Youth and their issues have been seen in movies for an eternity. When issues arise, socially, economically, or culturally, the youth of the time in which they take place are the ones that are expected to be able to make a change and ultimately fix them. Throughout history, the pressures on teens have been seen greatly, from the Great Depression era of the 1930s, the violence and rebellious actions of them in the 1950s, and the changing of culture that they were expected to come a custom to in the 1980s. The three movies that I chose that I believe shows how youth has evolved and depicts youth in the time period that the films took place, as well as the pressures that they faced were: Wild Boys on the Road, Rebel Without a Cause, and The Breakfast …show more content…
Tommy’s injuries are very serious and his leg has to be amputated. After Tommy’s accident, the children decide to create their own “community” that becomes known as the “Sewer Pipe City.” During the depression, the emergence of homelessness was seen in big cities and as well as the areas outside of the cities where people created make-shift housing. Some of the kids within the community set up their own businesses. Two African American boys created “Black Jack laundry.” The boys charged pieces of food in exchange for clean laundry. When police got word that “Sewer Pipe City” was as populated as it was, they had no choice, but to kick the children …show more content…
Eddie thought that he had finally got a break when he was given an opportunity for a job, but there was a problem, he needed a specific uniform in order to get the job. Sally, Tommy, and Eddie decided that they needed to do whatever they could to get the money for Eddie so that he could get the job and make money for the three of them. While panhandling, Eddie was approached by two men who said that they would give him five dollars if he delivered a note to a woman working the ticket booth in the movie theater. Eddie agreed, hoping that it would be enough money to pay for the uniform. What he didn’t know was that the note was the men’s way of trying to rob the theater. Eddie runs when the woman screams, but is caught by the cops. Tommy and Sally tried defending him and were brought down to the police station as well. The trick that the men played on Eddie showed that during this time crime was a huge factor in society in order to have enough or some money to live off
Poor Kids is a documentary that highlights a major issue the United States is suffering from. This issue is known as poverty, more specifically, childhood poverty. This documentary views the world through the eyes of children that are subjected to lives of poverty due to the poor financial state that their parents are in. Life is very rough for these children and they must live their everyday lives with little to none of the luxuries most people take for granted. Poor Kids sheds light on the painful fact that there are children that starve every day in the United States.
The film that interested me for this assignment was “Boyz n the Hood”. The movie was about a Los Angeles neighborhood expanding of drug and gang culture, with increasingly tragic results. It was about how one teen had family support to guide him on the right path in life regarding the social problems around him. The other two teens in the film wasn’t as fortunate and fell into the social problems of drugs, violence, and gangs; where one ended up dead.
This film contains some classic examples of the kinds of real life issues adolescents deal with. Issues such as popularity, peer relationships, family/sibling relationships, sex, and struggles with identity are all addressed in this ninety-minute film.
Generations of kids have now grown up with John Hughes's teen movies, and they continue to speak to teenagers. John Hughes was able to create realistic teen dialogue in his movies, but more importantly, he was able to capture real teen dilemmas. It's no wonder that his films could transcend individual generational experiences.
Most popular movies are known for being very uneducational to teenager’s behavior. People think that just because a movie is popular, it can not be educational; however, the movies “42” and “Finding Nemo” are known for being popular and educational. “Finding Nemo” is popular because of its Disney animations and its underwater talking animals. It is educating because of how Marlin never gave up and how he did and did not trust some of the friends he made along the way. “42” is also popular because of how it is a sports movie that appeals to people who play or are into sports. “42” is also very educating to a teenagers character because it shows how bad racism is and how dreams can come true.
The movie The Breakfast Club is a perfect example of peer relationships in the adolescent society. It shows the viewer some of the main stereotypes of students in high school you have a jock, a nerd, the weirdo, a rebel, and a prep. Over the course of a Saturday detention the different types of peers learn a lot about one another by hearing what each one has done to get into Saturday detention as well as why they chose to do it.
What do Marlon Brando, James Dean and Henry Winkler all have in common? Well, besides the fact that they are all from the 50’s, they have all portrayed characters that epitomized the American teenager’s rebellion. At one point in time, teens in the United States drew inspiration from these actors to figuratively say “Screw You Mom and Dad.” These men undoubtedly changed the youth culture in America. Further along in time, we watched “hippie” teen’s rebel against their conformists’ parents in the 60’s and “Grunge head”, Nirvana-listeners sneak out of the house to go do illicit narcotics in the 90’s. One must admit that there is something quite perplexing about this sweet American air, that makes teens disobey their parents. While the American teenage rebellion is a natural part of maturity and is an accepted cultural “norm”, there is a lesser acknowledged insurgence.
