Forever Young

Re: The Brat Pack

seely — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 14:21:30 GMT

I completely agree. In my opinion, the potrayal of the average teen has gone from someone whom actually looks/acts like a teenager to a nearly thirty-something (see: 'The OC') playing a seventeen-year-old who acts like a nearly-thirty-something. Being in my mid twenties myself, I find myself relating more to 90's and millenial teen dramas than I did when I was in highschool watching them. They were funny, entertaining, and made me wonder why my life wasn't like that at the time.

I remember watching 'The Breakfast Club' in highschool, around the time 'American Pie' came out, and thinking to myself that I could really relate to TBC a lot more than AP.

That being said, has anyone seen the previews for American Teen? It is being called the new Breakfast Club by some. Seems to be a potential trend-setter for post-new-millenial teen films, as its shot almost more like a documentary. Seems like its shot with crappy lighting and a handheld, in an attempt to look as 'real' as possible. From the trailer, it looked like it has a lot of potential to be good and generated a lot of buzz at Sundance.

I have my fingers crossed.

filmgal81:

Instead of the actors behaving like teens, clumsy, self-conscious and Insecure ( to varying degress), they acted more like the 20 -somethings that were playing them. In fact i'll go as far to say that the " new" movie teens act more like the adults that 80s teens they knew that they weren't. You don't see as much of that struggle between adulthood and teendom as you did in earlier teen movies. We no longer see the evolution into adulthood- teens who are starting to form their own ideas, but did not have the world figured out yet and had some idea when they were in over their heads.

Re: The Brat Pack

filmgal81 — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 17:44:30 GMT

I think the reason for this swing can also be tied into the Christmas movies of the 80s discussion. In general, by the time the hard -hitting 90s roll around, people are no longer interested in a certain amount of innocent introspection. People want it in their face, and the 90s was about an edgy, no holds barred, look at life. The people were "prettier" the bodies more sculpted and the stories more unbashedly sexual. Not that 80s teens were asexual, but overall there was a more realistic quality to it all that was lost by the time the 90s began.

Instead of the actors behaving like teens, clumsy, self-conscious and Insecure ( to varying degress), they acted more like the 20 -somethings that were playing them. In fact i'll go as far to say that the " new" movie teens act more like the adults that 80s teens they knew that they weren't. You don't see as much of that struggle between adulthood and teendom as you did in earlier teen movies. We no longer see the evolution into adulthood- teens who are starting to form their own ideas, but did not have the world figured out yet and had some idea when they were in over their heads.

Although I appluaded the overly verbal dialogue of shows like Dawson' s Creek initially, I believe that it started a potentially dangerous trend. It was a brillant move, treating the teens like the almost -adults they were, but now writers tend to tie that hyper-articulation in with more adult situations- things that, despite their perfect -score-on-their- SAT- vocabulary, would still be over their heads. But instead, their more detailed navel gazing is treated as if it is synonymous with worldiness or wisdom. Even if you can argue that they are more aware of the world than they used to be, perhaps they have to be being a generation that has never known a world without AIDS ( among many other things), but does that make them any less susceptibel to the pitfalls of teen thinking?

I doubt it.

And with while teens on screens big & small participate in the "I'm an Adult Now" race, children younger and younger are being exposed to situations that they are not ready for (but they don't even know it ).

Ex: An 11-year-old should not own a thong.

I say, that if kids want to be grown-ups and we are fine with stunting their natural evolution from childhood to adulthood perhaps we should revoke child labor laws as well. Let the 11-year old thong wearers get jobs like the rest of us.

( OF COURSE i am not serious, but my extreme point as been made)

seely:

I <3 Molly Ringwald. That being said, I'm probably one of the few guys who will shamelessly declare his love for any Brat Pack/John Hughes film. I loved Breakfast Club, Sixteen Candles, and all of those wonderful films. I really don't think there is as realistic a portrayal of teen life today... its gone from genuine struggle, sexual curiosity/frustration and angst to sexual conquest and slapstick comedy (see: 'American Pie').

