Queering Teen Culture: All-American Boys and Same-Sex Desire in Film and Television

by Dennis; Jeffery P

• ISBN13: 9781560233480
• ISBN10: 1560233486
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2006-06-06
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

Why did Fonzie hang around with all those high school boys? Is the overwhelming boy-meets-girl content of popular teen movies, music, books, and TV just a cover for an undercurrent of same-sex desire? From the 1950s to the present, popular culture has involved teenage boys falling for, longing over, dreaming about, singing to, and fighting over, teenage girls. But Queering Teen Culture analyzes more than 200 movies and TV shows to uncover who Frankie Avalon's character was really in love with in those beach movies and why Leif Garrett became a teen idol in the 1970s. In Top 40 songs, teen magazines, movies, TV soap operas and sitcoms, teenagers are defined by their pubescent discovery” of the opposite sex, universally and without exception. Queering Teen Culture looks beyond the litany to find out when adults became so insistent about teenage sexual desire--and why--and finds evidence of same-sex desire, romantic interactions, and identities that, according to the dominant ideology, do not and cannot exist. This provocative book examines the careers of male performers whose teenage roles made them famous (including Ricky Nelson, Pat Boone, Fabian, and James Darren) and discusses examples of lesbian desire (including I Love Lucyand Laverne and Shirley). Queering Teen Culture examines: Ozzie and Harriet, Father Knows Best,and Leave It to Beaver: Were Ricky, Bud, and Wally sufficiently straight? the juvenile delinquent films of the 1950s: Why weren't the rebel-without-a-cause bad boys” interested in girls? horror, sci-fi, and zombies from outer space: Body of a boy! Mind of a monster! Soul of an unearthly thing!” teen idols--pretty, androgynous, and feminine: No wonder they were rumored to be funny” beach movies: She wants to plan their wedding but he wants to surf, sky-dive and go drag racing with the guys Biker-hippies boys of the late 1960s: I know your scene--don't think I don't!” the 1950s nostalgia of the 1970s: Why does Fonzie spend all his time with high school boys? teen gore: What makes the psycho-killer angry? and much more, including Gidget, the Brat Pack, buddy dramas, nerds and operators,” Saved by the Bell, The Real World,and the incredible shrinking teenager Queering Teen Culture is an essential read for academics working in cultural and gay studies, and for anyone else with an interest in popular culture.

Table of Contents

Preface	vii
Author's Note	xi
About the Author	xii
Chapter 1. Devil on Wheels: The Rise of Teen Culture	1	(12)
The Adolescent	1	(1)
The Teenager	2	(3)
The Heterosexual Teenager	5	(8)
Chapter 2. Father Knows Best: Learning
Girl-Craziness on TV	13	(2)
Ricky Nelson	15	(5)
Billy Gray	20	(3)
Jerry Mathers	23	(6)
Dwayne Hickman	29	(4)
Chapter 3. Sal Mineo and Friends: The Juvenile Delinquent Films	33	(16)
Juvenile Delinquents	35	(11)
Juvenile Delinquency Heats Up	46	(3)
Chapter 4. Teenage Zombies from Outer Space: Monster Movies	49	(16)
Teenage Werewolf	50	(2)
Teenage Frankenstein	52	(2)
The Monster Mash	54	(8)
The End of the Monster Mash	62	(3)
Chapter 5. Heartbreak Hotel: The Teen Idols	65	(18)
Teenage Boys in Love	68	(4)
Teen Idols on Screen	72	(11)
Chapter 6. How to Stuff a Wild Bikini: The Beach Movies	83	(20)
Beach Movie Regulars	89	(12)
The Last of the Beach Movies	101	(2)
Chapter 7. Easy Rider: The Love Generation	103	(16)
The Biker-Hippies	105	(5)
Easy Rider	110	(2)
The Clean-Cut Boys	112	(4)
Teen Idols	116	(3)
Chapter 8. American Graffiti: 1950's Nostalgia and Teenage Androgyny	119	(16)
Teen Dreams	121	(4)
The 1950's Craze	125	(6)
The Gay 1950's	131	(4)
Chapter 9. Real Men and Psycho-Slashers	135	(14)
Teen Idols	137	(5)
Teen Gore	142	(7)
Chapter 10. The Brat Pack: Teen Nerds and Operators	149	(22)
Buddy Dramas	151	(4)
Teen Nerds	155	(6)
Teen Operators	161	(10)
Chapter 11. Teencoms and Teensoaps	171	(18)
The Teencom	173	(4)
The Teensoap	177	(4)
The Real World	181	(1)
The Incredible Shrinking Teenager	182	(4)
Cruel Intentions	186	(3)
Notes	189	(14)
Index	203