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Teenage Girls in Film

A Level Media Studies. Teenage Girls in Film. Socrates.

dara-burke
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Teenage Girls in Film

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  1. A Level Media Studies Teenage Girls in Film

  2. Socrates • "Our youth now love luxury. They have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for their elders and love chatter in place of exercise; they no longer rise when elders enter the room; they contradict their parents, chatter before company; gobble up their food and tyrannize their teachers."

  3. Historical Context 1920s/1930s • Films about teenagers focused on adult fears of youth rather than discussing problems and issues teenagers had to face. • Moral codes of the time dictated that onscreen teens would be focused on • their families, schools, and friends, rarely displaying any adolescent angst over their sexual development, alcohol or drug use, or rebellious impulses. • Mickey Rooney – Andy Hardy films. 1940s/1950s • After WW2 teenagers became a distinct social group. • Producers realised this was the group to target if they wanted to make money. • Juvenile delinquency was the only teenage issue tackled. • EPHEBIPHOBIA (fear of teenagers) swept the country in the mid-1950s, in the midst of the appearance of rock 'n' roll music

  4. Historical Context • Many critics consider the post WW2 era as the advent of what is commonly referred to as the teen movie. • Post war films like The Wild One (1953) & Rebel Without A Cause (1955) were some of the first to represent a generation of angry teens with different values to those of their parents...known as Inter Generational Conflict! • The parents are usually represented as conservative, boring and submissive to the status quo. • Indeed, the transition between teenager and adult or the 'coming of age' has been a recurring theme of teen movies since the 50s.

  5. Rebel Without a Cause • Nicholas Ray, 1955 • James Dean • Spokesperson for an entire generation of teenagers. • Hayes Code meant restrictions • Up until this point teenagers had been seen as a problem to be solved • Dean as the ‘outsider’

  6. The Outsider • More recently The O.C. revisits this idea with Ryan Atwood playing the role of the kid from the wrong side of the tracks. • Inevitably the main protagonist will go through a painful journey of growth, which many teens can identify with. This can also be seen in films like Grease (1978) and Mean Girls (2004). • The importance of individuality and how issues of identity are reconciled with the dominant groups in school are a mainstay of this genre type. • (Stereotypical groups and stock characters would include nerds, school jocks, Class President, The Princess, Those destined for college, emo kids etc) • Often themes of love are dealt with as part of the resolution acting as a form of mythical rites of passage before adulthood.

  7. Carrie • An interesting comparative text and variation on a theme is Carrie (1978). • This is a revenge film in which the teen genre is combined with horror offering Carrie the opportunity to challenge the usual, 'new equilibrium' (Todorov) by reeking a terrible vengeance on her 'enemies.' • Also note that the film begins in an explicit and shocking manner by showing Carrie having a period in the shower, thereby challenging the male gaze whilst foregrounding the importance of transition. • The fact she discovers her 'monstrous powers' at the time of menstruation offers obvious links with feminism and this emerging movement in the 70s.

  8. The Breakfast Club - 1985 • 1980s – seminal decade for teenage film • This classic teen movie still resonates with contemporary audiences. • 5 typical teen movie characters – the princess, the athlete, the basket case, the criminal and the brain.

  9. Heathers - 1989 • Reflective representation – a spate of teen suicides in USA in 1986 and 1987 and Heathers is reflective of this. • A dark comedy about murder and suicide in a high school. • A new kind of teen movie – full of typical clichés but with a different view. • Instead of focusing on a teen who wants to be part of a clique, the teenager here desperately wants to get out of a clique.

  10. 1990s • Notable decade for teenagers • Kurt Cobain commits suicide • Columbine high school shootings take place • Filmmakers felt they had to be careful about the way they represented high school as teenagers are considered to be highly influential. • American Pie (1999) • A teen sex comedy that claimed to be a true representation of teenagers.

  11. 13 • 2003 • Catherine Hardwicke and Nikki Reid • Oscar nominated • Autobiographical film based on Reid’s life when she was 12/13. • Controversy due to issues such as underage sex, drugs and self-harm.

  12. Easy A • 2010 • Will Gluck • Teen romantic comedy • Influenced by The Scarlet Letter

  13. Homework • Complete an analysis of representation of teenage girls on a broadcast platform. • TV or film • Wednesday 10th November

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