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

of William and Russell.
At the outset of the movie, William is the pet son of his mother, who has drilled him into an English lover person. She has pushed him ahead in school, and he is a baby boy love love by his first year of highschool. Although mocked by his classmates for his appearance, they don’t seem to understand that he actually is two years younger than them.
A world outside his mothers’ direction appears to William when his sister moves out of the house and leaves behind her collection of Rock and Roll music. He becomes obsessed with Rock music, and aspires to become a journalist covering that field.
By his fifteenth year of life, William meets Lester Bangs, the editor of Creem magazine.

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

adulthood.
One of the band aids calls him Opie, a reference to the son in The Andy Griffith Show, for his soft face.

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

age fifteen, has little chance for credibility in the adult world, despite his natural talent.
At William’s earlier first meeting with Russell, Russell is seems to be drawn to William as a peer. When Still Water’s lead singer Jeff Bebe talks about his musical inspirations, the two make eye contact over what seems to be the fakeness of Bebe’s ideas. Later, when they are on the road, William and Russell converse, where Russell says he wants the band to look cool. He wants the private lives of band members to be kept secret from the public. This shows Russell’s immaturity, in that he wants a professional to subvert their integrity to preserve the illusions of his touring lifestyle. In the same conversation, Russell speaks of his responsibility and that he has outgrown the rest of the band.
Shortly thereafter, the band receives new T-shirts, and it happens that everyone but Russell's faces are out of focus on the embroidered image. In contrast to his earlier statements to William, Russell says that the band was started to get out of responsibility, and he denies that his ego is taking over the group’s imago. Also conversely to Russell’s statement about responsibility, he’ll put off a promised interview with William for the rest of the tour. He’s also inconsistent about his relationship with Penny Lane and, later, with his Ex-Wife Leslie. Russell’s childlike irresponsibility extends to the point that the band-aids have to iron his shirts,.
When the group storms out during the T-shirt conversation, Russell only calls out to William as a friend, as asks him to go find “something real” together. Russell winds up doing drugs while William looks after him.
William’s responsibility extends to the point that he takes on the role of advisor to the other characters. While they chase convoluted ideologies they half-believe, including Jeff Bebe’s “the buzz,” Russell’s “realness,” and Penny’s pursuit of Russell despite all sensibleness, William seems to have the most carefree outlook of the group. He’s there to get his story done, and to enjoy the moment. William’s infatuation with Penny doesn’t prevent him from living his life, whereas Russell, Penny, and others are led about by their momentary ideas and desires.
William is unphased by the major episodes of life, including losing his virginity in a foursome. At first not wanting to be distracted, he tell the band-aids, excluding Penny, that he has writing to get done. The next morning, when one band-aid tells him that “Greenville is so boring, in any other city you’d still be a virgin”, William seems unphased by the reminder. Instead of focusing on this adolescent milestone, only remembering that he’s never written a 4000 word story before. That same morning, he tries to set up an interview with Russell, who immediately tells him to go away. William sits and cries to the sound of Penny laughing, having sex with Russell, and she can be heard saying “hes just a cute little boy” through the door.
By the end of the film, it seems that William’s advanced maturity has had little payoff, as he doesn’t wind up with Penny. Rolling Stone initially rejects his essay due to Russell’s irrational double-cross, telling Rolling Stone’s fact finder that William fabricated the story. Thanks to Penny, however, Russell makes amends for his mistake, finally gives William the interview he had been trying to get from the outset, and the article appears on the cover of Rolling Stone. In this final act, Russell seals some maturity for himself.
William, though a child, conveyed far more maturity than Russell. It can be said that while Russell became a professional musician while looking to be a child forever, William came to this “circus” looking for the adulthood he already had. In the process, he helped both Penny and, most of all, Russell find themselves in the “adult” and “real” world that they dreaded and felt apart from.