Dear Mr. Vernon, we accept the fact that we had to sacrifice a whole Saturday in detention for whatever it was we did wrong. But we think you’re crazy to make an essay telling you who we think we are. You see us as you want to see us… In the simplest terms, in the most convenient definitions. But what we found out is that each one of us is a brain …and an athlete… a basket case… and a princess and a criminal… Does that answer your question?
Sincerely yours, the Breakfast Club.
Film has always been an important aspect of my life, not just in the form of entertainment but it also served as a form of socialization in my growing up. I think the teen movie genre (which can be applied to tv as well) has made one of the biggest impacts on my life (as far as the media is concerned) because it’s one I’ve always been fascinated by. Even as early as 3rd and 4th grade, I had friends that were watching movies like The Breakfast Club and Clueless because they had sisters in high school that were bringing these films home. The world presented in teen movies vastly differs from my own high school experiences, and the same is reported from friends when we go to the movies that are supposed to represent our generation or age bracket. In our reality, stereotypes and cliques are less extreme and hardly present if at all, and our nights were mostly uneventful with no keggers within a five mile radius to crash.
The politics of popularity and hierarchy between the overgeneralized cliques of jocks, cheerleaders, nerds and riff raff (all discovering in one way or another sex and rock and roll), doesn’t seem to have changed much in movies since the 50s and 60s; however, the manner in which they’re reflected onscreen has gone through many face lifts (from squeaky clean beach parties with Gidget to getting laid at prom, or at least by the time senior year is over, today). It’s just that there will always be a specific formula that makes for a classicly made teen movie, which has made it so easy for the spoofs to follow (as seen in Scary Movie and Not Another Teen Movie and all of the others in the series) .
Since the films hardly ever depict what is reality for the age bracket of 12 to 24, the teen movie genre is another form of escapism for the youth. While in general it is said that the film medium reflects the the norms and values of each generation, I would argue that the teen movies really reflect the norms and values of the generation’s hopes, dreams and penchant for crude humor.
313 has been a great ride and keeping up this blog was definitely a new and exciting experience for me. I hope all of our GenTeenFlix readers enjoyed it just as much and as if their grade didn’t depend on their required comments. One last thing I’d like to note is an interesting essay about teen movies in our popular culture, written by Robin Julian of Monte Sant’ Angelo College in North Sydney. It takes a deeper and more eloquent look into the teen movie genre, interaction between the audience and the genre, and how they have influenced one another over the years.
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Peggy Sue Got Married is a 1986 film directed by Francis Ford Copplola, and starring Kathleen Turner as a woman (Peggy Sue) who is on the verge of a divorce, while attending her high school reunion finds herself transported back in time to her days in high school.
Peggy Sue Bodell (Kathleen Turner) sets off for her 25-year high school reunion with her daughter coming along as company. Peggy Sue has just seperated from her high school sweetheart, now husband, Charlie (Nicolas Cage), and is wary of attending the reunion without Charlie.
Peggy Sue arrives at the reunion and reconnects with several friends including Richard Norvik, a former class geek turned multi-millionaire computer whiz. (I guess he wasn’t really a geek). They are named king and queen of the reunion; but when she arrives on stage, she faints.
When she awakens, she finds she’s gone back to the spring of 1960, her senior year of high school. She is in shock to see her parents so young and to be able to reconnect with family members who have since died. She has some funny moments when she answers simple questions with adult answers (For example, when her mother asks if her and Charlie had a fight, she replies yes-about house payments.) She also makes a comment about heading to England to discover The Beatles.
Though she is confused about her situation she is able to say all the things she wanted to say ( such as tell off the rude girls and informing the algebra teacher that she definitely will never need algebra in her life). She also has a one night stand with the guy she always wished she slept with.
One thing that stiil keeps coming is her bond to Charlie. The Charlie she is divorcing is a slimy,cheating, appliance salesman. The Charlie (at 18 years) is not the same and she start to fall in love with him again and in the end starts to make love with him, which will lead to her getting pregnant and marrying him again.
Which leads her back to the present where she wakes up in the hospital with Charlie by her side. It looks like she may have dreamed the whole thing until she sees that her one night stand dedicated a book to her. She looks at Charlie with different eyes and you see that there may be hope for them after all.
