Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Movies about teenagers

I teach a high school film class, and I am toying with the idea of organizing fall semester around movies depicting teens, all the way from the 50s to the present.

My theory will be to examine the concept of adolescence as it has evolved in film depictions over the last 60 years, and also to attempt to encompass many sides of the adolescent experience: love, school, home, drugs, achievement, race, gender, sexuality, popularity, etc.

I have compiled a list of films that deal with adolescence in an interesting way, but I am hoping to get some more good ones. Look at this list and add any suggestions in the comments. The list is in chronological order.

The Wild One 54
Rebel Without a Cause 55
The Blackboard Jungle 55
Splendor in the Grass 61
To Sir With Love 67
High School 68
The Last Picture Show 71
American Graffiti 73
Carrie 76
Grease 78
The Warriors 79
Over the Edge 79
The Outsiders 83
Sixteen Candles 84
Repo Man 84
The Breakfast Club 85
Back to the Future 85
Peggy Sue Got Married 86
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off 86
River’s Edge 86
Heathers 89
Election 89
Say Anything 89
Boyz n the Hood 91
Hoop Dreams 94
Kids 95
Clueless 95
Welcome to the Dollhouse 96
Scream 96
Rushmore 98
Donnie Darko 01
Mean Girls 04
The Education of Shelby Knox 05
Brick 06
Juno 07
American Teen 08

16 comments:

The McGuffin said...

Good list. Nice to see Carrie and The River's Edge..."you owe me a sixer." Oh Crispin Glover, how I miss your craziness.

How about Fast Times and The Outsiders...

Eric said...

The Outsiders is there, but I forgot Fast Times...good call.

The McGuffin said...

Damn, you're right. How about FF Coppola's other teen angst flick...Rumble Fish. Or maybe 13 with the glorious Holly Hunter...

Anonymous said...

When you decide you've had enough, I can think of no better way to exit teaching than showing a class "Kids".

Mr. Independent said...

How about Crazy/Beautiful? Sure, it's melodramatic crapola, but it does explore teenage relationships/sexuality.

Anonymous said...

I was thinking Valley Girl.

The McGuffin said...

If only there was some teenage drama in Steven Seagal's newest kung fu movie...

Anonymous said...

Great to see that "Over the Edge" made your list. It's always been one of my favorites and a film I really connected with back in the late 70s.

One I didn't notice on your list is 1980's "Foxes", featuring a young Jodie Foster and ex-Runaway Cherie Currie.

Anonymous said...

Just stumbled on another good choice: High School Confidential (1958). This is playing on TCM tomorrow night at 8:30, so fire up that VCR. Original trailer is also available to view on the TCM website.

Eric said...

I don't have cable, but I just added this to my Netflix queue. Thanks!!

Jefferson said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Jefferson said...

How about "Rock 'n' Roll High School"?

Eric said...

Good call. I'll add it to the list.

Jefferson said...

Thanks! This might be a stretch....Logan's Run?

Jefferson said...

One more that came to mind...The Squid and The Whale.

Anonymous said...

what about "Rock and Roll High School"?