I

Re: The Brat Pack

seely — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 15:40:21 GMT

I <3 Molly Ringwald. That being said, I'm probably one of the few guys who will shamelessly declare his love for any Brat Pack/John Hughes film. I loved Breakfast Club, Sixteen Candles, and all of those wonderful films. I really don't think there is as realistic a portrayal of teen life today... its gone from genuine struggle, sexual curiosity/frustration and angst to sexual conquest and slapstick comedy (see: 'American Pie').

I also would argue you don't see as diverse a cast in the majority of teen films today. Though Hughes relied heavily on archetypes/stereotypes in most of his films, he at least had a somewhat diverse cast of characters who represented different segements of the youth population and didn't all fit into that preppy/pretty-boy category. For every character, there was always an antognist. I never found myself relating much to American Pie, though it was entertaining, while I find myself indentifying a lot more with Sixteen Candles and The Breakfast Club.

Maybe it just gave this geek a little hope.

filmgal81:

I whole heartedly agree.

All that  girls have to idolize now are lolipop shaped, cookie cutter actresses who are playing the " Light as a Feather" game.

It is very sad that 1) this is what we label as perfection these days and 2) no one thinks to question anything regarding this extreme  swing of the pendulum out side of "um...perhaps they are too thin? maybe?"

I wrote a piece about it on my blog entitled " Honey, Your Puritain Roots Are Showing"   http://retrocurves.tumblr.com/

check it out.

i-heart-art:
If you've got a spare moment, feel free to read my blog about The Breakfast Club. In it, I declare it as my favorite in what I have dubbed "The Holy Trinity of Ringwald" (Sixteeen Candles, The Breakfast Club, and Pretty in Pink). I'm pretty sure that young girls today don't have any wholesome [yet quirky] idols like Molly Ringwald was for us back then and it's truly sad...

Re: The Brat Pack

filmgal81 — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 14:32:56 GMT

I whole heartedly agree.

All that girls have to idolize now are lolipop shaped, cookie cutter actresses who are playing the " Light as a Feather" game.

It is very sad that 1) this is what we label as perfection these days and 2) no one thinks to question anything regarding this extreme swing of the pendulum out side of "um...perhaps they are too thin? maybe?"

I wrote a piece about it on my blog entitled " Honey, Your Puritain Roots Are Showing" http://retrocurves.tumblr.com/

check it out.

i-heart-art:
If you've got a spare moment, feel free to read my blog about The Breakfast Club. In it, I declare it as my favorite in what I have dubbed "The Holy Trinity of Ringwald" (Sixteeen Candles, The Breakfast Club, and Pretty in Pink). I'm pretty sure that young girls today don't have any wholesome [yet quirky] idols like Molly Ringwald was for us back then and it's truly sad...

Re: The Brat Pack

i-heart-art — Sat, 02 Dec 2006 13:16:28 GMT

If you've got a spare moment, feel free to read my blog about The Breakfast Club. In it, I declare it as my favorite in what I have dubbed "The Holy Trinity of Ringwald" (Sixteeen Candles, The Breakfast Club, and Pretty in Pink). I'm pretty sure that young girls today don't have any wholesome [yet quirky] idols like Molly Ringwald was for us back then and it's truly sad...

Re: The Brat Pack

pippin06 — Wed, 05 Apr 2006 18:36:10 GMT

I sooo agree. These are the movies that created the formula other movies dare to copy (and don't copy as well). My favorite is The Breakfast Club. Though set in the 80s, it's got themes that are too timeless and apply to teens in more recent decades.

Incidentally, they are one half of the inspiration for this group. The other inspiration comes from films like 10 Things I Hate About You and Clueless, which also fall under my "guilty pleasure" column...but that's a separate conversation.

The Brat Pack

spoutgirl — Wed, 05 Apr 2006 18:24:15 GMT

Really, you can't beat the Brat Pack movies to take you back to the awful days of AquaNet Hairspray and blue eyeshadow. Everytime I watch one of those movie I am reminded of all the dumb things I did and wore : ) I love them!!!