Teen films is a film genre targeted at teenagers and young adults in which the plot is based upon the special interests of teenagers, such as coming of age, first love, rebellion, conflict with parents, teen angst, and alienation. Often these normally serious subject matters are presented in a glossy, stereotyped or trivialized way.
Films in this genre are often set in high schools, or contain characters that are of high school age. Sexual themes are also common, as are crude forms of humor.
Contents |
As well as the classic teen film, which is similar to a romantic comedy, there are hybrid genres including:
There are many more types of teen films which can then be divided again into sub-categories. This can be found at list of teen films.
Early examples of the genre in the United States include the "beach films" of the 1950s and '60s, such as the Gidget series and the Beach party films.
Codes and conventions of the teen film genre vary depending on the cultural context of the film, but they can include proms, alcohol, illegal substances, high school, parties and all-night raves, losing one's virginity, relationships, social groups and cliques, and American pop-culture.
The classic codes and conventions of teen film come from American films where one of the most widely used conventions are the stereotypes and social groups. The wide range stereotypes most commonly used include:
Apart from the characters there are many other codes and conventions of teen film. These films are often set in or around high schools as this allows for many different social cliques to be shown. This is different in hybrid teen films, but for the classic romantic comedy teen film this is almost always the case.
George Lucas pioneered the genre by writing and directing the 1973 film American Graffiti.
The genre gained more credibility during the 1980s with the appearance of writer/director John Hughes. His legacy of teen films (The Breakfast Club, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, etc.) proved to be popular not only with audiences, but with critics also.
Éric Rohmer, a pioneering director from the French New Wave, was notable for focusing on young adults or youth and their complications with love in a number of his films. Some of such works include La Collectionneuse, Claire's Knee, Pauline at the Beach, My Girlfriend's Boyfriend, and A Summer's Tale.
Teen films also include actors such as Annette Funicello, Hayley Mills, and Sal Mineo, in the '60s and '70s, members of the Brat Pack, John Cusack in the '80s and early '90s, and Sarah Michelle Gellar, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Seann William Scott, Freddie Prinze, Jr., Jason Biggs, and other teenage sensations in the late '90s and throughout the '00s, who were either pre-teens or teens at the time of the movies themselves.
|
|||||