Compare and Contrast: Coming of Age Films The timeless Coming-of-Age tale is often a triumphant one in which the kid breaks free of the fallacious adults, but are they really so one dimensional? Do kids really represent truth and the adults fallacy? How does the audience perceive the power struggle? What part does the older generation play in this genre besides a stock villain? What can these characters tell the audience about the ideals of their own generations? Although seemingly at odds with each other, the adults and youth in coming-of-age films are similar to each other and can represent two sides of the viewers themselves. Although the adults and the kids both feel their point of view is the correct one, neither are very well thought
Although Valenti and the Rating System's advocates claim that parents should have the final choice in what their children view, the system may, in practice, obstruct that purpose for parents who decide that their children should see some films. For films with the controversial NC-17 rating, the theatre is prevented from letting young John Small and his under-aged ilk from seeing a film despite his parents' permission. In fact, had John actually been accompanied by his parents, the theatre would have had every right -- some would even say responsibility -- to refuse his admission. The printing of the NC-17 rating often does not read -- as would be reasonable -- "Intended for Adults Only" but rather the more rigid "Not to be Attended by Children Under Seventeen.
David Denby thoroughly explains the distinction between the reality of high school life to what is portrayed in movies in the article, “High-School Confidential: Notes on Teen Movies.” He argues that many of these movies are extremely predictable and all have the same story line. Denby gives numerous examples of the cliché teen movie, which entails the skinny, blonde popular girl and her jock boyfriend who, let’s face it, has his shining moments in life, in high school. Denby’s main objective throughout this article is to distinguish whether these films reflect reality, or just what we imagine to be reality. He also touches on the other side of the social spectrum which usually consists of a quiet, female outsider who is known to be smart and
to keep up, this is very funny and you want to find out what will
When talking about the American Dream there are many different viewpoints. One may think about billionaires on Wall Street, professional football players, Successful drug dealers, and even Immigrants who simply score a consistent job that’s enough to feed their family. Any way you put it, the American dream is centered on money, social status and stability. In the particular scene titled “I'm Broke Baby” of Charles Stone III’s biographical African-American coming of age movie Paid in Full (2002), the scene perfectly depicts three different levels of affluence enroute to the American Dream from the perspective and viewpoint of those in the midst of the ‘80’s drug scene. First, the hood rich hustler, Mitch, who strives for a materialistic, flashy
molding the minds of young viewers and showing them that the way a certain group of people
In “High-School Confidential: Notes on Teen Movies” David Denby criticizes movies portraying high school. He writes “The most commercial and frivolous of genres harbor a grievance against the world” (426). In many movies starting in the early 90’s you began to see an extreme amount of disrespect to adults from teenagers. High school movies are filled with unruly
... time retain one outstanding quality---they are empowering, first in how much power they give to the youth of that time. These are films for them and about them. They reflect their everyday experiences or those they long to have, with the best films knowing exactly what their young audiences want to see on screen and never judging them for it because the mistakes, struggles, and imperfections of young adulthood are timeless too. Second, coming-of-age films also give so much back to young audiences and empower them. These films’ characters have taught audiences what to do, how to feel, and essentially given them the tools by which to navigate the transition from childhood to adulthood and how to make it as painless as possible. As ‘coming-of-age’ changes or stays the same in meaning over time, youth culture, as a genre and subject, will remain a necessity in film.
I chose to analyze Despicable Me, an animated film geared towards a younger audience, because I was interested in examining underlying theories and messages that this film would be relaying to its viewers. Often times, when watching animated films, children are not aware of these messages, as they are absorbed by the characters, special effects, and humor. But as we have learned throughout this semester, our brains are subconsciously primed by the various surroundings we are exposed to. Since we also studied the impacts of entertainment, such as television and video games, on children, I wanted to see how a popular children’s film might also affect them.
