In his essay, Denby makes many good points about who and what teen movies appeals to. The one issue that he doesn't seem to comment on is the degree to which individuals fit into the stereotypes that Denby lays out for the reader. Obviously not every one's high school has only clones of Social Queen, Jock and Outsider running around. A school with only three different types of individuals would be ridiculous. Denby states that "not every social queen or jock shares all the attributes I've mentioned" but he neglects to acknowledge that many high school kids fall into one category or more, but are not cookie-cutter replicas. Take for example Bleaker in the film Juno. He is a Jock, whether or not he fits the mold, but also looked at as an Outsider.
Denby also fails to acknowledge the presence of friendship between members of the different roles. Not every girl who isn't a Social Queen is not necessarily a Jock or Outsider. With that said, friendships can be made between those who relate with one or more of these aforementioned roles. Without taking note of how these characters are labeled and grouped in real life, the film that is portraying these roles can not be considered a realistic representation.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment