Formal Film Studies: Teen Movies By Decade

What unites the three films that I watched is the classification of a teen movie genre. What I was really looking for was similarities and differences between these films and how they varied based on the decade they were released in, starting with the the 1980s. All these films were commonly linked based on the stereotypical portray of the American teenager. They focus on the lives of teenage characters who are driven by their desire for parties, sex, and popularity. And by focusing on this aspect of the teenage culture and lifestyle, it sets the standard and generalization that all teenagers behave like this and only this. Regardless of the time period, these films instill this idea of teens being immature and focused on the rebellious side of adolescence. They zero in on the image of teens being highly irresponsible and focus more-so of the benefits of that than the consequences. 

The major plot line of *American Pie* (1999) revolves around these four boys who make a pact to lose their virginity by prom night, which supports the idea that all teenagers' minds are centered around their sex drive, raging hormones, and desire to meet the social standard of losing their virginity before leaving for college. Similarly, the plot of *Fast Times at Ridgemont High* (1982) follows the lives of another set of teens, mainly focusing on the character of Stacy, a high school sophomore, who looks up to her sexually experienced older friend Linda, glamorizing the idea of teen promiscuity. The film whose plot focused less on sex and more of the general idea of irresponsibility in teens was *Superbad* (2007), more specifically on two friends' (Seth and Evan) goal to buy alcohol and go to this girl's party.
All the films have this happy-go-lucky approach and feel when dealing with teenage lives. None of them display or encourage the dull side of teenage reality like doing homework or stressing over college applications, probably because there's no comedy in watching a group of students writing essays and feeling stressed. Each film has elements that portray the lives of teenagers so ridiculously that it's almost satirically implying the stereotypical image of a teenager. For example, in *American Pie*, Jim ( Jason Briggs) is constantly caught by his dad engaging in something sexual and humiliating, including a scene where he's "practicing" on a warm apple pie. It pushes the envelope on how ridiculously teenage antics can be portrayed. Along the lines of exaggerating the view on teen promiscuity, is the scene in *Fast Times At Ridgemont High* where 15 year old Stacy (Jennifer Jason Leigh) hooks up with a 26 year old salesmen she met at work. A scene like this is really controversial and highly unrealistic, which gave the film an edge and heightened the absurdity within the film.
What seemed to be absent for the majority of each film was a wise, mature adult- with the exception of the character of Mr. Hand and the iconic scene of him giving his speech to the stoner kid, Spicoli (Sean Penn) in *Fast Times At Ridgemont High*. In *American Pie* the most prominent adult role was Jim's dad who helped and supported his son's sexual curiosity, making him appear in a comedic light. Furthering that idea of putting authority figures in comedic position, *Superbad* features two cops (played by comedians Bill Hader and Seth Rogen) who are well aware that Fogell (Christopher Mintz-Passe) is using a fake ID, but ignore it just to prove that cops can be cool too. The absence of the role of a strong adult leads to the idea and belief that teenagers are in complete control of what they want to do in their free time and that what they want do usually involve reckless, irresponsible decisions.

What I noticed that separated the most modern film (Superbad) from the older two was the time frame in which the films took place. The older two were set on the span of a school year, where as *Superbad* was set in the time frame of essentially one crazy night. The idea of one night having all the same crazy elements (parties, drugs, sex, etc) of an entire school year reinforces the idea that the image of your stereotypical teens is not changing and is possibly even increasing in ridiculousness.
What also set these films apart was the relevancy of the gender of the director and the main characters of the movie. The director of *Fast Times At Ridgemont High* was Amy Heckerling, a female, and the storyline was mostly told from the point of view of Stacy where the male characters were secondary. Stacy's character was also more sexually aggressive than her love-interest, Mark (Brian Backer), which could be due to the fact that a female is directing the movie. This contrasts from both *American Pie* and *Superbad* who were directed by males and were focused on male characters and their encounters.
These films, especially the older two, have earned a reputation as iconic, scuzz-ball type teen comedies, which started out as absurd and cheap comedy but eventually gained that credibility and recognition for being iconic teen films. What surprised me the most was that *Superbad* earned the highest reviews from critics on rotten tomatoes with and 88% (http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/superbad/), beating *Fast Times At Ridgemont High* (79%) and *American Pie* (61%). Typically, most recent teen comedies seem to be getting more negative reviews from critics, so it was surprising to hear that teen films were constantly well-liked and even improving as the years went on. According to Scott Foundas, "Superbad is a movie about partying and getting wasted and getting the girl, but as the night wears on, much wisdom is gained too, about self, friendship and the end of teenage innocence in all its wondrous, terrifying splendor,"(http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/superbad/). So perhaps, the slight element of gained maturity throughout the film is what set it apart from the others and gave a brighter future to teen films.