“Wild Child” 2008 is a contemporary teenage movie, directed by Nick Moore starring as Poppy Moore, as Freddie Kingsley and as Mrs. Kingsley. Institutionally Wild Child was released in the U.K on August 15 taking 5th place at the box office with $2,196,366 from 359 theatres. In its 4th weekend, it dropped to 12th place.5 Todorov’s theory can be applied to ”Wild Child”, as it can to most modern teenpics, because of the narratives equilibrium, disequilibrium and new equilibrium. The narrative explores the life of a spoilt American teenager living the high life in the USA (equilibrium) who is sent to an upper-class private boarding school for girls. Naturally Poppy rebels against the regime as she struggles to find a way to get herself expelled. (Disequilibrium). After numerous failed attempts the ultimate route to expulsion appears to lie in seducing the headmistress's son: Freddie. But as the time of her expulsion draws ever closer and Poppy starts to settle in and make friends her motives change as she becomes aware of the person she wants to be. (New equilibrium). “Wild Child” differs somewhat from a lot of teen-pics because the characters are less caricature than those found in a typical, most often American, teen film. The friendship groups do not seem as conventionally defined as most, such as in “Mean Girls”. It appears to be aimed at the younger teen because of the mild language and absence of strong sexual content and only holds a certificate rating of PG-13, whereas the majority of films are targeted at the late teens and have a certificate rating of 15 – 18. The director may have seen this gap in the market and created “Wild Child” specifically for the younger adolescence.
The filming on “Wild Child” does not draw attention to itself however different lighting and colour is used in the beginning of the film of that used later. When Poppy is living her pampered life in Los Angeles the lighting appears artificial being very bright with exaggerated colours and picturesque mis en scene of the beach. Everyone’s clothes are rich in colour along with a brilliant bright blue sky and ocean, which reflects the perfect weather and lifestyle Poppy had. This is juxtaposed by the grey mundane boarding school of Abbey Mount. The lighting becomes much more natural and colours are less obvious and this conveys realism. The film language supports Poppy as a character, in L.A she chose to wear lots of makeup and long blonde extensions, her attitude was bitchy and spoilt and she was saturated with luxuries that she did not appreciate. Moving to England her personality transformed from worshiping her cell phone to realising her over-dependence on materialistic objects and becoming honest and true to her friends changing her hair colour to a more subtle brown and ditching the make up. Her character had changed to more down to earth because of the social crowd she was integrating with.
The ideology present in the middle of the film touches on body consciousness and image obsession of young girls which is one of societies most talked about issues. A nationwide survey of more than 10,000 adolescents, published in the August issue of Pediatrics, reports a high rate of concern about body image in both boys and girls.6 Poppy asks her friends whether she is “hot to trot” she tans and cries when she discover “..new season of Gucci” in her suitcase is soaking wet. Other ideas along with this include love and relationships, the decline of the nuclear family and rebellion. In the United States of America, the third most populous nation, just under 25% of family units are considered nuclear families.7 The ideology used represents the current social context in which it is set and this is to ensure the teenpic genre is continually renewed to accommodate to it’s changing audiences.
In addition to larger scaled present-day matters “Wild Child” also taps into individual character’s dilemmas of coping with change and social integration between the sub-groups of a high school; worries of how to conform in order to be perceived as “one of them”. This personal ideology allows the audience to identify with characters. Bullying between social groups has always been a problem in high schools and this is represented in the teenpic. “Rebel Without a Cause” demonstrates this when Plato, an outsider whom is confused between reality and his own lies but strives for companionship, is rejected by everyone at college and picked on by Buzz’s “popular” bunch. In the 1950’s the between the and the United States broke out and McCarthyism may have been a factor affecting the inclusion of conflict bullying and violence in the movie. Name calling “chicken” and even knives were drawn in the beginning of the film followed later by police chases, guns and results in Plato’s death. McCarthyism was a widespread social and cultural phenomenon that affected all levels of society and was the source of a great deal of debate and conflict in the United States.8 With reference to “Wild Child” Poppy uses email to bully her friends. Cyber-bullying is a growing issue affecting many teenagers all over the world because of social network sites such as Facebook and Bebo and MSN messenger and email. 42% of kids have been bullied while online. One in four has had it happen more than once 9; and because of this a national “anti-bullying week” has been held every year since 2005.
Teenagers watch teen films for a number of reasons. I think the audiences of teenpics are actively using the text for their particular needs (uses and gratifications theory): Affective needs for entertainment, particularly humor. For example “American Pie” a successful comedy teen hybrid, dependant on the awkward sex scenes and embarrassment of a high school group for complete hilarity. Also the audience use these films for cognitive needs, to acquire information and understanding of other teens of similar age that come from different cultures. I think teen movies make empathising with others outside of your own social group for youths easier, as many films home into how the under-dog feels i.e. the geek in the teenpic. For example an audience member who falls under the “popular” category at their own school when watching a teen-pic such as “Never Been Kissed” and identifying with Josie Gellar who was mocked teased and rejected her whole high school life. “Never Been Kissed” directed by Raja Gosnell in 1999 is a story about a copy editor from the Chicago Sun Times who is sent undercover to her old high school to find out about what teenagers are like. The film language unveils Josie’s tormented past through the use of flashbacks. As an audience we are able to understand other people’s emotions in situations unfamiliar to us through their perspective.
