Teenage Film Analysis

The film Teenage is based upon the different youth subcultures that began to form and become acknowledged throughout the twentieth century. I believe this film does a good job of reflecting some of the key concepts we have discussed in lectures thus far. According to Epstein, the term alienation can be defined as the different ways in which a person can be estranged from society as a whole, or individual parts of a society such as peers (Epstein 4). Alienation in Teenage was created by the lack of trust between the generations. The youth felt that they had been betrayed by their elders because they promoted joining the war effort so heavily, and so many young men died overseas due to this representation. This caused a great deal of tension between the generations, leading to the adolescents feeling alienated.
Media played a critical role in shaping the youth culture leading up to the war. The media promoted war as the opportunity of a lifetime; getting young men to believe that it was going to be the most rewarding experience of their lives when it fact it was going to be horrendous. The media was able to change the views

Music acts to bring people together who normally would not have anything in common. One of the most popular subcultures created around World War II was that revolving around swing music and swing dancing. Swing is a commodity-oriented youth subculture (Stratton 194) that was very popular in a number of different countries, primarily around the second World War. Swing music was most popular in America, but quickly became popular in Germany as well, where it was seen as a sign of youth rebellion and subcultures that were not willing to conform to the norms of regular German culture, such as the Hitler Youth. Many of the German adolescents who listened to swing music were punished if caught listening to it or partaking in any other form of American-based