In the event of my last day of high school, I thought I should do something special: I'm going to countdown some of the best high school films or just a few favorites according to year. Specifically, I'm talking about youth-related movies that address serious issues and convey important messages that pertain to youth culture.
1. Breakfast Club (1985)
Comedy-Drama
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| The Breakfast Club (1985). Hughs, John. Universal Pictures. Film poster. |
The Breakfast Club is a youth-centric 80s film that is still quite relevant to high school students today. It's a captivating film that both closely examines and shatters trite high-school stereotypes and stereotypical personalities which form as a result of selectively esoteric cliques and labels that are difficult to eradicate. Although times have changed in terms of the confining high-school labels and hierarchies (as audiences may see in 21 Jump Street), students still face various issues regarding harmful methods of exclusion and harsh judgmental criticism. However, all schools are different and the issues that students may encounter vary as well. I didn't really have any of these issues in high school, more in middle school, but that could be because I made sure to find other intelligent, determined, and very sensible students to be around and didn't waste time with other students outside of school (in other words, I just stayed home studying all the time like I do now in college so there isn't any drama to deal with there).
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| Molly Ringwald, Emilio Estevez, etc. The Breakfast Club (1985). Dir/Writ. Hughs, John. Universal Pictures. Film Still. |
One of the most important scenes, and most memorable scene for me, in The Breakfast Club is Emilio Estevez's character speech about how "we're all pretty bizarre. Some of us are just better at hiding it." This quote really had me thinking. I've often used it to get people to understand another person's perspective and bring attention to the fact that this is a fact. We all are different and strange in our own ways, some people are just more open and honest about it. Another major part of this quote relates to our insecurities with the actions, thoughts, and behaviours that are considered normal by society, and our stringent conditioning which feeds into our insecurities and forces us to follow those (usually unnecessary and discriminatory) social norms. Near the end of the film, specifically in the scene with that quote, we see these characters really want to be able to be friends and continue a relationship, but are so concerned with what everyone else thinks and too insecure to fully counter and resist the social norms and confinements of the groups/cliques of which they belong.
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| Ally Sheedy. The Breakfast Club (1985). Hughs, John. Universal Pictures. Film Still and Quote. The issue/double standard described in this quote is discussed in the 'Easy A' segment of the post, below. |
2. Easy A (2010)
Comedy-Drama
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| Emma Stone. Easy A (2010). Sony Pictures. Film Poster/Film Still. |
Easy A proves itself as another teen-centric film that is not to be confused with all of the other crappy "teen" films. It is a comedy that acknowledges a myriad of serious issues harming American youth, female youth in particular. The film takes place in a conservative "bible-belt" community where the subjective idea of purity and religious righteousness are heavily imposed upon the highly impressionable and credulous insecure youth. Rachel Rabbit White describes it best in an amazing and accurate piece that relates to the central issue of this entire film, in her article she writes, "I grew up in a small, conservative town. Needless to say, people did not have the healthiest attitudes about sex. . . In this view of sexuality, where there was no more than 'don't do it,' consent and it’s many layers wasn't an issue. As a woman in this culture, there was no learning what you like and asking for it. There was no sex beyond this one act."
In the instance of this film, major issues relating to sexuality are examined and comedically emulated in this setting. One of the most important cultural issues addressed in the film are the extremely patriarchal and inexcusable double-standards that young women too often have to endure. For instance, Olive's character is perceived as a number of insulting slurs (words more severe than "harlot") by both female and made classmates. If the Olive character was a male, this would be completely different- and such a character would be widely accepted and congratulated as fitting the "masculine" ideal (which is no doubt toxic), not dehumanized and vindicated as nothing but a sex-object (as we see with the female character). These type of double standards are especially worse in an immature environment (e.g. high-school setting like the film) and unfortunately anywhere, really.
Another important component of the film is its depiction of the kudzu-like spread of rumors and how the majority of such rumors are untrue and worsened over time, and female students are usually the targets of slanderous rumors and insults. Then others who believe or continue to spread defamatory remarks only further exacerbate the already severe problem, which shows just how quick people are to judge one another over a falsity, and how it leads to an even greater, though no-less negative, reputation for the victim (who, if a woman, will be unfairly blamed regardless).
