As a connoisseur of bad and cheesy movies, I seek to one day discover the ultimate teen movie. I think that teen movies are the perfect kind of movie when it comes to cheesy, yet sincere movies that are endearing and feel timeless. There are very few teen movies with stories that feel out of date, and they always feel relatable in some capacity despite the often outlandish stories that they have. These are things that I often look for in movies, especially ones that I can watch over and over again.
Chapter One: Genre, what is it?
When discussing teen movies, I want to look at teen movies through the lens of a genre, rather than a targeted demographic (although this does come into play later in this essay). I think the idea of genres is already a declarative construct as genres are mutually agreed upon by the people of the day and therefore are up for debate and constant change. I do think, however, that some aspects remain and are presented as the “Bread and Butter” of the genre. Whether this be themes, aspects, or tropes, these are designed to create and instill a vibe that people can point at and say, “This is a teen movie.” I think because of this, genres have become this weird grey area where they are well-defined yet also subjective.
This understanding is derived from Enrico Terrone and his defence and discussion of science fiction as a genre. In his paper, he looks at various ideas of what a genre is and how they can be constructed. His thought of “Genre-as-clusters” is something that, to me, feels like the right answer and will be the foundation of my quest for the best teen film.
Terrone’s idea of “Genre-as-clusters” works on the foundation that many works tangentially belong together and are connected through different ideas. This requires a degree of cultural acceptance of what a particular genre feels, looks, and contains. It is also reliant on people’s expectations in the past, present, and future to curate what media belongs in what genre. In Terrone’s case, he sees science fiction as having certain characteristics, or clusters, that appear throughout a variety of works. Things like robots, time machines, aliens, speculation, and discussions around science are central to the genre of science fiction. Terrone makes it clear that not every piece of science fiction must have all these clusters to be a part of the genre. This is also how subgenres develop and you get ideas like space operas, fantasy, cyberpunk, and dystopia.
Using the same logic, just because a piece of media contains one of these features does not make it a definitive piece of science fiction. Like, you don’t see people calling movies like Hidden Figures, or Rain Man science fiction movies because they talk about science. This is where the public’s expectations come into play, as people can decide how to watch, market, or pitch a certain piece of media.
Chapter Two: What is a teen movie exactly?
This idea of genre is not something exclusive to discussions around science fiction. Timothy Shary a man who has dedicated much of his career to legitimizing teen movies as a genre talks about many of the same ideas presented in Terrone’s “Genre-as-clusters.” Shary sees teen films as having a distinct aesthetic, audience, and delivery of stories. As a genre, I think teen movies have room for lots of discussions, topics, and settings. Of course, there are the classics like high school, college, summer camps, and the mall. But other types of teen movies center around romance, fears, and social issues. Shary discusses five main subgenres of the teen movie:
school films (usually comedies, but all based around school activities), delinquency dramas, horror films, science films (quite visible in the 1980s, less so by the late 1990s), and what he describes as rather awkwardly labeled “love/sex films,” which cater to romance or sexual titillation, but rarely both at once
All these movies belong to the teen fiction genre in the sense of their demographic, something Shary defines as being around 12-20 years old, and deal with discussions around adolescence, coming of age, melodrama, and community. They contain certain clusters that society deems aspects of what makes a teen movie a teen movie.
Despite targeting and relating to a particular demographic these are still valuable films that have something to say. I think that teen movies, much like romance novels or other genre fiction, are often discredited due to their demographics and seemingly simplistic storytelling. Shary argues in his paper “Teen Films: The Cinematic Image of Youth” that teen movies are a significant means to portray drama. These movies work because of the melodrama of adolescence and existing in the world as a teenager.
