Movies
The Fault In Our Stars (2014)
"You don't get to chose if you get hurt in this world...but you do have a say in who hurts you. I like my choices."
The Fault in our Stars is a "sick love story" about two cancer patients and their ability to find love through all the trauma in their lives. The Fault in our Stars most prominently examines the theme of a desire to find love. The film captures the interactions of the two main characters, Hazel and Augustus, and their adventures in finding love and comfort in one another. This theme relates to teenagers today, for teenagers in today's society often crave for a romantic relationship with one another. This movie gives girls an unrealistic example of how relationships form, for Augustus's constant persistence in making Hazel reveal her love for him is not realistic and does not accurately depict how a boy should pursue a girl. This sick love story also deals with the theme of facing corruption and realization of truth, for the cancer struggle becomes overwhelming for the couple, ultimately ending in the death of Augustus. Hazel takes the death badly, and finds herself in a mix of depression and loneliness. In realizing that even love does not protect a person from the horrors of the world, Hazel has realized the terror of the universe and the cruelty that reality holds over all.
Frozen (2013)
"Some people are worth melting for."
Frozen is an animated film with a target audience of children that tells the story of a queen with special powers who doomed herself and her city when she revealed who she truly was. Frozen deals with many aspects of being a teenager, such as desiring independence, rebellion, and search for identity. Elsa, the queen with the power to control ice and snow, accurately captures all of these traits, for she rebels against her position as queen to escape the castle life for a life in the mountains where she can truly be who she is. The message of being yourself is an amazing lesson for children to learn--however, the story does not end there. Because Elsa decided to be herself, her home was almost frozen and her sister had several near death experiences (ouch). These consequences reveal the negative side of what happens when one rebels and becomes themselves, and gives children the idea that there are bad outcomes when a person expresses who they truly are. Aside from these themes, Frozen deals with the theme of desire to find love. Despite the fact that Frozen does examine familial love, the majority of the conflict over love comes from the romantic side of things. Elsa's sister, Anna, becomes engaged to Hans on the first day of them meeting. They share a beautiful moment in singing "Love Is An Open Door"--but is this beautiful for the audience? By telling children that "Love Is An Open Door", and an easy way to find happiness is through love, Frozen gives children a sneak peak of society's strong viewpoint that happiness only stems from romantic love. Despite the fact that Hans does turn out to be an evil jerk, Anna still ends up being with someone else in the end, which does not deny the point that a person needs romantic love to be happy. At least Disney tried with Elsa's love for her sister saving the day. But when a child goes to the movies, what do they remember most, the large, catchy musical number about how "Love Is An Open Door", or the plot point, expressed only once, that Elsa's love for Anna allowed her to control her powers?
The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012)
"We accept the love we think we deserve."
The Perks of Being a Wallflower is an amazing movie about a socially awkward teenager with PTSD, anxiety, depression, and a horribly depressing back story finding friends and a life that he belongs in (and Erin, Christina, and Charlotte all totally recommend this movie if you haven't seen it). Charlie, the main character in this film, struggles with many of the themes involved with being a teenager, from curiosity, lacking direction, and searching for identity, to desiring to find love, facing corruption, and realizing truth. Charlie's struggles to discover himself and his place in the world so that he can "feel infinite" is often a struggle that teenagers deal with today. Despite the fact that the majority of teenagers do not have all the mental problems Charlie has, or a friend that committed suicide, or an aunt that sexually abused them as a child (SPOILER), teenagers often have trouble finding a friend group that accepts them and people that truly love them. Charlie's journey hits many realistic problems that teenagers face, and gives deep insight on how this affects a person. The Perks of Being a Wallflower is a great movie for teenagers to watch, for despite the slight inappropriate aspect of the movie, the majority of the film gives realistic and true viewpoints of and solutions for teenage problems.
21 Jump Street (2012)
"You punched a little black gay kid and its not even second period, how do you explain that?"