Even though this movie is not the best movie ever made (Nicholas Cage does this strange voice that doesn’t make fit) This movie raised questions about how I was looking at my life and how much of an influence high school had on the woman I had became.
I think that is what a movie should do, it should make you think, and make you feel. That is what this movie did. I looked at the times I didn’t allow myself to speak up and all the times I let myself just go along with what was the easy thing to do. It made me realize that it isn’t about solving all life’s problems, and love doesn’t conquer all. It would be nice to relive, change and correct your past, but, of course you can’t
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The high school lifestyles depicted in all of these youth oriented films involve so many social pressures that one may ask them self, so where are the parents in all of this? With all the films showing kids partying it up, getting laid or at least attempting to, burning every bridge they cross, winning the Homecoming queen nomination, being the star player on the football team, making the cheerleading team, breaking out of Saturday school detention and et cetera… why isn’t anyone enforcing a curfew? Pressing one to study hard to get into a good college? Teach the value of money or even refuse to give their kids credit cards to waste copious amounts of unearned money on $500 haircuts, $1000 shoes, and handbags that cost more than a used Mercedes?
With all of the rebellion and illicit activities teens are so easy to fall into, where are their parents to tell them No and play a positive role model once in a while? In teen films, when the parents play an important role in the plot they’re usually shown as very stereotypical figures. The following are just a few examples that fit into the mold of the teen movie formula:
- The Cool Mom: Most notable examples of this kind are Mrs. George (Amy Poehler) and Stifler’s Mom (Jennifer Coolidge). Check out her mom’s boob job, they’re hard as rocks.
The Cool Mom keeps up with the hot gossip in school and listens to last year’s top 40 radio. The Cool Mom would rather you drink in the house and is quick to hand over a condom when her daughter’s boyfriend is over. Or, in the case of Stifler’s mom, she’s seen as the hot parent that all her son’s friends want to bed. (MILF alert!) There are no rules in the house. These are the women who can’t let go of their youth or reject the role of authority figure because they don’t want to be seen as a parent. Because when you’re a parent you’re old and not relevant. And because no teen wants their parents telling them what to do it’s just better to bend over and be another one of their friends, right?
- The Single Dad: Notable examples include Mel Horowitz (Dan Hedaya) in Clueless and Jack Walsh (Harry Dean Stanton) in Pretty In Pink. Hey you, anything happens to my daughter I’ve got a .45 and a shovel. I doubt that anyone would miss you.
There are two usual kinds of single dads in the movies: the working class father struggling to make ends meet or the big time, hard ass lawyer. The lawyer seems very overprotective of his daughter but is usually so wrapped in work that she is still able to roam around spending his money without care and sneak into the house at all hours of the night. The partners of these single dads have died many years ago, most often long before the main teenaged character entered adolescence, and usually in some sort of freak accident or from a terminal illness.
- The Earnest and Well Intentioned yet Bumbling, Clueless Parents: Notable examples can be seen in any John Hughes film or John Cusack vehicle in the mid to late 80s.
The title really says it all. The parents are seen as strange, loopy characters that are very out of touch with their kid’s lives but are mostly unaware of the fact. They’re sometimes suspicious of their kids running in the wrong crowds or getting involved in destructive activities. But in most movies with these kinds of parental units, the teens that are the film’s main focus are not the who can afford to be the popular kid or run with the wrong crowd; the teen is usually social outcast or the underdog that the parent has nothing to worry about.
Now, these are just a few stock characters that can be seen most often in the parent’s role but there are many more. What are some of your favorite parental units depicted in teen films?
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Well given that our entire site is based upon TEEN MOVIES, I can’t help myself.
This post is dedicated to the movie that tried to capture all of the drama from teenage movies into one..
This film was created as a spoof imitating and making fun of several popular teen movies, some of which we have mentioned in other posts. They use the stereotypical actors that most of these films use but they exaggerate them to make them funny. In case you have trouble figuring out exactly which characters these actors are trying to portray, the DVD cover clearly labels them for you…
This movie makes us realize how similar all these movies are to one another no matter how different they seem to be. It includes movies from many generations of teen flicks including Grease from the 1970’s, The Breakfast Club from the 1980’s, and of course many movies from the 1990’s leading into the 20th century, She’s All that, Can’t Hardly Wait, American Pie, Cruel Intentions, and many more.