Dramas thrive on conflict, and the process of aging is a natural conflict familiar to everyone by their teenage years. While many filmgoers freely participate in screen fantasies about the possibilities of life as a secret agent or of saving a loved one from the clutches of death, most of our lives are filled with less spectacular phenomena, such as how we come to be accepted by society, discover romance, have sex, gain employment, make moral decisions, and learn about the world and who we are in it. These are the phenomena that most of us first encounter in our adolescence, and how we handle these phenomena largely determines how we live the rest of our lives. The gravity of adolescence thus makes for compelling drama, even if many of us would rather forget those trying years, because understanding how we learn and grow in our youth is integral to understanding who we become as adults.
Outside of genre, another thing that teen movies have going for them is the essence of Americana; Sweet sixteen, suburbs, and senior year, all feel like crucial parts of the teen movie experience but also somewhat removed from my experience as a teen in Canada. Despite not experiencing things like prom, driver’s ed, vampire boyfriends, or the epic highs and lows of high school football, I was still validated by the emotions and the feelings involved in navigating these very large and scary concepts. Teen movies, and the sense of community within them, create an environment that allows for experimenting. Large concepts like emotions, grief, and life can be converted into easy-to-understand ideas that validate and reassure the youth of today that despite how hard things seem or how big the problem may appear, everything will be OK. There is this degree of universality that makes teen movies feel applicable even outside the events of the movies.
Most teen movies are dependent on this idea of existing within social spaces, whether this be high school, the mall, or the haunted house across the street that you feel peer pressured to visit and end up being chased by the ghost of a dead carnival star. Movies about teens are intrinsically about social spaces and the people who occupy them. But they also display these places with a sense of naivety that only comes from looking at treasured spaces with a utopian lens. Like, I don’t think I am the first person to discover that high school is not this otherworldly experience, nor was my high school experience much like those in the movies. There is, however, still a degree of nostalgia and fun reminiscing that happens while watching a teen movie. They are unabashed in their utopian view of being a teenager and that makes them cheesy, melodramatic, and well, a teen movie.
French philosopher Michel Foucault explains this relationship with social spaces and utopias as existing inside of each other.
There are also, probably in every culture, in every civilization, real places—places that do exist and that are formed in the very founding of society which are something like counter-sites, a kind of effectively enacted utopia in which the real sites, all the other real sites that can be found within the culture, are simultaneously represented, contested, and inverted.
These idealized places can also exist within the context of the real world and throughout time. In my opinion, a film can encapsulate these idealized versions of the world incredibly well and blur the line between fiction and reality. On one hand, we have a high school, a real thing that teenagers go to, and on the other hand, we have the teen movie version of high school, a place that does not exist outside of movies. Both of these places exist at the same time and occupy the same place but one is expressed through idealism and perfection.
I think the main takeaway from Foucault is that teen movies exist in many spaces both inside and outside of reality. This is crucial to the melodrama of teen movies but also the general themes and messaging that they try and send. Teen movies are dependent on the social spaces of reality, but due to their fictitious nature, they can tell stories that expand outside of their real-life counterpart and tell really compelling stories. This is also why teen movies remain within this aura of timelessness. John Hughes movies, many of them almost 40 years old, still work as teen movies and still feel relevant because of this utopian view of young adulthood. These movies both exist in the real world of the 1980s but at the same time remain relevant and attuned to the spaces they occupy. And I think this is where the magic of teen movies exists.
Chapter Three: All Teen Movies are BAD… right?
I think it’s time to address the elephant in the room when it comes to teen movies. Are any of them actually good? Like they all kind of suck, right? WRONG, is my gut reaction to this statement, because how could movies I love and cherish be bad? I think this is a gut reaction that many people have when they are forced to confront the “goodness” of the media that they love. There is a degree of objectivity that exists, but the line between objectively bad art and subjectively good art is nearly nonexistent. I also think there are a lot of nuances that exist within distinguishing good art from bad art.
Are teen movies the peak of cinematic, highbrow art… not likely but why does that matter and what is the foundation of such categorizations?
