Almost Famous: The Adolescence Dynamic Of William And Russell

Almost Famous: The Adolescence Dynamic of William and Russell
The movie Almost Famous was a lighthearted, coming-of-age drama released in the year 2000. It was nominated for four academy awards and four golden globes, and won one and two respectively. Almost Famous is a period piece of the 1970s which follows a young journalist, and his adventures with a fictional band, and the groupies that follow them.
As the movie is a coming of age story, essential to the plot is the adolescence of the main character, William Miller, and the childlike behaviour of the band’s lead guitarist, Russell Hammond. What follows in this analysis is a consideration of how and when William was and wasn’t perceived as a child by adults in his company, and the maturity

Lester sees William as a child, and at first impression aloof to his presence, but soon takes on a mentor role and gives William his first job. He correctly predicts that William’s “honest face” will lead to his being a targeted by people trying to use him, as well as leading to a glut of the unsought confidences of other people. The assignment from Lester, a 1000 word essay on Black Sabbath, leads William to an arena where he fatefully meets the band Still Water, instead of his intended target. Along the way, he meets Penny Lane and several other “band aides,” who will be instrumental in William’s development as into young

Penny Lane realises William is not eighteen years old, but seems to want to be in his company as a peer. Penny is perhaps William’s first infatuation, his eyes widening at their first encounter and is obviously smitten at first sight, and not much later jumps at her mere presence. Not only is this awkwardness present alongside Penny Lane, but occurs with other members of the group hanging around Still Water, such as when Sapphire kisses him on the cheek and he innocently and vacantly smiles back, as well as his saying goodbye to everyone in leaving the arena at the end of the night. Still, Penny seems unphased by William’s childishness, and his attempts to “play cool” around her. She quickly lets him in on her fantasy to visit Morocco, and offers to hang out with him at any time.
Not long after this, William is invited to write a 3000 page essay for Rolling Stone magazine, which is wholly enabled by his contact with Still Water, which in turn is enabled by his acquaintance to Penny Lane. When speaking to Rolling Stone editor Ben Fong-Torres, William puts on a deeper “adult” voice to deceive the editor, and tries to feign his status as an English major, until his mom inadvertently rescues him by asking to fix the garbage disposal. Ben thinks this is William’s wife, and allows the conversation to end. Thus we see William, though practically being a high school graduate at