Rebels and Chicks : A History of the Hollywood Teen Movie

by TROPIANO, STEPHEN

• ISBN13: 9780823097012
• ISBN10: 0823097013
• Format: Trade Paper
• Copyright: 2005-08-01
• Publisher: Back Stage Books

Summary

Entertaining yet insightful analysis of more than 100 films for and about teenagersillustrated with photos of iconic moments Filmography of teen movies From Mickey and Judy putting on a show, to James Dean rebelling without a cause, to Molly Ringwald crying on her sixteenth birthday, teen movies have reflected the social, political, and cultural climate of their times for more than fifty years. The book begins with a look at the image of teenagers in pre-1950s Hollywood cinema. Among the topics discussed are exploitation films of the 1930s, such asReefer MadnessandCocaine Fiends, the roles assigned to teen performers such as Elizabeth Taylor and Natalie Wood, and the "criminals-in-training" films of the 1940s, such as the serials featuring the East Side Kids and The Bowery Boys.

Author Biography

Stephen Tropiano is the author of Prime Time Closet: A History of the Gays and Lesbians on TV as well as the editor of the Journal of Film and Video, the oldest film journal in the United States. He is the director of the Ithaca College Los Angeles Program, where he teaches film, television history, theory, and criticism. He lives in Los Angeles.

Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION:A Genre of Their Own	9	(8)
PART 1: The Teen movie is Born (1955-1965)	17	(70)
Sex-Crazed, Rock 'n' Roll—loving, Juvenile Delinquents
"The correct information at the correct time in the correct way"
"I was a teenage..."
"You never dream it could happen to your kids"
"A safe and sane dance for all young people"
"Should a girl 'play house' before marriage'?"
"The perfect summer when the urge meets the surge!"
PART 2: You Say You Want a Revolution?: Teen Movies as Counter-Counterculture (1965-1980) 87	87	(48)
"The shape of things to come"
"Be more! Sense more! Love more!"
"Where were you in '62?"
"You can't stay seventeen forever"
PART 3: "Like, Totally Serious": The Hollywood Teen Movies of the 1980's (1980-1989)	135	(66)
"Nice, normal kids living ordinary lives"
"It was the bogeyman"
Boys Will Be Boys
Getting Serious
The Brat Pack
"Stubborn little troupers"
War and Peace
"I want my MTV!"
PART 4: The Hollywood Teen Film Comes of Age (1989-2005)	201	(74)
Disaffected and Disengaged
Generation X
The Askewniverse of Kevin Smith
A Little Romance
Slash and Rehash
Girls Just Wanna Be Mean
Boys (Still) Just Wanna Get Laid
Lost in Translation
Teens on the Margins
EPILOGUE: To Be Continued	275	(4)
ENDNOTES	279