Reality Bites captured the zeitgeist of the early 1990s grunge scene among young adults. I was about their age when this movie came out. I could relate to the philosophical musings and desire to make a difference but not knowing how to go about it in world where young people feel anonymous and disenfranchised and dealing with modern day issues. I saw it again on cable just the other day after decades not seeing it and the memories came flooding back. I think it held up pretty well and I know it has achieved some cult status.
In this study of Generation X manners, Lelaina Pierce (Winona Ryder), the valedictorian of her college class, camcords her friends in a mock documentary of posteducation life. Troy Dyer (Ethan Hawke) is her best friend, a perpetually unemployed musical slacker. Vickie Miner (Janeane Garofalo) is a manager at the Gap who worries about the results of an A.I.D.S. test, while Sammy Gray (Steve Zahn) has problems grappling with his sexuality. When Lelaina meets Michael Grates (Ben Stiller), an earnest video executive who takes her homemade video to his MTV-like station, she must decide what she values – the materialism of yuppie Michael or the philosophical musings of Troy.
I had a bit of a crush on the actress Winona Ryder and think this is my favourite role by her. Steve Zahn and Janeane Garofalo were solid and and Ben Stiller (who also directed) is good despite being an atypical role for him. The film received mixed reviews from critics and grossed $40.9 million worldwide against an $11.5 million budget. Critics highlighted the performances of Ryder, Hawke and Garofalo in particular.
The writer Helen Childress wrote and rewrote Reality Bites (70 drafts) 9 over the course of three decades. Ben Stiller signed on to direct it in 1992 and worked with Childress for nine to ten months developing the script. Childress and Stiller had a script that was ready to be filmed for TriStar Pictures, but the studio put it into turnaround. They received a phone call informing them that Winona Ryder had read the script, wanted to do it and that Universal Pictures had agreed to finance the film.
After completing several period pieces, Ryder was drawn to Reality Bites because she was looking “for something a little more contemporary because I really wanted to wear blue jeans for a change“. She read the script in one sitting and “found it very true to life.” She further speculated in an interview, “I think my character is very close to what I would probably have ended up as if I hadn’t become an actress“.
Ethan Hawke was at this point unhappy with the direction his career was taking. He recalled that his career was in a lull after the buzz from Dead Poets Society had faded. Winona Ryder was a fan of his work and stipulated in her contract that her involvement in this movie was dependent on Hawke starring opposite her. She chose Hawke after seeing him in A Midnight Clear (1992).
References:
1. Reality Bites – Wikipedia
2. Reality Bites – IMDB
“The more I live, the more I learn. The more I learn, the more I realize, the less I know.”- Michel Legrand
Observation Blogger 
Liked the movie…Ryder was something in those days!
Yes, she was pretty, pretty, pretty cute especially in that grunge household setting lol
She was something for sure! Somewhat of a rebel lol
I like Ethan and saw him in Boyhood only recently. I saw the movie a long time ago and I only caught snippets of it the other night. One of them is when the young boy enters the class on his first day, which you mentioned. I need to revisit it again. I liked Hawke in Gattaca as well. Of course if you like Hawke you will like Reality Bites although it’s a bit dated ie it’s a time capsule movie of the grunge early 90’s scene.