To take a quiz to see which character you are most like just click on the link
The Popular Bitch
Jaime Pressly’s character (Cheerleader on the left) , 
labeled on the DVD cover as “The Nasty Cheerleader” but also portraying the “popular bitch” that everyone loves to hate. This character in teen movies is always the adversary putting down our protagonist of the film. Why is she always such a bitch? Most of the time it’s because she IS the “Hot Guy’s” Girlfriend, WANTS to be the “Hot Guy’s” Girlfriend, or (more likely) she WAS the “Hot Guy’s” Girlfriend. She is typically a white, rich girl that can afford to buy 
whatever she fancies and sets the trend among her high-school peers. Whatever the case may be, she is a BITCH to everyone, including her own “friends,” but everyone is too scared to confront her and for some odd reason they worship her! She is always surrounded by at least two “friends” or I should say “followers,” one on each side. When I think of this it reminds me of the typical introduction scene where the “Popular Bitch” walks into the room/hall with her two (or more) followers in slow motion as all the students stare and admire her as they whisper to each other comments about her.
In the movie Jawbreaker, Rose McGowen plays a nasty bitch that would kill to save her reputation.
In the film Never Been Kissed, Jessica Alba plays the the head of the popular click.
Jodi Lyn O’Keefe is so good at playing this role that she has done it more than once. First, she played Taylor Vaughan in the 1999 movie She’s All That.
Then she played Ashley Grant in the film Whatever It Takes.
And last but not least we have Rachel McAdams in Mean Girls. I’d like to categorize this role somewhere in between a spoof and a real Bitch we love to hate.
The Pretty Ugly Girl
Next we have our “Pretty Ugly Girl” played by Janey Briggs in Not Another Teen Movie. This character is usually our poor protagonist that has yet to break out of her shell to impress “The popular guy” of her dreams or she just wants to be a part of the “in” crowd. In the beginning of the film our girl is in a desperate need of a “makeover.” I quote the word makeover because in these movies their idea of a makeover consists of only three things
#1 Removing the Glasses
#2 Straightening and/or releasing hair from the ponytail
and finally #3 Change of wardrobe from “nerdy” to “cool”
Using Rachael Leigh Cook as an example, we see the nerd drastically change from this…
to this…
Who’s your favorite “Popular Bitch” and “Pretty Ugly Girl”?
Which character do you relate to the most?
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This blog is devoted 100% to the movie industry and its cultural impact it has on society, yet to date we have neglected to touch on our dependence on the movie industry. I beg the question, how dependent are you on movies?
Many of us don’t even realize the toll movies and films have on us. The captivating advertisements of the latest attraction in itself can dominate someone’s life. Take the debut of Twilight, for example, fans of the vampire love story camped outside of theaters to ensure their seats! The mere fact that individuals will sacrifice sleep and warmth, not to mention a good $10.50 to see a new attraction proves how much of a hold the film industry has on us.
Moreover, movies bring about more than entertainment, it is a social savior. Just as pets can be a social savior from awkwardness, movies do the same. When awkwardness may rear its ugly head, such as a first date, movies are a great ice breaker. We use them as a source of entertainment, as well as a good hour and a half to sometimes three hour block of silent time to prevent awkwardness after the movie. It now has given you a topic to discuss that both of you can find stimulating. Just as social gatherings use food to bring a commonality between different social groups, genders, and ages, movies do just the same; allowing people to comfortably share silence, and engage in conversation or criticism about the flick.
However, there is a dark side to our dependency on movies, and that is the stereotypes and images it portrays. Often, there are individuals who take the dramatized scenarios in films too seriously, leading to complications. For example, deaths due to drag racing sky rocketed after the debut of Fast and the Furious, and there are many instances where females turn to anorexia and bulimia to get their rail thin body like their favorite silver screen actress. Imitation runs rampid, especially in the pre-teen groups that are most vulnerable. Some even go to the degree of plastic surgery to get JLo’s butt, Angelina’s lips, and Jessica Alba’s tummy, it’s sad how satisfied we are with others, yet so unsatisfied with ourselves….and it is amazing that we want to be so similar to them, based on one thing- their fame, fortune, and fantasy.
So I beg the question- how dependent are you on movies?
