ENGFLM 1481 - YOUTH FILM

Minimum Credits: 3
Maximum Credits: 3
This course will look at a type of film that has been prominent in Hollywood cinema since 1955: the youth film or teen film or teenpic. The teenpic has been variously defined as films targeted at a teenage market and as films about teenagers (and sometimes both). The course will concentrate on two major periods during which teenpics thrived: the 1950s and 1980-1999. The major questions we will ask in the course are: Is the teenpic a film genre? If so, how can we describe and classify it? In considering the teenpic as a genre, we will attempt to break it down into subgenres such as the juvenile delinquent film, the teen musical, the teen horror film, nostalgic teen films, postmodern youth cult films, African American teen films and "girl" teenpics, gay and lesbian teenpics. The class will concentrate on American films, both mainstream and independent up to the present day. However, it will also include international films and television programs that fit the theme of the course. It will also study the evolving conceptualizations of "youth" and "teenager."
Academic Career: Undergraduate
Course Component: Seminar
Grade Component: LG/SNC Elective Basis

Click here for class schedule information.

Add to Portfolio.

Close Window