Films and TV shows that feel like Self Esteem by The Offspring
A wry, self-lacerating confession of being a doormat in a toxic relationship, delivered with catchy slacker bitterness and resigned humour.
- Clerks (1994): Same year, same slacker gallows humour and dead-end self-deprecation.
- High Fidelity (2000): A man wallows in romantic failure and knows it, with music as his therapy.
- Empire Records (1995): Mid-90s alt-rock soundtrack energy with aimless, scrappy young adults.
- Dazed and Confused (1993): Restless suburban youth drifting through nights with loud guitars.
- Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010): Pining, insecure slacker caught in messy relationship baggage, played for laughs.
- Freaks and Geeks (1999): Awkward teens with low self-esteem and painfully relatable romantic humiliation.
- My So-Called Life (1994): 90s adolescent insecurity and crushes that sting, in the same year.
- Love (2016): Two flawed people in a messy, self-sabotaging relationship told with bitter comedy.
