Teen Movies

Question 1

Name three crisis’ that the United States was facing as the 1980s began?

Answer 1

• American Hostage Crisis in Iran
• The prime lending rate was near twenty percent & inflation was doubling
• Unemployment was steeply on the rise

Question 2

Many Hollywood studio films of the early 1980’s demonstrated a contempt for what?

Answer 2

A contempt for and suspicion of wealth, especially within the young middle class, (not yet called yuppies).

Question 3

Name one of the films mentioned in the early part of the reading that “vilified” upper-class aspirations while vindicating those of the working-class.

Answer 3

Ordinary People (1980) showcased a direct criticism of bourgeois familial repression.

Question 4

Name a director who rose to popularity with films exploring teen issues - at least those of suburban white teens. Name one of those popular 1980’s films.

Answer 4

John Hughes - Pretty In Pink

Question 5

While the studio-driven film industry was exploring issues finding teens “vulnerable to the tyranny of wealth,” it was also doing what toward its own service?

Answer 5

The industry was also exploiting the incomes of youth at box office more than ever.

Question 6

What Shakespearian work created the archetype for class-clash teen romances?

Answer 6

Romeo and Juliet.

Question 7

What “treacherous mythology” does the storyline of the film Pretty in Pink preserve?

Answer 7

Pretty in Pink preserves a “treacherous mythology” that girls want guys with money and will reject ones who are worth their time.

Question 8

According to critic Roger Ebert, Heathers is a movie about what teenage issues?

Answer 8

Peer pressure, teen suicide and the “deadliness” of cliques.

Question 9

Porky’s is a co-production originating from which two countries?

Answer 9

Canada & the US

Question 10

According to critic Roger Ebert, director Reginald Hudlin is compared to what accomplished filmmaker who refused to relate his characters to those of white society?

Answer 10

Spike Lee.