Representation of teenagers in 'teen films'

This is the right board for your request but it's a very slow board as you can see, so I recommend you try it on the Film General board instead. It's a busy board and although you may get a sarcastic reply or two, they are very knowledgeable there.

For starters, however, I'd say teenagers can be well represented when the director/writers use their personal experiences to create the movie, as in the case of George Lucas who experienced many of the events and knew many of the character types in American Graffiti (1973) when he was of that age.


"Did you make coffee...? Make it!"--Cheyenne.

I totally disagree about the FG board. There are a few smart people there, but they're vastly out-posted by trolls, sock puppets, and idiots having circle jerks or insulting each other.

To answer your question though, I think real teens are younger-looking, less clever and articulate, and less rebellious than teens in movies. And there are a large number of teens that don't abuse drugs, abstain from sex or have monogamous relations, get good grades, and generally respect their parents and teachers. It's just not as entertaining though to make a movie about four guys making a pact to all get into a good college before they graduate. . .

How do you pick among the body of films to decide how teens are being represented? I'm not arguing anything, just wondering. I might find it helpful if we identified the films being considered for this genre. Is it anything where teens are major characters or simply films aimed at the specific tastes of teens or stories about teen life?

Do any of these fit the genre type?

True Grit
My Sister's Keeper
Carrie
The Harry Potter series
Back to the Future
The Twilight series