Saturday, October 07, 2006
Teen Movies
http://hsc.csu.edu.au/pta/scansw/teen.html#anchor147406The teen movie, or 'teenpic', is a genre which exploits the teenage market as a mass audience. Variously described as 'whimsical, ephemeral and pervasive' (Martin 1994, 65), this is not a strict, enclosed genre. Ideas of what constitutes a popular culture are continually changing. In this case, the nature of the teen movie genre changes very rapidly over time and there are crossovers with neighbouring genres
French film critic Robert Benayoun once described the 'normal qualities of youth as naively, idealism, humour, hatred of tradition, erotomania (abnormally strong sexual desire), and a sense of injustice' (Martin 1994, 67). This description is very true to the teen movie, because it points to the two poles of the genre (Martin 1994), that is, at the one end, the craziness characterised by freeforall fun, sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll, and at the other end, the equally important innocence, uncomplicated contact with another human being, and the unformed, impossible dream of a better world tomorrow
It is worth noting the ongoing relationship between teen movies and mass culture (see 'The Contribution of POpular Culture to Social Change). Belton (1966) wrote that 'if films and filmmakers produce culture, they are also produced by it. The movies are inseparable from the society within whichthey exist; one does not produce the other; rather, each interacts with the other and they mutually determineone another'.
Sherish at 9:31 AM