High-school comedies became popular because the milieu was familiar to a large proportion of the film-going audience
But the best examples of the genre in the 1980s and 1990s satirized not only the constant battle of the sexes, but other elements in American life
The frequent struggles between jocks and nerds were a kind of microcosm of the class difference which is supposed not to exist in the United States
In "Election," one of the best examples of this popular genre, much of the humor is at the expense of the 'democratic' process
The film's guiding insight is that in practice democracy reduces to a popularity contest, in which dirty tricks are the norm
Tracy is a Nebraskan high-school blonde who is brilliant and hard-working
She is standing for election as student president
Played by Reese Witherspoon, Tracy is bright and intolerant, eaten up by ambition and her ruthless determination to win
She is regarded with disgust by a career teacher and student adviser, Jim McAllister, for her self-righteousness, and also for her role in the dismissal of his fellow teacher Dave after a sex scandal
Jim encourages student football star Paul to stand against Tracy