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Yes of course, that name does “ring” a bell! Even if the name isn’t familiar, you must recognize the face! Molly Ringwald, without question, was one of the top teen idols of the 1980’s. Her sweet, innocent, girl-next-door image appealed to both teenage girls and boys as they admired her beauty on-screen.
Her breakout role was playing Samantha Baker in Sixteen Candles (1984). Teenage girls across the country could relate to Ringwald’s role as a typical high school girl with a crush on the hottest guy in school, Jake Ryan (played by Michael Schoeffling). They could also relate to the feeling of being forgotten that comes with being a teenager. The feeling that nobody cares, only the nerdy kid who unfortunately has a crush on you. This film also allowed girls to see their desired dream come true as the girl they could relate to ended up with the hottest guy in school.
Perhaps one of her best-known roles contributing to “The Brat Pack”, Molly Ringwald played Claire Standish in The Breakfast Club (1985). Stuck in detention, along with fellow students from different social groups, Claire grew to understand and actually like these four people. As the popular girl in high school, Claire also taught her new friends that her life is not as great as it seems.
Molly took another role as a typical teenager longing for the hottest and most popular guy in school in the film Pretty in Pink (1986). By the time this film came out, Molly was already recognized as one of the most popular teen idols of her time.
Trailers:
Sixteen Candles http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o9M5zFSiUS8
The Breakfast Club http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=syvF9wqV7zw
Pretty In Pink http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6YktbU3Cb9E
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With the rise in popularity of the teen slasher genre in the late 90s, leads from the films were bound to be made into breakout stars. Among the pack of these stars emerged one Freddie Prinze Jr., survivor of the fish hook and hero of the film I Know What You Did Last Summer, and its sequel I Still Know What You Did Last Summer.
Freddie had all that it took to appeal to the youth oriented audiences: Along with his good looks and charm, a wide variety of interviews in every magazine from Teen Bop to Teen People and CosmoGirl showed he was sensitive and caring. He wore glasses off screen and he had dogs! What is more sensitive and caring than that? He quickly became that boy in the senior class that all the girls had a crush on, while he could step it up in his movie roles to be the hero that the guys wanted to be like. Or at the very least, the guy that the guy’s girlfriends wanted them to be like. Most importantly, Freddie had a squeaky clean record to go along with his squeaky clean face- No DUIs or time spent in rehab in his personal life that seems to be a requirement on the road to fame and fortune for the teen stars of today. Overall, he was non threatening which not only made him generally well liked by teens and their parents alike, he was bankable! It also helped that his social circle, followed and documented by the gossip magazines and other media outlets, included other teen stars of the time such as costars Jennifer Love Hewitt, Matthew Lillard, Seth Green, and now-wife, Sarah Michelle Gellar.
Meaning, the formula of being a teen idol of this age is as follows:
Good looks + Technically good physique + Just as mandatorily pretty friends and costars + ,Kevin Williamson penning the characters you play = Box office success and magazine coverage that gets your face hung up on the walls of 14 year olds everywhere!
After the success of the I Know… films, Freddie moved onto his first lead role in the romantic feature, She’s All That, which was a hit in theatres and seemed to revive the teen romantic comedy genre at the turn of the century. What soon followed were the less than stellar movies with just as mediocre performances in Down To You, Boys and Girls, Head Over Heels, and Summer Catch.
However, the life of the teen idol does not last long, as the actors (and musicians, but that is for a different blog topic) do not remain teen-aged for long. Also, it feels like it’s only so long before the star in question either grows tired of their youth oriented fans and wants to be seen as more mature and try to go for bigger and better things (ie what the Academy looks for come Oscar season), or falls into obscurity. Freddie seems to have fallen somewhere in between, his work is largely behind the scenes these days. Though his public appearances are now rare in the world of entertainment, his mark on the business has been influential. Or at least I’d like to think that we wouldn’t have Zac Efron, or the Scary Movies series as we know them today, without the Prinze.
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Known today as the curvaceous brunette that stars in the spooky TV series, Ghost Whisperer, Jennifer Love Hewitt was not always the sexy starlet she is today.
In the late 1990’s Love found her fame in movies like I Know What You Did Last Summer , and I STILL Know What You Did Last Summer, as the girl-next-door that you secretly had a crush on. With her staring roles in such teen 90’s thrillers, she bears a similar resemblance to a modern day Jaimie Lee Curtis, with her shrill screams and her teary eyes.
