Almost Famous, released in 2000, is a cult classic by Cameron Crowe. In a 2025 rewatch, there was something familiar in the vibe of the movie to the upcoming book, Hearts of Glass Living in the Real World. Why is this movie special and what do these two works have in common?
The Movie
The movie was not a box office hit, but it was critically acclaimed and those who saw it in the theater planted the seeds of the cult classic status it holds today.
It won two Golden Globe Awards, for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy, and Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture (Kate Hudson). In a 2016 international poll conducted by the BBC, Almost Famous was ranked the 79th greatest film since 2000.
It tells the story of a teenage journalist writing for Rolling Stone in the early 1970s, touring with the fictitious rock band Stillwater, and writing his first cover story on the band. Along the way he meets, befriends, and falls in love with “groupie” Penny Lane. Penny is also a teenager who is used by one of the bandmembers.
This young writer deals with an overprotective mother, sees and experiences life on the road with a band that is both beautiful and toxic, and has to balance between wanting to be liked and have journalistic ethics and make a stand regardless the costs.
It is about rock and roll, journalism, coming of age, corporate greed, the cost of fame, toxic relationships, and even family. It will move you, anger you, and make you love music again despite the mess it is in as an industry.
But there was something that felt familiar in young journalist William Miller (Patrick Fugit), Penny Lane (Kate Hudson), Russel’s mother (Frances McDormand) and how the rest of the characters and events felt.
Then I learned what it was that felt familiar.
The Parallels Felt!
This was a semiautobiographical story by Cameron Crowe from his own time writing for Rolling Stone Magazine as a teenager.
The fictional band Stillwater, Penny Lane, and even the overprotective mother contained a truth that is found in semi autobiographical fiction that just feels different. Cameron Crowe bleeds into the story because he is bleeding into the story.
The Music Matters
It is not unusual for a movie to have an amazing soundtrack that speaks to a generation. For Gen X, John Hughes knew in movies like The Breakfast Club how important music was to a story. But in Almost Famous, these are the songs and the artists that were part of Cameron Crowe’s personal coming of age and discovery of the wonder of music. When you combine those songs with the lived moments connected to, it lands differently to the heart.
In Hearts of Glass Living in the Real World, the music matters. There are 33 songs referenced. Each and every song connect in some ways to the people and events the story told in the novel are based on. Like Crowe, it is my personal journey of music and that makes it vibe differently. It is more personal when it is your story and their story and not just a story.
Teens With Depth In Fantastic Circumstances
A teen writing for Rolling Stone while on tour with a band or a teen model and talented photographer in seemingly fantastic circumstances are portrayed differently when they are based on things that happened. Boomers and Xer teens lived in a different reality than other teenager generations did. Joan Jett was on a world tour with her band, The Runaways, as a teenager in the 1970’s, Cameron Crowe wrote for Rolling Stone as a teen in the same decade. And the experiences I had that are written about through the character Ford Callahan were more possible.
In some ways I feel that Gen Y, Z and Alpha have been robbed of opportunities like we had, but at the same time, we had unique hazards and dangers in these experiences.
Then there is the portrayal of the teenagers. Universally for teens of all generation is that our adolescence was not as formulaic as Ferris, 16 Candles, Pretty in Pink, and others. There is a level of depth that is missing from these movies in the portrayals of teens that is captured so much better by Crowe though the characters William and Penny.
As teenagers we were more. They are more. There is a depth in our experiences that is lost in so many stories. Part of coming of age is having emotional depth in a complex world where you are not treated equally and have to fight to be heard and to be respected.
I have never been to a killer house party in Shermer Illinois with 100 teens and red solo cups and an in ground pool while figuring shit out. But I see William and Penny as they are so much more and struggling to be themselves while being dismissed and hurt. That feels real. And that is the teen portrayal written about in Hearts of Glass. Readers of Gen X Watch know that me, Cassie, Jenny, Heather and others were teenagers while we lived what we lived through.
The readers relate to what feels real and when it is based on truth, there is truth in the story that shines through.
The Audience for Truth in Fiction
Almost Famous was not a box office smash in the short term, but it was a cult classic. The people who saw it, loved it, wrote about it, and celebrated it were the audiences that crave stories that have truth to them. Many of you reading this are the driving force of our readership that made Fem Friday Features a hit that brought the book series to life by popular demand!
You are the right audience for the Hearts of Glass series. You understand depth, truth, music, and the beauty that is found in the middle of the mess.
Someone like you is also the right audience for Almost Famous. You should see it again or for the very first time. It’s real and really beautiful It’s also messy just like life and us.
The Difference Between the Works
There are a lot of differences between his movie and my book. But you can be the difference.
Hearts of Glass not have the backing of a major studio to give us millions to tell our story. But I have something Cameron Crowe does not…you!
You can help get this book out there. In the Indiegogo you can even be in the expanded universe and a character in two books. Your money, shares, and partnership can make it possible for ASL translators at events, accessibility for all attendees, and get free copies in the hands of teens and young adults in shelters and community centers. Teens like we were. Complex beautiful people who need to be heard and in impossible circumstances. With the right attention, they will survive and overcome and might tell stories that will be inspirational cult classics.
You can be a part of that with me!
To check out the Indiegogo and get involved, click the link below:
https://igg.me/at/heartsofglass/x/38415051#
You can also let people know about the indiegogo or learn about the book at our new page on the website:
Stay totally awesome!
Stay true to you!
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