Stereotypes Of Teenagers Essay

Adults have not always understood teenagers and the adolescent psyche. Film and hip-hop star Will Smith articulated this in a song from 1998: "Parents just don't understand!" As the 1990’s drew to a close, the media would have the public believe that teenagers were more different from the rest of society than ever before. Dobbs (2011) unequivocally states that culture has a huge effect on the shaping of adolescents. In terms of music, both gangsta rap artists such as Eminem and DMX and heavy rock groups such as Limp Biskit and Rage Against the Machine were incredibly popular with adolescents. These types of music could be considered overtly aggressive and anarchic compared to both old and contemporary standards. So how did the visual arts portray teenagers at this time?
The vapid "valley girl" stereotype was perpetuated in Clueless in 1995; the "cheerleader" stereotype was shown in Bring It On in 2001and the "virgin" stereotype was presented in American Pie in 1999. Television dramas sometimes cover a large amount of themes, certainly more than in movies, but they mostly attempt to specialise on one aspect of life (for example, Six Feet Under focuses on death and The X-Files focuses on the supernatural). It is the genre of teen dramas which always attempts to address almost all of the main problems faced by adolescents. Although soap-operas also address many themes also, Berridge (2010) notes that teen dramas take the sentimentality of soap-operas and bring about a sense of contemplation and meditation not seen in soap-operas. I will analyse two specific acclaimed television dramas aimed at teenagers: The O.C. and My So-Called Life (MSCL). MSCL aired in 1994 and The O.C. aired between 2003 and