Peer Pressure In Teenage Movies

While high school in reality is full of surprises and twisty roads, teen television shows and movies are based off a strict set of conventions that allude to other teen films. In David Denby 's "High School Confidential: Notes on Teen Movies," he describes the typical movie storyline and characters: the blonde, superficial cheerleaders that make up the popular crowd, along with the buff, handsome jocks versus the social outcasts comprised of geeks and freaks. Denby continues to explain the nature of these two social standings, including how the “cool group” bullies anyone below them. Denby goes on further to discuss how a particular outsider usually becomes the hero or heroine of the story, despite their social discomfort or awkward

Identity; Romance; Segregation; Beauty; Friendship; Within the film industry’s classic interpretation of female adolescents, these elements of teen culture are typically represented. A film’s demonstration of themes such as relationship tensions or social status struggles are that which attracts the popular viewership of female adolescents, for they are personally dealing with similar experiences. Furthermore, in continually representing the aforementioned traditional elements of teen culture, the film industry seems to make it so films’ story-lines and characterizations adapt to and directly reflect the era in which the film is set. This adaptation is significantly demonstrated in the popular teen films The Breakfast Club (1985), Clueless (1995), and Mean Girls (2004) as they each clearly and diversely characterize young women based on the distinct time period and the cultural attitude towards teen girls of that time. The Breakfast Club (1985) details five high school students in Illinois, a nerd, a jock, a bad boy, a weirdo, and a

In an essay published in the New Yorker in May 1999, entitled “High-School Confidential: Notes on Teen Movies,” writer David Denby analyzes movies targeted towards teenagers and the stereotypes associated with them. He begins his essay by describing the archetypal characters in high school genre films: the vapid popular girl and her athletic male counterpart, and the intellectual outsider and her awkward male counterpart. He then describes the reality of teen life, and compares it to the experience depicted in these films. Next, he analyzes the common theme that the geeky characters are the protagonists, and suggests there are such because of their writer's personal experience and a history of geeks being ostracized. Finally, Denby analyzes the tropes in

Teenagers are often compared to others, either through academics or athletics, and some end up rebelling against their parents. Teenagers tend to act, dress, speak, and do everything else differently around different groups of people, especially family members and parents. Teenagers are also pushed towards music, which creates an escape

It’s a very difficult thing for adults to write accurate and believable teenage characters. Often times, people my age are written to be significantly too stereotypical. Apparently, the middle aged white men who write most of these movies think every single teenager in high school is either an athlete with no passions other than sports or a nerd who has never looked up from a book. As someone who has only been out of high school for 6 months, I feel pretty confident in saying those stereotypes rarely exist in real life.

It has not been too long ago that I still remember my adolescent years. I always remember the unintelligent things I did that I wish could change, but this Psychology class made me realize that all adolescents go through the same things I experienced. Adolescents are known to try to find their identity, go through peer pressure, make mistakes, and try new things. The move I picked that closely represented what adolescents go through was “Mean Girls”. Some of the scenes in the movie seem a little exaggerated, but it has happened in certain high schools even though I had not experienced it personally.

When you picture a teenager you picture fighting, drinking, or answering back, am I right? However, this is simply not the case. Sure there is the minority of trouble makers. However this minority is exaggerated due to the news showing only this behaviour. This stereotyping has found its audience and crept into television shows and series. This has led to the creation of a mockumentary called “Summer Heights High” which has unfairly represented teen

Teens are rebellious troublemakers. It’s just something that’s in their blood. Each one shows it in a different way. There are many movies that show teens coming of age and going through this phase. “Rebel Without A Cause”,“American Graffiti”,  “Breaking Away”, and “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” all show how teens are growing up.

Although the times have changed, from day to day life, youth still face a great deal of the same struggles that are displayed in the movie. Comparable to the movie, in today’s society, a teenager has to battle the stress of attempting to achieve good grades, an inner battle with themselves based on their self-image, popularity, and parents.

Teen rebellion is contrasted to “Romeo and Juliet”, and through centuries of movies, books, songs, and along with poems because people relate to going against rules at some point in their life to do something they said they were not supposed (Shakespeare). Teen rebellion makes songs, poetry, books, and movies more desirable by giving it a more unique, and interesting look at different point of views which some to most people could relate to in some way. Most movies, and songs can give some representation of teenage rebellion, and therefore it could be rebelling against the rules, against one’s parents, or even the law. For example, in the movie “The Outsiders” the main characters Ponyboy and Johnny, who are Greasers, get into a brawl with the Social member resulting in a death which causes a series of events leading to a rebellious plan to leave town and go on the run from the law which will show the consequences of one’s actions (Coppola). Another example of teenage rebellion is in the movie “Clueless” where Cher,

A concept of a stereotypical teenager in the 20th century was to grow up through childhood but not surpass the values, beliefs and attitudes of a typical adult. In the 1998 film, the audience is shown a great selection of characters, symbolism and setting which reinforces the idea of a teenage role that shows a new perspective that affects society.

Mean Girls, ironically my favorite movie, in my opinion clearly and comically depicts the misconceptions and stereotypes that are perceived by society of early adolescents. Stanley Hall characterized adolescence as a time of “storm and stress” and this negative image has stuck with society. As we’ve learned and discussed in class, Sigmund Freud took the concept of storm and stress a step further and developed his stages of psychosocial development but saw adolescence as a time when major conflicts were already solved. . Anna Freud continued researching the same concepts as her father, and viewed the absence of storm and stress as a sign of a serious psychological problem in adolescent development. The stereotype of adolescence as a stage of “storm and stress”, or as labeled in society today, a time of moody, acne-laden teenagers, teenagers with raging hormones, or a time of rebellion and conflict with parents, some even considering teenagers a threat to adult tranquility. That being said, those are only a couple of the many stereotypes that are depicted in the film Mean Girls.

Bullying is an emerging issue that many teenagers and children experience, they endure harassing behaviours from their peers, primarily at school. Mean Girls, directed by Mark Waters and Bully, directed by Lee Hirsch are both effective in their own ways, as they display the causes and effects of being taunted. Although there are many similarities in the messages of the films, they differ in delivery. Mean Girls shows a less conspicuous perspective of bullying, on the other hand, Bully educates the more expected definition.

Who are you? This question could be exceedingly intricate to answer if you were to ask an adolescent. Teens are experiencing countless changes in their development, which is why it is such a significant time for them. During this time teenagers develop their sense of self. Film has helped portray some of the changes that occur during this evolving developmental period. For this paper, I will be describing the differences between two adolescent films to depict differences in developing the self. Some differences I will cover include types of self, Erickson’s Identity Crisis, Marcia’s Identity Status Interview theory, and culture over time.(Arnett, 2013)

Negative effects of Mass Media for teenagers,  The exposure of sex images and excessive portraits of violence in movies and dramas have instilled negative thoughts and taboos in the mind of these teenagers for they have been consistently getting increased exposure to things which are not suitable for their age.