What Is Adolescence And The Journey To Youth?

“Movies are the best time capsules. They capture moments, they document scenes and trends, they feed our nostalgia for our own youth” (Lunn, 2015) . Film can accurately capture a feeling, emotion or movement from a particular moment in time. The reason it links so closely with youth is because people often want to recapture it. Adolescence and the journey to adulthood is a life changing experience. Hence, the years between childhood and becoming an adult are a prevailing theme in both American and British film from the 1950s to the 1990s. Perhaps this is why youth culture is the focus of so many iconic films; adolescence being a key part of a person’s life and an issue that we can all relate to. More specifically however is such films representation of class and the dichotomy between rich and poor.

This was particularly evident during the post war era when America had a large sense of

The economy was dramatically improving after the war and it brought with it success and dominance. The 1950s introduced the opportunity for teenagers to create their own identity within popular culture for the first time in history. The teenager became a significant voice in society and with it subcultures began to emerge. Class and the struggle for teenage identity therefore were commonly captured in film during this period. Cinema was suddenly inspired by youth and consequently reflected the attitudes, fashion, music and more importantly, their place in society. The basis of many of these subcultures however, was often dependent upon money and consequently the amount of money a person had often determined their identity. Even for teenagers from the working classes, the post war economy and the end of rationing presented youths with disposable income and opportunities to spend. This was signified in the rise of teenage popular culture in the form of music, fashion and film to name but a few.

It was a time of affluence,