Presently, Disney known for its mass media entertainment and amusement parks technically bring warm feelings to many children and some adults. Personally, Disney elicits magical fantasies that children enjoy and further encourages imagination and creativity. For decades Disney has exist as an unavoidable entity with its famous global sensation and reach. Furthermore, Disney is a multibillion dollar empire with an unlimited grasp on individuals and territories. An empire per se, since they own many media outlets, markets, shops, etc., you name it they got it. However, the film Mickey Mouse Monopoly presents an entirely new perspective on the presumed innocence projected in Disney films. This film exposes certain traits Disney employs and exclusively portrays through its media productions, specifically cartoons for directing and nurturing influence beginning with children. Mickey Mouse Monopoly points out camouflaged messages of class, race, and gender issues in Disney films that occur behind the scenes intended to sway viewers towards adopting Disney values.
‘Lad flicks’ or ‘lad movies’ is a type of film genre that emerged in the late 1990s. They are defined as a “‘hybrid of “buddy movies”, romantic comedies and “chick flicks”, which centre on the trials and tribulations of a young man as he grows up to become a ‘real man’. ‘Lad flicks’ respond in part to the much-debated ‘crisis in masculinity’” (Benjamin A. Brabon 116). This genre of film explored what it meant to be a ‘real man’ in the twentieth century and in order to do so, they would have to grow up and leave their juvenile ways behind to enter the heterosexual world. Gender relations in ‘lad flicks’ portray masculinity as a troubled, anxious cultural category hiding behind a humorous façade and also rely greatly on a knowing gaze and irony. The two ‘lad flicks’ that will be analyzed are The 40-Year-Old Virgin (Judd Apatow 2005) and Role Models (David Wain 2008).
While there are some examples of movies portraying aging in a positive light, more often movies and the media portray aging as negative. The movie ‘The Intern’ is an example of this. In the movie a company creates an intern position for a senior citizen, which they hope will assist with their company image. The company hires a 70-year-old male. There are many negative stereotypes and points where aging is viewed negatively within the movie, including the technology gap, where the intern cannot use emails or create a facebook account, the intern carries an old 70s style briefcase
Going to the movies is an experience that everyone can enjoy, and while most people have an idea of what genre of movie they are partial to, there are some movies that will appeal to almost any crowd. I recently took my two nieces, ages ten and thirteen, to see the 2014 musical Into the Woods, and in the audience there was a large group of teenagers, a couple families that had brought their preteen and teenage children, and even some adults that had gone to see it for their own enjoyment. There are numerous aspects of a movie that can catch a person’s attention, and the film producers of Into the Woods knew exactly how to draw in the desired crowd. In order to do this, the filmmakers used both ethos and pathos to appeal to their intended preteen, teenage, and adult audiences.
of influence in both the characters and gender roles of people in our society. The films have brought about the shaping of morals, behaviors and characters of not only children, but also adults in todays society, through engaging them in a constant series of unthinking consumption. In addition, most of the films in Disney bring out many different gender roles and people who grew up watching them have been influenced greatly by the content in the films (Blum 13). This paper will involve the various roles played by the characters in the films and how their roles have influenced the society at large.
Even though the production of Disney’s film The Frog Princess is a huge step forward to show the equality of all culturals and ethnicities, it just shows that racial components which were once overlooked by most parents and children are now a wide spread controversy. Giroux thoroughly explains the effect Disney films has on the youth, “Rather, it points to the need to address in meaningful and rigorous ways the role of fantasy, desire, and innocence in securing particular ideological interests, legitimating specific social relations, and providing the content of public memory” (Giroux 132).
Children's films tend to be didactic in the sense that they teach children, as well as adults, life lessons. JK Rowling's Harry Potter film series can be viewed as coming of age films as the characters grow from their mistakes. Most coming of age films are seen differently by adults and children; the moral changes as you get older. The Harry Potter film series utilizes fantasy to communicate multiple messages to its viewers. The characters of Harry, Ron, and Hermione are used to get messages across because they are easier to relate to. In Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, these characters begin to learn about the importance of love, friendship, courage, principles, and determination which help them grow into mature adults.