The almighty comedy 21 Jump Street is a story of two unsuccessful cops that go undercover for a drug bust at a high school. This film directly compares teenagers of 10 years ago to teenagers of today, for the two cops discover that all they know about high school has changed. From the idea of one-strapping a backpack to not caring about the environment, everything seems to be off at the high school Jenko and Schmidt visit. The themes of desiring independence, search for identity, desiring to find love, and superficiality are examined, for Schmidt abandons Jenko early in the film to pursue a friendship with the new type of popular kids. Both of the men experience a change in viewpoint of high school, people, and themselves. The lesson that a person should always look forward to the future, for they will one day find their place in the world is an amazing lesson for teenagers to learn. Despite the fact that the majority of teenagers are not actually undercover adults at a high school, all teenagers struggle with a search for identity and a desire for independence. 21 Jump Street may be a comedy, but the topic they are dealing with is no joke. Drugs are a major problem in today's society, and about 1,400 teenagers die each year due to drug use. 21 Jump Street makes a joke about this problem in society, and uses the comical aspect of the movie to make drug use seem like a lighthearted topic. In a way, 21 Jump Street advocates against drug use, but the message gets lost between the jokes and puns. The last thing society needs is more teenagers dying of drug use.
Tangled (2010)
"You're my new dream."
Tangled, a Disney movie made for an audience of children, puts a twist in the story of Rapunzel in a cute, musical movie about a young girl who goes on a journey with a criminal to achieve her dream. Tangled deals with many teenage traits, such as curious, desiring independence, disrespectful, facing corruption, realizing truth, rebellious, searching for identity, superficiality, and wanting to find love. Her curiosity, desire for independence, rebellious nature, and search for identity are captured in her escape from her home tower to a village where she can see the "floating lights" in the night sky. She directly goes against her mother's orders to stay in the castle by leaving, and is even willing to work with a criminal to do so. Despite the fact that Rapunzel was right in leaving her evil mother, this movie plants a seed in the mind of children--a seed that tells them that when they do not get their way, they should rebel against authority, even if it is their own parents. This lesson in rebellion is not good for children to know, for children often do not see the full picture and do what they want in the moment rather than what is overall best for them. Along with these themes, Rapunzel faces corruption and realizes truth, for the mother she thought loved her ended up being a villain who kidnapped a baby (I mean, who does that?). Rapunzel discovers her identity and place in the world as a princess, and learns much about herself and her companion, Flynn, on their adventure. Rapunzel and Flynn both express a desire to find love in the film, for Rapunzel is willing to be kept prisoner for him, Flynn is willing to die for her, and they get married at the end of the story. The lesson of finding love in this way is interesting for children to know, for it proves that you should never judge a person before you get to know them. However, finding love in a thief after blindly leaving a castle with a frying pan as an only weapon might not have been the best way to go about pleasing this desire. The mother's superficiality is very important to the story, for she would not have kidnapped Rapunzel if she was okay with the idea of looking old. She imposes this superficiality on Rapunzel early in the story by putting down Rapunzel's appearance and then dismissing the thought, as if she never made the comment. Rapunzel reacted in an amazing way to this critique, for she did not take it to heart and brushed it off quickly, as all children should learn to do. Overall, the themes children learn from Tangled can carry over to when they are teenagers. Because of this, it is important to teach children these lessons well, which Tangled does an okay job of executing.
Twilight (2008)
"I like the night. Without the dark, we'd never see the stars."
In the movie adaptation of Stephanie Meyer's Twilight, Bella Swan moves to Forks, Washington and meets Edward Cullen, a sullen and pale high schooler, who changes her life forever. *cue dramatic music* This film exhibits the traits of searching for identity, rebellion, and desire for love. Twilight is not the best example for teens, because it expresses that a woman needs a man to be happy and okay with who they are. After Bella's father forbids her from seeing Edward, she continues to interact with Edward, demonstrating a rebellious attitude toward her father. The trait of desiring love is the most prominent in the film, for example, Bella spending all her time with Edward, her depression after he leaves her, and her inability to stop thinking about Edward. Bella says she felt "out of place", and her search for identity is followed throughout the Saga. A significant point is that the producers of this movie cast college age actors as high schoolers. Both Bella and Edward did not appear to be high schoolers and their unrealistic outward appearance makes current high school students feel negatively toward their own body image. Overall, Twilight does not have a positive influence on teens, for it stresses the importance of relationships. However, it does portray independence and the journey toward a unique path as well.
