Urban Spaces & Teenage Movies
1. Introduction 3
2. The Teenage Movie 3
3. The City and City Theories 4
4. Urban Spaces and Teenage Movies 5
4.1. The Public Bedroom 6
4.2. The Threatening Public Space 7
4.3. Public Space made Private 9
6. Conclusion 11
Bibliography 12
1. Introduction
This essay will discuss the use of urban spaces with respect to female (lead) characters in the so called teenage movies. The focus lies on film because it has the potential to influence people on how they perceive the outside world around them and how they function in this world. I have looked at the use of urban spaces in a gendered framework paying notice to how the characters are portrayed in space, how they use a designated urban space and, where applicable, the contrast to every day life. I have focused on white adolescent female characters since they are most often portrayed in leading roles.
2. The Teenage Movie
Teenage movies are movies which are specifically targeted at the adolescent audience. Most of them are staged at high schools because that is where the target audience spends most of its time. The rise of the teenage movie as we know it started in the eighties of the previous century. The hottest movie star in this genre at that time was Molly Ringwald. She played lead roles in movies like Sixteen Candles (1984), The Breakfast Club (1985) and in Pretty in Pink (1986). All of these movies have been dubbed classics ' together with movies like Ferris Bueller 's Day off (1986), Dirty Dancing (1987) and others. The movies revolve around the lives of ordinary teenagers in ordinary, and sometimes not so ordinary, teenage situations. How the teenage movie rise came to pass? Purchasing power was on an all time rise in the 1980s and Hollywood discovered a new audience that was demanding yet more than willing to spend money on leisure activities such as going to the movies (Bernstein). It had no choice but to bend to the will of the consumer; thus the era of teenage movies was born.
2. The Teenage Movie 3
3. The City and City Theories 4
4. Urban Spaces and Teenage Movies 5
4.1. The Public Bedroom 6
4.2. The Threatening Public Space 7
4.3. Public Space made Private 9
6. Conclusion 11
Bibliography 12
1. Introduction
This essay will discuss the use of urban spaces with respect to female (lead) characters in the so called teenage movies. The focus lies on film because it has the potential to influence people on how they perceive the outside world around them and how they function in this world. I have looked at the use of urban spaces in a gendered framework paying notice to how the characters are portrayed in space, how they use a designated urban space and, where applicable, the contrast to every day life. I have focused on white adolescent female characters since they are most often portrayed in leading roles.
2. The Teenage Movie
Teenage movies are movies which are specifically targeted at the adolescent audience. Most of them are staged at high schools because that is where the target audience spends most of its time. The rise of the teenage movie as we know it started in the eighties of the previous century. The hottest movie star in this genre at that time was Molly Ringwald. She played lead roles in movies like Sixteen Candles (1984), The Breakfast Club (1985) and in Pretty in Pink (1986). All of these movies have been dubbed classics ' together with movies like Ferris Bueller 's Day off (1986), Dirty Dancing (1987) and others. The movies revolve around the lives of ordinary teenagers in ordinary, and sometimes not so ordinary, teenage situations. How the teenage movie rise came to pass? Purchasing power was on an all time rise in the 1980s and Hollywood discovered a new audience that was demanding yet more than willing to spend money on leisure activities such as going to the movies (Bernstein). It had no choice but to bend to the will of the consumer; thus the era of teenage movies was born.
Bibliography: J. Bowman. "Teen Beat." American Spectator Vol. 32.5 (May1999): 64-66. D Deviant Behaviour Vol 23.5 (Sep2002): 419-449. J. Manaco. How to Read a Film, Movies, Media, Multimedia. 3rd ed. New York, 2000. K.A J. Ryan. "Women, Modernity, and the City." Theory, Culture and Society Vol. 11 (1994): 35-53. D. Scobey. "Anatomy of the Promenade, The Politics of Bourgeois Sociability in Nineteenth Century New York." Social History Vol 17 (1992): 203-227. E. Wilson. "The Invisible Flâneur." New Left Review Vol. 191 (1992): 90-110. Movies referred to Clueless (1995) Directed by Amy Hackerling Kids (1995) Directed by Larry Clerk Mallrats (1995) Directed by Kevin Smith Not Another Teen Movie (2001) Directed by Joel Gallen Scary Movie (2000) Directed by Keenen Ivory Wayans Freaky Friday (2003) Directed by Mark Waters Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen (2004) Directed by Sara Sugarman Legally Blonde (2001) Directed by Robert Luketic Mean Girls (2004) Directed by Mark Waters Sixteen Candles (1984) Directed by John Hughes The Breakfast Club (1985) Directed by John Hughes Pretty in Pink (1986) Directed by Howard Deutch Ferris Bueller 's Day off (1986) Directed by John Hughes Dirty Dancing (1987) Directed by Emile Ardolino Titanic (1997) Directed by James Cameron American Pie (1999) Directed by Pail Weitz American Pie 2 (2001) Directed by James B. Rogers American Pie 3 (2003) Directed by Jesse Dylan The New Guy (2000) Directed by Ed Decter Coyote Ugly (2000) Directed by Davind McNally Save the Last Dance (2001) Directed by Thomas Carter