History of Teen comedy:

Teen comedy started in the 50s, it was an idea that intermediate stage between childhood and adulthood, with its own peculiar characteristics. It was all still new when the film ‘The wild one (1953)’ was made. Changing the social attitudes and the economy of the war made the emerge in teenagers. Because of this, teenagers found themselves with a much larger allowances and more free time, due to parents wanting there children to have much full educations after their depression of the war.Rock n roll sound was added into a lot of the early first teen movies. ‘Rock around the clock (1956)’ was one of the first teenage films to be marketed to the exclusion of their elders.

Conventions of a teen comedy:The conventions of a teen comedy can include proms, alcohol, illegal substances, high school, parties and all night raves, losing virginity, relationships and social groups.

The jock/CheerleaderThe princessThe geek/nerdThe rebelThe misfits/outcastsThe average girl/boyThe new girl/boyThe lonerThe band geek.

Teen comedy timeline:

One of the first teenage films made was ‘The Wild One’.The wild one was released on 30th December 1953, staring Marlon Brando. It was one of the first films showing rebellion and the biker gang lifestyle. It was frowned upon and banned from the UK for 14 years.

Another film that was released in the early 50s was ‘A rebel without a cause’. It was released in 1955 and was one of the first films where the main target was teens and the storyline was a typical teen movie like today’s, for example ‘New kid’. It included romance and was a huge hit everywhere with teenagers.

In the 60’s teen movies were a lot more common, Films that were released in the 60’s was:

‘Beach party’. This was released on the 19th July 1963.It was one of the first major teen films of the 60s and Like many films now days was focused on fun and romance.

Films released in the 70’s were films like ‘Grease’ which was released in 1978. Grease is a timeless movie which is still watched by many today, but at the time it was made it was more focused on teenagers with it being based in a high school with summer romance. The only main difference in today is the costumes they wore for example the ‘tight trousers, T-bird jackets and the pink lady jackets.

Teen comedy’s that were released in the 80s were the golden years for teen movies. The emphasis was on parents being clueless and suburb life was portrayed to be ‘alienating’. Films that were released in the 80’s are films like ‘Girls just wanna have fun, the breakfast club, Ferris Buellers day off and pretty in pink’.

Teen comedys released in the 90s increased a lot as the laws were a lot less strict than they were in the 50s. They were a lot more focused on sex, nudity and drugs. With strong themes like ‘losing virginity’ as shown in the film ‘American Pie’ which was released in 1991. Other films released in the 90’s were films like ‘Clueless’ which was also about partying, romance and showed a lot of wealth in characters.

Teen comedy’s today are films like;

‘Mean girls’ which was released in 2004. Mean girls was one of the most popular teen movies staring Lindsey Lohan who is one of the most famous teen stars in this generation. It was mainly targeted at teenage girls, but fits the criteria of a teen movie including romance, comedy and high school lifestyle. It had a lot of setting in parties as well.

Other films released in 2000 were ‘Juno’ which was released in 2007. Juno was slightly indie but with the emphasis being on unusual situations such as high school lifestyle with a sense of humor.