I think to answer the question we need to look at what kind of art is generally regarded as bad. In his book Why It’s OK to Love Bad Movies Matthew Strohl divides bad movies into two possibilities:
Bad Movie Ridicule: “Bad” is being used in the final sense, while “good” has a special meaning. “Good” means something like ripe for mockery. “So bad it’s good” means that an artwork is bad in the final sense but that one still enjoys watching it, not because one judges that it’s aesthetically valuable, but because one enjoys making fun of it”
Bad Movie Love: “Good” is being used in the final sense, while “bad” has a special meaning. “So bad it’s good” means that one recognizes that there is some limited sense in which the movie is bad, but that one ultimately judges it to be aesthetically valuable, in part because it’s bad in this limited sense”
With this in mind, I want to examine Chapter 4 of Strohl’s book in which he examines his love for the Twilight Saga. Taste plays a lot in people’s perception of media. In the chapter, he looked at how taste can change people’s attitudes towards certain media. If someone who does not like horror movies watches a horror movie, they are already predisposed to not like it. It does not matter that it is the best movie ever made, they are already approaching the movie from a negative perspective. The other way that taste can affect someone’s view of a movie is through the people we interact with and the people we want to associate with. We want to associate with people who have similar tastes as us and we usually distance ourselves from those with different. Strohl did not want to like Twilight because the people around him thought it was bad and not something that could ever be considered good. During the height of the Twilight craze, there were exactly two types of people, those who loved the Twilight movies and books, and those who hated them (like really, really hated them).
This leads to the second elephant in the room, maybe like a zebra, and that is ~misogyny~
I think it’s an uncontroversial opinion to say that the reason some people didn’t like Twilight had more to do with the demographic surrounding the series than the content itself. People saw less of Twilight because it was for teenage girls, and people historically do not take things catered to teen girls seriously. Strohl says,
There’s no doubt a lot of misogyny wrapped up in this disdain, and it’s focused on the particular sense that adolescent girls have bad taste and that works of art made with the narrow aim of appealing to them shouldn’t appeal to other groups of people who don’t have the excuse of being adolescent girls.
Haters of the series also see the fans as being “hysterical” or “hyperemotional,” because teenage girls aren’t allowed to like things without labels being attached to their behaviour. Similarly, Twilight was ridiculed by pearl-clutching concerned parent types who saw the movie as a disgrace and morally reprehensible.
They feign concern about the dangers of Twilight’s positive depiction of male possessiveness and abusive relationship dynamics, as though it can be taken for granted that young female fans are unreflective about these elements of the fiction and prone to passively absorb and emulate them.
These claims about behaviours also extend to the author herself; Stephenie Meyer is a Mormon and thus everything she writes is an extension of her faith and political thoughts. I think that this is a bad-faith analysis of the whole of Twilight and of Meyer. Under this type of argument, Stephenie Meyer is not allowed to write things external to her or her beliefs. The author must endorse every idea and action they ever write, the author must be the truest beacon of right and wrong. This sentiment is foolish and a double standard when it comes to the role of the author and art.
**side note – Morbid Zoo has a really great video essay that investigates this exact mentality surrounding Twilight and I think it is amazing**
There is a long history of art made by women, or art made for women being in some capacity lesser than art made for and by men. In her essay Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists? Linda Nochlin discusses the role of women in art history. The essay looks at the role of privilege in art and how women are often at a disadvantage, whether this be financial, power, or authority, women who make art approach the institutions at an automatic disadvantage.
“It is this emphasis which transforms serious commitment to frivolous self-indulgence, busy work, or occupational therapy, and today, more than ever, in suburban bastions of the feminine mystique, tends to distort the whole notion of what art is and what kind of social role it plays.”
This is where the idea of taste comes full circle. Some movies are just not made for certain audiences, and that’s OK. But I think we should be critical as to why we don’t like things and the factors that lead us to come to conclusions about why we like or dislike movies. Near the end of his book Strohl claims,
“That art, in its own right, consists in its capacity to enable valuable activities of engagement” he continues by saying “The value that art has for a person consists in its capacity to enable valuable activities of engagement for that person.”