This versatile girl then stepped into the teen movies of the 90’s with Can’t Hardly Wait; once again the girl-next-door, popular high school prom queen image permeated the screen.
A similar 90’s horror flick teen idol would be Neve Campbell in her role as Sydnea Prescot in Scream (I, II, III, IV).
Ironic how similar these actresses are, huh? They tend to play the same roles in the same eras! However, as a society, it does not dampen our love for Love, or our desire to watch the same squealing teens on screen. We tend to obsess, for lack of a better word, over individuals or characters; and we then use those roles to label an actor/actress. For example, Johnny Deep is loved for his carisma and his hotness; yet, he too, chooses only bizarre roles (Sweeny Todd, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Edward Scissor Hands) and we tend to label him as bizarre as well. As for Love, well, luckily everyone loves her girl-next-door-sexy-school-girl image….
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As long as there are teenagers, there will be teen idols. The names and faces may change with the decades, but the emotions that drive the phenomenon do not. They are dream mates who fuel romantic daydreams and provide a safe release for hormonally-charged emotions.
In 1977 I graduated from high school. Jimmy Carter had just taken office. The first Apple computer goes on sale. The Clash, The Sex Pistols, and The Talking Heads release their first albums. Led Zeppelin play their last U.S. concert. Fantasy Island, Three’s Company and The Love Boat debut, lowering the national IQ by 30 points. And the average price of a movie ticket is $2.25.
That is the culture they released Saturday Night Fever radically altered and reshaped popular culture, made John Travolta into a teen idol, and helped to popularize disco. The film is also notable for being one the first instances of cross-media-marketing, tie-in soundtrack was used to promote the film before its release and than the film supported the soundtrack after its release.
This film inspired a generation where image was everything because nothing deeper was going on. Tony Manaro (John Travolta) used disco to escape what was going on in his life. It showcased aspects of the music, the dancing, and the subculture surrounding the disco era. Including the styles of clothing (the famous white suit) and sexual promiscuity.
The film really isn’t very good but it is a time capsule of what the 1970’s were. And for me he was the teen idol that shaped my generation.
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With an opening weekend of $70 million dollars, breaking records as the biggest opening for a female director, Twilight has drained the box office and become something of a phenomenon. Although critics are quick to put a stake in it, fang-girls of all types are going to the theatres in droves for a bite. How many more vampire puns do you think I can fit into this entry? And I’m just getting started…
The breaking success of the film has conjured up a thirst within the media and entertainment business for more vamps, sparking interest and talks to raise Buffy the Vampire Slayer back from the dead. According to a report posted on the gossip community, OhNoTheyDidnt!, Moviehole.net discovered the following in the Herald-Sun Newspaper:
“The monster success of girly vampire pic Twilight at the US Box office last weekend could kick open the door for a big-screen return of Joss Whedon’s much-loved Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Rumours are circulating in Hollywood that Whedon has a feature-film script based on his hit TV series ready to roll as soon as a studio is prepared to commit. The Buffy concept was first unveiled as a movie in 1992 with long-forgotten Kristy Swanson in the title role.”
…but if you ask me, all attempts at updated versions of these undead flicks are being made in vein (wink wink, nudge nudge.)
Twilight just finished its second weekend in theatres, but has dropped off at an astounding rate of 62%, only bringing in a reported $26 million and taking third place at the box office. It was bumped for Four Christmases (which was number one for the holiday weekend with $31 mill) and Disney’s Bolt (taking second with $26.5 mill). So has Twilight’s dazzle burned out already, and what will this mean for the fate of the future vampire genre?
If you’re finding yourself with another craving or are unfulfilled by Twilight’s sucking, I recommend some better films to turn to that better represent the perils of shopping, hanging out, going to school, making curfew and living in a world of unspeakable demons. No sparkles involved, I promise, and these vamps ya know, do what vamps really do and stay in the dark. (Most available on Netflix): Once Bitten, My Best Friend Is A Vampire, The Lost Boys, and Buffy The Vampire Slayer. Others in the vamp genre that have nothing to do with high school but also appeal to the targeted teen audience (included are the good, the bad, and the mostly ugly in terms of quality): Dracula 2000, Blade series, BloodRayne, Interview With A Vampire, I Am Legend, and 30 Days Of Night.
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