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Five negative representations of teenagers in the media
Five negative representations of teenagers in the media
Positive and negative impacts of popular culture on youth
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Making the transition from middle school to high school is a huge stepping stone in a teenager’s life. High school represents both the ending of a childhood and the beginning of adulthood. It’s a rite of passage and often many teens have the wrong impression when beginning this passage. Most began high school with learning the last thing on their mind. They come in looking for a story like adventure and have a false sense of reality created through fabricated movie plots acted out by fictional characters. In all actuality high school is nothing like you see in movies, television shows, or what you read about in magazines. 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 …show more content…
Movies often don’t grasp this concept of teenagers struggling to fit in with their own group of friends. Denby states “lost in the eternal swoon of late adolescence, they’re (teenagers) thinking about their identity, their friends, and their clothes” (426). The most important thing too many teenagers in high school are fitting in. They idolize the idea of having a group of friends who are well known around school that other looks up too. The movie Never Been Kissed shows how teenagers often try to hard to gain and maintain friends. The main character who is a newspaper reporter goes back to school pretending to be a high school student. She tries to befriend a group of good looking rich kids and tries her best to impress them and she embarrasses herself in the process. The movie shows of allot of the average teenagers basic
“High School Confidential”, an article written by film critic David Denby for the New Yorker in 1999, accurately disputes and criticizes that high school related movies get their genre clichés from other high school movies that are out, as well as emotions of writers from their own high school years. Denby backs this claim up with multiple examples showing the stereotypes of high school movies, and explaining how those stereotypes are incorrect, such as the stereotypical princess in the school, the standard jock-antagonist, and the outsider/nerd character, and then he shows that all of these examples stem from the “Brian de Palma masterpiece Carrie”. David Denby’s purpose is to show readers how most high school movies are over-stereotyped
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
“I viewed each of the films at least once…taking notes on the role of the teacher, peer relations, among students, relations between students and adults, student attitudes toward schoolwork, extracurricular activities, the role of the family, the resources of the school, the use of violence and drugs, exploitation of sexuality (4).”
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.
Robbins, Alexandra. The Geeks Shall Inherit the Earth: Popularity, Quirk Theory, and Why Outsiders Thrive after High School. New York: Hyperion, 2011. Print.
‘We plunged toward the future without a clue’, The the words of Scott Hudson, a Freshman who is just being introduced to high school. Starting high school for anyone is always hard. When it comes to knowing where to go and who to avoid, you have to be careful, meaning staying away from seniors, juniors, and probably sophomores. Scott is constantly writing tips for his younger sibling to help him survive his days as a Freshman. Scott is constantly changing in this book because of his knowledge of high school in different aspects which compare greatly to others.
Super Bad is a movie that not only glorifies the Geeks and Nerds in High School, but touches on many of their hopes and dreams. Many of these people desperately wish to be part of the schools main click, to be as cool as others they know, to have a boyfriend or girlfriend, usually a specific one, and to be well known. Although Super Bad is extreme in its story line, it’s basis relatable to many of the social misfits who watched the movie, and even shows the development of geeks and nerds throughout time.
School, especially high school, can be an overwhelming experience. New surroundings. New faces. No wonder, it is easy to lose one’s way while trying to navigate this uncharted territory.
In David Denby’s piece, “High-School Confidential: Notes on Teen Movies” he argues that teen movies are nothing more than an unrealistic exaggeration of the social hierarchy in high school. Denby suggests that these films can be classifies as revenge fanaticism, created by the “nerds” that were bullied throughout high school. He also draws a connection to the Littleton shooters, proposing the idea that Klebold and Harris must have forgotten the plot twist in real life. Instead of going to extreme measures for revenge, if they had just waited it out, they would have owned software companies living the high life, whereas the jocks and the bullies would be selling used cars or insurance.
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.”
The phenomenal effects of “American Pie” as the pioneer in establishing the teen genre in motion pictures establish a decade of social stereotypes revolving around high school and college dramas, first love, rebellion, and the conflict with parents. The success of those movie is the reflection of reality, or rather, the fantasy of teenagers that is heavily based on the high expectation of the world ahead. Even though the most notable stereotypical movie is “the Breakfast Club,” which later becomes the framework for the expansion of the culture, “American Pie” and “Mean Girls” tend to be more public preference. Life under the lenses of rebellion and famous individual in the academic environment is the motivation and expectation for the general
When confronting change, individuals may face perceived fears and challenges. Many current middle schools do not address the needs of middle school students as they transition from elementary to middle school (Akos,2004; Eccles, Midgley, et al., 1993). School personnel understand the problematic transition students embark on when moving from one level of schooling to another. The transition from elementary to middle school may be particularly challenging because it often involves substantial school and personal change at a time when most students are experiencing cognitive, physical, social, and emotional challenges that occur in puberty and have been coupled
Coming-of-age films have enjoyed mass popularity since the sixties, beginning with one of the most well-known youth film – The Graduate. The Graduate, starring Dustin Hoffman, tells the story of a naïve college graduate enticed into an affair with an older married woman only to fall in love with her daughter. Despite the slight comedic angle, The Graduate is actually a story of self-definition, something most young people struggle through from a high school age through college. Similarly, The Breakfast Club looks at a group of high school students in detention, working against parents, principals, and social restraints. The rebellious nature of both films is evident. The Graduate and The Breakfast Club focus on two highly charged periods of
While our reality of high school is not remotely similar to Mean Girls, Clueless, or the Breakfast Club, we can turn those realities into our own.
You know, it is really strange how quickly time passes, after spending my whole childhood wishing I was an adult, now here we are and it's a little hard to grasp. It feels like just yesterday I was standing here in the same position at eighth grade graduation. Ahh, middle school, such a joyous time for all of us, free of maturity and not a care in the world. The biggest decisions I ever had to make then was deciding which group to stand with at passing time and choosing which shirt from my extensive collection of Stussy and No Feat apparel to wear. We were all naive to the danger that lurked just around the corner. We were unaware that the carefree world we lived in was about to come crashing to the ground in a blazing inferno of real school work and responsibility ... otherwise known as high school.