Mean Girls (2004)
"On Wednesdays, we wear pink."
As perhaps the greatest movie manifesting traits of teenage girls in high school, Mean Girls is a movie about a new girl in school infiltrating the group of popular girls in school with the idea of messing with them but instead becoming a part of them. Mean Girls involves many themes that are relevant to teenagers, such as curious, disrespectful, facing corruption, realizing truth, searching for identity, superficial, and wanting to find love. The three--soon four--popular girls prove to be very superficial, narrow minded, cruel, and rude to one another, for they are always in a competition with other people to prove their power. The girls always worry about what they look like, and constantly critique themselves on their appearance. The theme of superficiality is accurately embodied in this movie (although taken to a bit of an extreme), for some teenage girls do worry about their looks and appearance more than any other gender or age group. This movie adds to society's view of teenage girls being petty and superficial, for it gives the sense that most teenage girls only care about their reputation and position in the hierarchy of high school. Despite the fact that Mean Girls portrays teenage girls as embodying extremes of the majority of the negative traits of teenagers, in the end, the main focus of the film becomes being yourself and looking past what a person looks like to find who they really are. Mean Girls is a very hilarious, accurate, and inspirational movie that may impose some negative beliefs on society, but remains classic and true even 10 years later.
Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986)
"The question isn't what are we going to do. The question is what aren't we going to do."
The 1986 movie, Ferris Bueller's Day Off", follows the story of Ferris, his best friend Cameron, and his girlfriend Sloane when they take a day off from school, and go on adventures while trying to avoid being caught. The teenage traits of rebellion, searching for identity, disrespect, and desiring independence are represented in this film. The movie is from the 1980s, and portrays teenagers as rebellious when Ferris lies to his parents by faking an illness. This is consistent to the teen of today- if anyone says they haven't pulled the "fake an illness" trick, they're most likely lying. Ferris is regarded as somewhat of a god because of his clever way out of school, and this shows the positive way that teens and their peers react to rebellion. A certain amount of disrespect comes through for Ferris is disregarding his parents and his school, even if it's just for a day. Ferris uses peer pressure to convince his friend Cameron to skip with him, which demonstrates corruption between teens. The film is lighthearted, and does not directly encourage truancy, however, Ferris and his friends appear to be having the best day of their lives, which glamorizes the idea of skipping school. This timeless film isn't the greatest influence, but it does accurately describe a teen's feelings toward school and how tough it is to grow up in general.
The Breakfast Club (1985)
"We're all bizarre, some of us are just better at hiding it."
In the movie, The Breakfast Club directed by John Hughes, this movie adventures through the themes of lacking direction, searching for identity, rebellious, and realizing truth. The movie starts off with the usual Saturday detention with five of the most different teenagers anyone could have put together. The five consist of the Jock, the Princess, the Brain, the Criminal, and the Basket Case that do not necessarily become friends but rather become connected with being lost in the world, not knowing who they are as people, and understanding how reality is not what they expected to be. This movie can accurately assimilate with teenagers today because cliche cliques of the populars and jocks as well as the loners and nobody's are still present. The Breakfast Club gives the implication of how completely different people can be related by the most concealed qualities. In the movie, all five teenagers reveal personal and jaw-dropping secrets that bring honesty and trust throughout the group. All five teens gain somewhat a respect and compassion for each other by revealing the pressures, mistakes they've made, and expectations each individual has to obtain. This illustrates the morality, confidence, and genuineness these five teens feel for each other. This aspect of the movie shows how teenagers choose what they want to be visible and what they want to be buried. Teenagers want to be viewed as if their real life is the same as the life they portray to be real, when really the life they portray just makes them even more of a fake. The differences between the 1980's teenagers and present day teenagers is what influences the teens to come out and speak for themselves; whether it's technology, development of courage, change in societies views, or teenagers being more radical and free spirited than the past teens. Either or, The Breakfast Club clearly and accurately illustrates the multiply struggles that can be recovered and found in the most unexpected people and most unforeseen places.