Representation Of Teenagers Essay

Since the birth of the subculture ‘teenagers’, these stereotypically rude, rebellious and rowdy young adults have been included and represented in movies, plays and any other type of entertainment. In studying two separate films from two separate time frames, I have found that they depict teens in many different ways, although the root of their problems, values and attitudes are very much the same. This essay will explore and discuss these changes in representation, and will strive to discover the core reasons for this development. The two movies I have studied; Freedom Writers (2007, directed by Richard LaGrevense) and To Sir with Love (1967, directed but James Clavell), will be my main examples in this report, while also using other materials as backup evidence. Paragraph one will address how teenagers are represented today, and how they were in the past. Paragraph two will explore the reasons behind the differences in portrayal, and paragraph three will decide on whether or not this is a
The media has to release entertainment suitable and appealing for its audience, otherwise it would receive no money because nobody is watching it. This means that Hollywood, and other people who make movies, must shape the content of their films as the values and interests of its viewers changes, so that it keeps the audience entertained. So the reason the values and attitudes of the teenagers in the films that I have viewed are so different, is because the values and attitudes of the people in the decades they were released in were so different. For example, in To Sir with Love, there were almost no swear words, except for the occasional ‘bleedin’, whereas in Freedom Writers, there is a whole range of swear words used. This is but one example of the many differences in the representation of teenagers in