The film being analysed is the Breakfast Club, directed by John Hughes. Trapped in Saturday detention are 5 stereotyped teens. Claire, the princess, Andrew, the jock, John, the criminal, Brian, the brain, and Allison, the basket case. At 7 am, they had nothing to say, but by 4 pm; they had uncovered everything to each other. The students bond together when faced with the their principal, and realise that they have more in common than they think, including a hatred for adult society. They begin to see each other as equal people and even though they were stereotyped they would always be The Breakfast Club. The Breakfast Club highlights a variety of pressures that are placed upon teenagers through out high school. One of the most challenging aspects of screenwriting is creating characters that an audience can identify with, relate to, and be entertained by.
Within the German Democratic Republic, there was a secret police force known as the Stasi, which was responsible for state surveillance, attempting to permeate every facet of life. Agents within and informants tied to the Stasi were both feared and hated, as there was no true semblance of privacy for most citizens. Directed by Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, the movie The Lives of Others follows one particular Stasi agent as he carries out his mission to spy on a well-known writer and his lover. As the film progresses, the audience is able to see the moral transformation of Stasi Captain Hauptmann Gerd Wiesler primarily through the director 's use of the script, colors and lighting, and music.
In the documentary “Fed Up,” sugar is responsible for Americas rising obesity rate, which is happening even with the great stress that is set on exercise and portion control for those who are overweight. Fed Up is a film directed by Stephanie Soechtig, with Executive Producers Katie Couric and Laurie David. The filmmaker’s intent is mainly to inform people of the dangers of too much sugar, but it also talks about the fat’s in our diets and the food corporation shadiness. The filmmaker wants to educate the country on the effects of a poor diet and to open eyes to the obesity catastrophe in the United States. The main debate used is that sugar is the direct matter of obesity. Overall, I don’t believe the filmmaker’s debate was successful.
Eddie Carbone rebels against society by violating his society’s rule of watch each other’s back by narking on his wife’s cousins to immigration because one of them stole the apple of Eddie’s eye. He also took an unethical approach to attempt to control a situation that was out of his hands.
Youth have a certain quality and charisma that has made making films about them not only an interesting endeavor but also fundamental to cinema (Shary, 2002). Representative of hope and change, children are viewed as the future. Youth culture, with its ‘here today and gone tomorrow’ kind of dynamic, suggests that children are also the future of film. For decades the film industry has relied on young audiences for patronage and also looked to youth for inspiration and just the kind of material that makes a relevant and refreshing script (Shary, 2002). Youth-oriented film has subsequently become a genre all its own (Shary, 2002). A history of American youth cinema would indicate no different. It is thus interesting to explore youth-oriented films and how films across time, namely Lolita (1962), Marathon Man (1976), Rain Man (1988), Kids (1995), and The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012), have depicted youth culture, specifically the theme of “Coming-Of-Age.”
Rebel Without a Cause calls attention to society’s obsession over hyper masculinity, fears of overly dominant women, homosexuality, and juvenile “delinquency” during the 1950s. Popularity of suburban life arose – along with the necessity to fit in. Accompanying the pressures of gender roles were also the rise of alcoholism, depression, anxiety, and rage. Moreover, the film explores the conflicts that lied within teenagers because of the social standards that were forced upon them.
Teenage films are often thought of films focused on issues such as teen angst, conflict with parents, coming of age, and most notably rebellion. Nicholas Ray’s Rebel Without a Cause(1955) is one of the first films that could be classified as such. In today’s times, many films that fall into this genre follow the same structure as Rebel without a Cause in that perceptions and activities of youth defy what is considered to be a seemingly more stable adult life. Prior to Rebel Without a Cause, there wasn’t a film that challenged the ideas of masculinity in society and the struggles that teenagers endured in that era, so it is no surprise that the film is considered to be the poster child of youth rebellion in the 1950’s. Ray brings to light a
Rebel without a Cause is a powerful performance that demonstrates the struggles of an all-American, middle-class family. James Dean, Natalie Wood, and San Mineo are remarkable actors that play significant roles of adolescent characters in the film. This tale is based on teenagers that have troubled lives due to the ignorance of their parents. The main message the film portrays is that children’s behaviour is influences by their parents and their parenting skills. There are several themes in this film, however the predominant theme is that conflict within the family can encourage disaffected youth.