This is to say that people find value in art that makes them better off or gives them a perceived value. You’re reading this paper because you perceive some value in learning about teen movies. I watch teen movies because I find them fun and fulfilling. They engage with a sense of nostalgia and affirm my lived experiences and struggles. Teenage girls love Twilight because it’s a fun love story, but it’s also a movie about family, isolation, and trying to find your place in the world.
Chapter Four: Nuance Is Dead, Ignore All Previous
Now that I’ve laid out the essence of the teen movie genre and why I think they are good and important, I think it’s time to address the other problem shrouding teen movies.
A lot of them are genuinely not good movies, like objectively bad movies. Bad movies are seen in all genres, yet there seems to be a high concentration of bad teen movies out in the world constantly being made. I think these bad movies actively work to delegitimize the genre and make defending teen movies an uphill battle. Sure 2000s Bring it On is an amazing movie, but the sequels are questionable at most when it comes to quality content. Both from a viewer and artistic standpoint there is very little value that can be derived from Bring It On: All or Nothing, by far the worst movie in the franchise. Do they make great drinking games, sure, but I think that teen movies can and should aspire higher than “fun at a party.”
I’m hoping this far in the essay I have somewhat legitimized the genre of teen movies and have managed to circumvent the mindset that teen movies are inherently bad movies because of the demographic they are serviced and created for. Like, teens (or children frankly) aren’t stupid and deserve smart and good movies to watch, think about, and identify with.
Something that I have been skirting around in this paper and want to address here is the idea of blind adoration for movies without just criticism. I think that anti-intellectualism is somewhat of a buzzword at the moment, but I think it is important to address, especially pertaining to content catered to teen audiences. It’s OK to like nonsensical things or even bad things, but they should not be without criticism and thought. I think that alisha not alihsha on YouTube has a great video about hating and thinking about popular media. In her video, she looks at books and rising anti-intellectualism on TikTok, but I think that many of her ideas apply to this paper and her video is worth a watch!
In his dossiers about American teen movies, Luciano Mariani talks about the evolution of teen movies. He concludes his paper with the following statement:
Teenagers have often been exploited by cinema as a source of attractive content, mostly in terms of sex and/or violence, and this “teenploitation” (like similar ways of exploiting the image of other groups) has accompanied teen films from the beginning and all through their history – with teens placed in the rather depressing position of being both the exploited group on the screen and the audience enjoying the exploitation itself. Regretfully, movies depicting teens as more superficial and stupid than they really are have enjoyed, especially in the past, the appreciation of those same teens. Of course, the cinema industry will always try to exploit whatever material can attract specific kinds of audiences, but there are signals that teen films are moving towards a less superficial and more serious consideration of teen themselves.
I think this is an important sentiment to remember as, at the end of the day, Hollywood and other movie industries are overly concerned with the bottom line rather than the art of cinema. Teen movies have always been a way to make relatively inexpensive movies that pay dividends. There is a built-in and loyal audience that is usually willing to watch anything catered to and made for them. It is also a genre that has adapted greatly to streaming, with Netflix paving the way for more teen-directed content.
Film producer Ian Bricke, the man responsible for a lot of the teen movies on Netflix, said in an interview with Katie Baker,
“As we started making different shapes and sizes of original films, we were looking at: Where are those pockets, where there is a hungry and consistent audience, but the films aren’t getting made anymore? [Netflix] leaned into romantic comedy generally and then began to branch deeper into the realm of teen films. The themes and the story structures and the tropes are all kind of evergreen.”
Netflix understands the business surrounding teen movies and is also not afraid of making mediocre movies. This makes the often noncritical and content-hungry teenager the perfect target for their endless content.
