock band that rose to fame with their first single, My Sharona, an international hit in 1979 (see 1979 in music). ... My Sharona is a 1979 song which was the debut single by and international hit for The Knack. ... Juliana Hatfield, c. ... Social Distortion (sometimes referred to as simply Social D) are an influential punk rock band formed in 1978 by frontman Mike Ness. ... Crowded House is a rock group formed in Melbourne, Australia, and led by New Zealand musician and singer-songwriter Neil Finn. ... Stay (I Missed You) was a breakthrough 1994 song for singer Lisa Loeb. ... Lisa Anne Loeb (born 11 March 1968) is an American singer-songwriter and reality television star. ... Schoolhouse Rock! is a series of forty-six educational short films featuring songs about schoolhouse topics, including grammar, science, economics, history, mathematics, and politics. ... Popular culture, or pop culture, is the vernacular (peoples) culture that prevails in a modern society. ...

Track listing

1. "My Sharona" - The Knack
2. "Spin The Bottle" - Juliana Hatfield Three
3. "Bed Of Roses" - The Indians
4. "When You Come Back To Me" - World Party
5. "Going, Going, Gone" - The Posies
6. "Stay" - Lisa Loeb & Nine Stories
7. "All I Want Is You" - U2
8. "Locked Out" - Crowded House
9. "Spinning Around Over" - Lenny Kravitz
10. "I'm Nuthin'" - Ethan Hawke
11. "Turnip Farm" - Dinosaur Jr.
12. "Revival" - Me Phi Me
13. "Tempted" - Squeeze
14. "Baby I Love Your Way" - Big Mountain

My Sharona is a 1979 song which was the debut single by and international hit for The Knack. ... Original UK 45 rpm single picture cover The Knack - My Sharona The Knack are a Los Angeles-based rock band that rose to fame with their first single, My Sharona, an international hit in 1979 (see 1979 in music). ... Juliana Hatfield, c. ... World Party is a successful British pop/rock band, which is essentially the solo project of its multi-talented only member, Karl Wallinger. ... -1... Stay (I Missed You) was a breakthrough 1994 song for singer Lisa Loeb. ... Lisa Anne Loeb (born 11 March 1968) is an American singer-songwriter and reality television star. ... All I Want Is You is the 17th song on U2s 1988 album, Rattle And Hum and was released in 1989 as the albums fourth and final single. ... U2 are a rock band from Dublin, Ireland. ... Crowded House is a rock group formed in Melbourne, Australia, and led by New Zealand musician and singer-songwriter Neil Finn. ... Leonard Albert Lenny Kravitz (born May 26, 1964) is an American Grammy Award-winning singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, producer, and arranger whose retro style incorporates elements of rock, soul, funk, reggae, hard rock, psychedelic, folk, and ballads. ... Ethan Green Hawke (born November 6, 1970) is an Academy Award-nominated American actor, writer and film director. ... Turnip Farm is a song by the alternative rock band Dinosaur Jr. ... Dinosaur Jr is an American indie rock band. ... Me Phi Me (born La-Ron K. Wilburn, December 8) is a multi-platinum selling rapper from Flint, Michigan. ... Tempted was the second single released from Squeezes fourth album, East Side Story. ... Squeeze are an English rock music band that came to prominence in the New Wave period of the late 1970s. ... Big Mountain are an American Reggae band, most famous for the song Baby I Love Your Way. Their Pop-Reggae Style has earned them the label The American UB40. Categories: Musical group stubs | Reggae musical groups ...

In popular culture

The film's title was spoofed in The Simpsons episode, "Realty Bites" and Charmed episode "Morality Bites". Simpsons redirects here. ... Realty Bites is the ninth episode of the ninth season of The Simpsons. ... Charmed is an American television series that ran for eight seasons on The WB. It was produced by Aaron Spelling and is about three sisters who are the worlds most powerful good witches, known throughout the supernatural community as The Charmed Ones but known to everyone else as the... Morality Bites is an episode of The WB drama series, Charmed. ...

See also

• The term irony
• Singles and Slacker, two slightly earlier films with similar themes and less of a Hollywood treatment
• S.F.W. (1994)
• Austin Stories

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:

Reality Bites

Irony is a literary or rhetorical device, in which there is a gap or incongruity between what a speaker or a writer says and what is generally understood (either at the time, or in the later context of history). ... Singles (1992) is a film written and directed by Cameron Crowe. ... Slacker (1991) is an influential American independent film directed by Richard Linklater. ... The Big Ten refers to the ten major film production studios. ... S.F.W. (or So Fucking What) is a 1994 film, directed by Jefery Levy. ... Year 1994 (MCMXCIV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display full 1994 Gregorian calendar). ... Austin Stories was MTVs first ever prime time situation comedy, which debuted September 10, 1997, to widespread critical and ratings success. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Wikiquote is a sister project of Wikipedia, using the same MediaWiki software. ...

External link

• Reality Bites at the Internet Movie Database
• Official Site