Reference no: EM133628336

Questions

1. John Hughes' classic teen film The Breakfast Club created a stir when it was released and it was acclaimed for its portrayal of high school and teenaged life. Though teen films had been around since the late 1950s, it was not until the 1980s and Hughes' work that the teen film began to change and became what it is today. What message do you think the film is trying to convey about the struggles and challenges of being a teenager, and how do the characters' different experiences and perspectives contribute to this message?

2. My Life As A Dog, from award winning director Lasse Hallström, is a very different sort of coming of age movie than one which American audiences would have been familiar. What elements of the story seemed to you to be distinct from an American teenage film? If teen films are supposed to have something to teach their young audiences, what can we learn from Ingemar's challenges and how he deals with them?

3. When it was released Heathers was quite controversial, and it remains so today. Critics and parents were concerned about the film's rather dark plot and its impact upon young audience members. It has since become a cult film, likely because it is such an insightful satire of the cliches of teen movies. If we take the film at face value, what commentary do you think the film is making on high school cliques and popularity, and how does it challenge the audience? If we view it as satire, then what is it poking fun at in terms of the conventions of the teen film?

4. Often compared to Heathers (mostly since both films star Christian Slater) Pump Up the Volume is another innovative take on the teen film. The main character uses an antiquated form of technology - the pirate radio station - to voice his opinions on issues that matter to young people. Mark's honesty gradually earn him a following and prompt others to express their opinions openly and honestly. Many teen films contain a character like Mark who rebels agains injustice and conformity. How does Mark, and the film by extension, challenge the authority figures in school and the community and what is the nature of his rejection of conformity and conventions? What is the film trying to teach teenagers about their identities and their own sense of who they are?

5. Now, if you braved The Doom Generation - one of the most notorious and reviled films of the 1990s, you might have noticed just how extreme and over-the-top it is. Cult director Greg Araki is (in)famous for his stories of teenagers and young adults engaging in dangerous and self-destructive behavior. The second film of his Teen Apocalypse Trilogy, The Doom Generation was alternately attacked and praised. Those critics who did like it saw it as a statement on teenagers in America in the 1990s - if that is the case, just what is this ultra-violent, horrifying and bludgeoning movie about? If it has something to say about teenagers in the United States, what might that statement be?