“In 2015, [teens] made up 18 percent of the population, but 30 percent of ticket sales and 32 percent of frequent moviegoers (those who go the theater at least once a month). As such, figuring out what appeals to them is of paramount importance, and the Digital Generation has become “the most heavily researched demographic group in the history of marketing.” In addition, [the Digital Generation] prefer interactive and participatory media, as well as mobile devices and social activities; they are used to instant and unlimited content; and they are cautious about spending money because of growing up during the recession.”
This is a quote taken from The New Old Face of a Genre: The Franchise Teen Film as Industry Strategy by Elissa H. Nelson. In the paper, Nelson talks about the role of teens in the film industry and their importance when it comes to making successful movies. Teen movies are important to not only movie theatres, as large movie franchises get butts in seats, but also the production of movies in general. When producers know that a large demographic will watch their movies, the movie will get made. Teens hold more power in the film industry than often credited for. Unfortunately, this is often taken advantage of and milked endlessly for profit.
Thinking and talking about the media we consume is a crucial part of experiencing media. It is also a vital way of understanding society and the nuances of life. Consuming bad media is not inherently a bad thing, the problems arise when we refuse to acknowledge the faults in the things that we like and disregard them as inconsequential. In her paper Don’t Let People Enjoy Things Kate Wagner says,
I introduce this radical idea: you can still enjoy things while being critical of them—it can even lead to a greater appreciation of societal and historical context, and it can make you usefully wary of the role the shit forces of the world play in the media we consume. It can also help us maintain our political and social integrity while watching or reading or listening to whatever is offered to us.
Chapter Five: Conclusion
To conclude this paper, I want to go back to a quote from Timothy Shary,
We need to encourage the production of movies that make teens feel good about themselves and their abilities in a progressive way. Furthermore, we need to encourage teens to actually see those movies and discuss them … We need to be sensitive to the concerns of youth and work toward better conditions under which they are represented in the media, in which they understand the media, and through which they produce media themselves.
I think this is a powerful quote and one that gives the power back to the primary audience of teen movies… teens. The art of teen movies lies in nostalgia, relatability, and hope that the future will get better. I think with the bleakness of today, there is nothing wrong with some silly fun, a great teen movie, and a voice that says everything will turn out OK.
Need some recommendations for some of my favourite teen movies? Click here!
Other Writings
Bibliography
Baker, Katie. 2020. “The New Generation of Teen Movies Is Nicer (and on Netflix).” The Ringer. August 28, 2020. https://www.theringer.com/movies/2020/8/28/21404738/netflix-teen-movies-evolution-diversity.
Foucault, Michel. 1986. “Of Other Spaces.” Diacritics 16 (1): 22–27. https://doi.org/10.2307/464648.
Mariani, Luciano. n.d. “American Teen Pics: Movies for Teenagers, Movies about Teenagers.” https://www.researchgate.net/publication/344783671_American_teen_pics_movies_for_teenagers_movies_about_teenagers.
Nochlin, Linda. 1971. Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists?. S.L.: W W Norton. https://www.writing.upenn.edu/library/Nochlin-Linda_Why-Have-There-Been-No-Great-Women-Artists.pdf.
Shary, Timothy. 2003. “Course File for ‘Film Genres and the Image of Youth.’” Journal of Film and Video 55 (1): 39–57. https://www.jstor.org/stable/20688403.
———. 2012. “Teen Films: The Cinematic Image of Youth (2012).” Film Genre Reader IV, Ed. By Barry Keith Grant III (IV). https://www.academia.edu/28714724/Teen_Films_The_Cinematic_Image_of_Youth_2012_.
———. 2014. Generation Multiplex. University of Texas Press.
Strohl, Matthew. 2021. Why It’s OK to Love Bad Movies. Routledge.
Terrone, Enrico. 2021. “Science Fiction as a Genre.” The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism 79 (1): 16–29. https://doi.org/10.1093/jaac/kpaa003.
Wagner, Kate. 2019. “Don’t Let People Enjoy Things | Kate Wagner.” The Baffler. May 9, 2019. https://thebaffler.com/latest/dont-let-people-enjoy-things-wagner.
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