Notes On Popular Culture (Teen Film)

Resource Description

My final notes for Popular Culture (Teen film) per syllabus dot point

POPULAR CULTURE – TEEN FILM

Four distinguishing characteristics

Creation and development of the popular culture

Origins of the popular culture

The ‘teenager’ emerged as a distinct social group in the 30s
Film producers began to recognise them as a new market and demographic
Producers created specific genres of teen films that created cultures teens could identify with
RWAC (1955) created a teen icon James Dean

Development from a local to global level

Teen film is disseminated through marketing and promotion
Television, internet, social media and screening services share teen films
As they spread further, they incorporate more global elements, eg. Multiculturalism and cultural issues
Celebrities help the marketing of their film before it comes out eg. TATBILB (2018) cast promoting film on social media

The process of commodification

Youth embrace meaning symbols and modes of expression to piece together their collective identity and gain mutual acceptance from their peers
This can be seen in clothing, music, language, behaviour, etc.
Films commodify these signs of mutual acceptance in order to increase consumption of teen films
Establishment of cliques and stereotypes to aid identity struggle, eg. Mean Girls (2004)
Fashion and attitude became characteristic of teen audience, eg. RWAC – James Dean

The role of mythology in creation and perpetuation

Mythology consists of ideas and beliefs that are created in an exaggerated form of the truth
Teen films depict the exaggerated nuances of everyday teen life, eg. Romance, to increase appeal and consumption
Mythology lets the characters and ideas live on past the film to become cultural icons
Behaviours and appearance of characters creates mythology for the film, eg. Katniss Everdeen in THG, Jim Stark in RWAC

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