In contrast an audience may watch a teen movie for self identity. Idolising celebrities and aspiring to be like them, and visualising themselves as that character. A student studying dance is likely to select a dance / teen movie such as “Bring it on”, “Save the Last Dance”, “Honey” and “Stomp the Yard” because the audience have similar interests and may look, be or act like the character in the film. “Wild Child” addresses issues which most closely affect the younger teen audience. The film is set in England and so it is most likely to attract an English audience.
Following the repertoire of elements for the teen-pic genre the common narratives usually include the high school prom “Carrie”, the geek becoming popular “Thirteen”, falling in love “High School Musical”, loosing of virginity “American Pie” and getting into college. Generally they follow Todorovs theory with a linear narrative. Teen-pics generally have a feel good happy ending. The popular girls get punished, the geek seeks justice and there’s always the ugly girl who falls in-love, “She’s All That”. A lot of teen films leave the ending inconclusive and produce sequels such as “Final Destination” 2000 a horror-teen hybrid, there are now four of these movies. The first “Final Destination” was released before the plane crash attacks of 9/11 in America so was not based on theses events regardless of it being about a premonition about a plane crash.
The topical issues and ideology make up the genre of “teen”. Drugs are commonly present in teen-pics for example “Thirteen” 2004 directed by Catherine Hardwicke is about a thirteen-year-old girl's relationship with her mother is put to the test as she discovers drugs, sex, and petty crime in the company of her cool but troubled best friend. Smoking, snorting cocaine and misuse of solvents all take place during the film. The sickly green wash of the filming and the use of an unsteady hand held camera towards the end of the narrative creates an uneasy trippy feel representing the characters perspective of life. A survey by the World Health Organization reveals that one in three 15 year olds have had sex, two out of three have been drunk and one in three has tried cannabis.10 “Thirteen” reflects these shocking statistics, as impressionable Tracey finds herself in these situations when peer pressure takes over.
The setting is usually at the high school or the shopping mall and other popular teenage hang out points. For example the fairground in “Grease”. In “Wild Child” Poppy spends a day raiding the charity shops in the local town near Abbey Mount School with some of her new friends, during this scene Poppy’s rebellious side is reflected when she purchases alcohol at just 16. The other girls are so impressed by this they adopt her behaviour and attend the evening’s disco very drunk wearing outrageous outfits.
The stock characters used in teen movies distinguish the teen genre. The archetypical characters rely heavily on cultural types to reflect realism of a high school but in an exaggerated way; this enables the audience to instantly form an opinion and have ready expectations about the role a particular character will play because of previous existing characters. “Mean Girls” introduces the “Plastics”, Regina George, Gretchen Wieners and Karen Smith. Dressed all in pink, pristine hair and perfect physique with their artificial smiles, the audience at once understand that they are the “mean” popular / cheerleader type who every girl in school hates but aspires to be like. The girls are referred to as “Plastics” which reflects today’s society’s cosmetic surgery obsession. It is leaked out in the film that Regina has had a nose job and her mother, breast implants. In 2003, more than 223,000 cosmetic procedures were performed on patients 18 years of age or younger and almost 39,000 were surgical procedures such as nose reshaping, breast lifts, breast augmentation, liposuction, and tummy tucks.
Every high school has its own social structure with the Jocks and the Cheerleaders top of the hierarchy and the nerds and band geeks at the bottom and this is why directors use them in their text. To make one teen pic unlike another a unique character who doesn’t fall typically into a social stereotypical group. Usually being the central protagonist this character is the peace-maker and do-gooder. Lyndsay Lohan in “Mean Girls” 2004 directed by Mark Waters plays Cady Heron a girl who grew up in Africa and homeschooled, moves to the USA to attend the last year of high school. She didn’t really fit into any category and just seemed like a regular teenager and not a “Hollywood manufactured archetype”. She befriends a socially excluded Goth and bullied gay boy and then slowly transforms into one of the “Plastic” cliques. Later good comes out of evil when she returns back to her old self and the girls are confronted by their victims. Cady played the interesting character which makes each teen pic individual. Other archetypes include the sexually active bad geeks, jocks, the hot foreign exchange student. In “Wild Child” Harriet explains the Abbey Mount hierarchy: “There is a hierarchy: Teachers, prefects, scholars, dogs, vermin and Americans” this differs somewhat to the American high school structure.
The iconography of typical teen-pics comprise of cars, books, rucksacks, featuring cafeterias, the gymnasium clothes shops and classrooms as the mis en scene. Almost all have the classic social stereotyping of the students. Each of the sub-groups has an expected location in the school. The tables in the cafeteria will be separated, occupied by one social group at each, little communication occurs between one table and the next. The jocks will have possession over the gymnasium and the basketball courts the music room always crowded by band geeks the girls toilets made unavailable by a row of plastics re-applying their lipstick and a group of cheerleaders ogling the football players on the school field.
Conclusively social group stereotyping has played a leading role in the success of the teenpic spanning over decades. They allow directors to establish their genre through these archetypical characters and assist an audience in forming ready ideas about the role they are going to play. As and audience it is in our preference to witness the reoccurrence of the stereotypes identified in a high school because it reflects a reality and allows us to empathise with a character that in life we see and ignore everyday. It provides excellent opportunities for directors to produce parodies on the teen-pic such as “Not another Teen Movie” because of all the humorous spoofs available to include; and most teens enjoy humour. Although the social structure in teen films has always been present, the characters themselves have evolved with time. The bullies in “Rebel Without a Cause” differ slightly to the kind of bully we expect to find in a more contemporary teenpic and with this being the case, I think the use of social group stereotypes will never tire.
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