All of these complex issues which negatively affect young women are depicted and emphasized in this film, which is good for the fact that it creates awareness for those/girls who may be in similar situations as the Olive character, and hopefully somehow helps to mitigate some of the problems they may encounter. There's also hope that movies like this might help young people realize how unfair and cruel young people are towards one another. And maybe help to minimize the amount of odious victimizers/bullies and lazy/scared bystanders to realize how ridiculous and lowdown they really are, because hopefully they will wise-up and realize that they can be better. In other words, bystanders need to stop doing nothing, and start standing up for or protecting and helping those in trouble situations/those being bullied- we see the adult-version of this (meaning adults who should already know better, not immature high-schoolers) in the really great ABC show "What Would You Do?" In this case, the issues are reflected through the way students cruelly react, mistreat, and harass the main character, Olive (Emma Stone), for actions she didn't even take part in. And even if she did, she or any other girl, should not be and does not deserve to be treated or harassed for it. Not just a woman, but any human has the right to do whatever they chose with their own body, and should not be penalized for being comfortable with themselves, their choices, and/or their sexuality as most young women often are.
Throughout the film the protagonist, Olive (Emma Stone), is shown having to experience and tolerate all of these issues and more, until she finds her way to overcome it. As a film, Easy A exemplifies a really important factor as a comedy-drama with its balance between serious and funny. This is a film that can address and portray these serious societal issues, while remaining refreshingly light and comedic.
3. 21 Jump Street (2012)
Comedy-Action
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| Channing Tatum, Jonah Hill. 21 Jump Street (2012). Columbia Pictures. Film Poster. |
When I saw this movie, I thought it was completely on-point with it's depiction of how high school has changed in the past few years. Not all high schools are like the one in '21 Jump', but my high school was for the fact that most of the students were really chill and there wasn't really a popular group (there were people that could be considered popular, but they were only popular for being really nice all the time really), everyone just hung out with people they liked, even if that meant going outside the group of which one usually eats lunch. This was cool. And as Channing's character, Jenko, describes these "crunchy granola dudes" who are on the more "popular" side of the school seem to be the students becoming more aware of the issues in the world- inequalities, oppression, environmental issues, politics, conflicts, etc. which all affect every aspect of our lives in some way- environmental and political/legal issues especially (I ought to know, I have become that type of student). The point of emphasizing this change was to show that the overrated social hierarchy has dispersed, so much so that's nearly almost nonexistent. Or at least, overall or on average, the hierarchy isn't as bad as Breakfast Club. However, myriad issues still exist for girls, which we see exemplified in Easy A.
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| Channing Tatum, Jonah Hill. 21 Jump Street (2012). Film Still. |
Also, it wasn't until I saw this film that realized how adorable a subtle bromance can be, which there are a lot of in high school and perhaps even after high school, I'm sure. I don't know if it's become a growing trend or what, but even before the term was coined, these close-guy relationships have always been around. I think the best way to look at it, is in a positive light because it's clearly not going anywhere any time soon and that's not a bad thing. It's actually really sad, unfortunate, and harmful that guys can't express how they honestly feel or what they really think without trying to display the false bravado of the misogynistic masculinity. There are several articles that address such issues on The Good Men Project, and writers of the website show that it's advantageous when guys do not to sucumb to or try to attain the hyper-masculine ideal, but become more caring, compassionate, selfless, honest, etc. It's better to see guys asserting more of the female-gendered characteristics, like compassion, than having them think that they need to prove a toxic masculinity that only results in violence, pain, and harm to others (most importantly women) and themselves.
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On a different note and speaking of breakfast (Breakfast Club), my last day of high school breakfast was a recipe you can find here, but something I decided to make while watching the DVR recorded Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson was a really nice episode with Mila Kunis. Even though I wasn't able to watch the whole show at the time, what I was able to see that it was funny as usual. I love it when Mila Kunis is on the show, but also Craig's Michael Caine impressions are hilarious.
What are some of your favorite high school/"teen" movies and the messages or meanings you interpreted behind them? Feel free to share your thoughts on any of the many different topics in this post, and perhaps join the discussion.
Title: Nirvana
