Clark University - Clark News Fall 2002
Teens on the Big Screen (fall 2002)
A new book by Professor Timothy Shary offers an unusual look at teens in film
By Judith Jaeger
Asking screen studies Professor Timothy Shary if he's seen any good movies lately is a loaded question. For his recently released book "Generation Multiplex: The Image of Youth in Contemporary American Cinema," Shary reviewed more than 400 films about teens. Through a close analysis of many of these films, Shary hopes to shatter the current image of teens in film.
Shary, who joined Clark in 1997, specializes in the history, aesthetics and culture of American film. He became interested in youth in film while earning a Ph.D. at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. He wrote his dissertation on the subject partly because so little attention has been given to the teen film genre. Teens are a popular area of research in media studies, Shary notes, but only three or four books have been written about teens in film—and only one of them was written in the last 10 years.
In his book, Shary examines films featuring characters ages 12 to 20 and covers what he calls the five fundamental subgenres of teen film: school, horror, science fiction, romance and sex, and delinquency. Shary quickly discovered that when it comes to depicting teens on the big screen, art doesn't always imitate life.
"The films that are held up as critical successes rarely represent youth today," he says.
"Kids" vs. real teens
Take, for example, the 1995 film "Kids," which Shary considers one of the worst offenders in misrepresenting teens. The film follows two teenage boys as they participate in every deviant behavior imaginable—sexual conquest, binge drinking, vandalism, robbery, rape and even murder. This grim picture of contemporary urban youth does not represent the majority of teens, Shary says, but the film was still widely praised by critics.
On the other end of the spectrum, Shary points to the 1996 film "Girls Town." He describes it as "a very sincere film" about four culturally diverse girlfriends and how they support each other when one of them dies. There are many films like "Girls Town" out there, he says, but it's hard to find them.
"The best films about youth don't get promoted the way other films do," Shary says.
An advocate for teen films
Shary has emerged from his study as an advocate for young movie-goers. Teens make up the largest market for movies today, he says. They decide how they are going to spend their money and what movies to see. And yet, Shary says, teens have no political voice to influence the way they are depicted in film. If a film like "Kids" had been made about any other social group, he says, it would have been met with social uproar rather than critical acclaim.
Despite what is touted by the critics, Shary says the majority of teen films try to have a positive impact on young audiences.
"Most people think teen films contribute to the degradation of youth, but most of them are empowering for young people," he says.
Even a movie like "American Pie," which reveals a part of today's teenage life some would rather ignore as a group of boys tries to snag girlfriends, has its redeeming qualities. In the end, Shary explains, the boys in the film display a sense of community when they finally admit to each other that they are lost when it comes to relationships with girls.
Showcasing good teen films
Ultimately, Shary hopes his book will not only lend some legitimacy to the study of youth film, but also contribute to the making of better films for teen audiences. He would like to see teen films that feature empowered youth, as well as films that reflect a more realistic spectrum of race, economic status and gender. Shary also wants to get people talking about the imbalances and prejudices in the way teens are represented in film and throughout the culture at large. In that way, Shary's project echoes the work of Clark's first president, G. Stanley Hall, who wrote the first comprehensive study of adolescence in 1904.
"I hope that I have been able to showcase and celebrate many of the good films that are out there, and that I have been able to offer a more mature look at youth films," Shary says.
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Clarknews Fall 2002
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| Screen Studies Professor Timothy Shary in Razzo Hall, the recital/film screen hall at the new Traina Center for the Arts. (Photo by Patrick O'Connor) |
In "Generation Multiplex: The Image of Youth in Contemporary American Cinema," published by the University of Texas, screen studies Professor Timothy Shary discusses hundreds of films that feature teens ages 12 to 20. Here are some of Shary's picks for negative and positive teen films, as well as his personal favorites.
Most negative representation of teens:
"Cruel Intentions"
"The Crush"
"Lord of the Flies"
"River's Edge"
Most positive representation of teens:
"Fly Away Home"
"Lucas"
"October Sky"
"Pump Up the Volume"
"Stand and Deliver"
Personal favorites:
"The Breakfast Club"
"The Chocolate War"
"Election"
"Heathers"
"Fun"
"Trust"s
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