Rebels and Super Teens
Because I watched the director's cut of Donnie Darko last weekend, and discovered again that I love that movie, I've been .
The fact is that the teen-angst movies are generally popular. So it's probably not something that's, you know, just me. But I can't generalize about everyone else who loves these movies but for myself, I've come to the conclusion that because adolescence was such a bumpy ride and so very miserable, that I'm left obsessing for the rest of my life about the causes, effects, emotions, and post-traumatic stress. It's like after a horrible accident, you review what happened in your mind, hoping to make sense of the chaos.
These don't all strictly qualify as angst. They're just my favorite movies that take an interesting look at teenage characters, usually with lots of emotional agony but sometimes with silliness.
In chronological order (mostly Spoiler-free observations, except possibly the ending of Pretty in Pink):
Rebel without a Cause (1955) The king of all teen angst movies, and beyond my capacity to explain the greatness of.
West Side Story (1961) They're pretty, they're in love, they're miserable, there's singing and fighting and dancing and the hell of trying to fit in and find someone you love, with the racial angle bringing the search to belong to a literal level.
The Outsiders (1983) In every way the love-child of Rebel and West Side Story. Stay gold, Ponyboy, stay gold...::sob::
Sixteen Candles (1984) This qualifies as angst because of the humiliation and the quest for the unattainable love object.
The Breakfast Club (1985) Big ball o' angst. There's sobbing and confessing and screaming and cursing and dialogue, dialogue, dialogue. Plus the archetype Bad Boy.
Weird Science (1985) Not angst, except for the humiliation, but belongs on a list with movies that emotionally torment teens, because it's a revenge fantasy. It's also fun to watch.
Pretty in Pink (1986) We all know this movie ended wrong, right?
Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986) This is like the uber teen movie. I've heard Ferris Bueller described somewhere as some kind of teen superhero. Those teens in the other movies in the John Hughes' canon need Ferris to save them. Ferris himself has no angst. All of the emotional misery is channeled into his sidekick Cameron (because it's all about the sidekicks).
Some Kind of Wonderful (1987) Love this almost as much as The Breakfast Club. Oh, such angst. It's got the outsider theme from Rebel Without a Cause, it's got the Romeo and Juliet-themed romance from West Side Story, it's got the humiliation and disenchantment and quest for the unattainable object from Sixteen Candles, it's got the dialogue and angst from The Breakfast Club, it's got the revenge from Weird Science, and it rights the wrong that was the ending of Pretty in Pink. It's every teen movie ever made until Super Ferris showed up.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1992) This is on the list because I happen to think Joss Whedon's original movie was funny and intriguing, even though the actual concept of what he was really trying to do doesn't successfully come across until the tv series. The TV series should be on my list as the all-time ultimate teen-angst thing, but it's TV and I'm trying not to cheat. I have no evidence Joss Whedon was thinking of the John Hughes canon. I know for a fact, because he said so, Buffy was a response more to the girl in most horror movies. But I wonder if it was a response to teen angst films as well. Buffy the movie took a character who up to that point in movies was always the villainess--the popular cheerleader, the teen queen who was a foil to the more quirky and adorable plain girl--and made her the heroine. Buffy the tv series first stripped that character of her crown, still made her the heroine, and ironically gave her as a foil another teen queen popular cheerleader character. Meanwhile the sidekick characters moved into the spotlight. Buffy the TV series (not the movie) was never really about defeating the monsters or saving the world, but the struggles of growing up.
I also got a big Rebel vibe off of Buffy. They even had an abandoned mansion where the lovers could secretly meet. It's interesting that it's the girl who comes to town and shakes up the lives of the ordinary kids who already live there, while in Rebel IIRC, it's the guy. Also, Buffy would appear to be only the second significant appearance of the Super Teen after Ferris (in movies).
Donnie Darko (2001) This is the third example of the Super Teen. The twist is that Super Teen is neurotic. Or maybe he's the only sane one. We're never sure. Like Buffy, it takes Donnie a while to figure out what his destiny really is. The movie has a lot of the classic teen angst elements: revenge, outsider, disenchantment, emotional misery. Then it goes places few movies in any genre ever go, let alone the teen stuff. I'd put it in a teen marathon, though because it's really about all of those themes.
That also made me think of Back to the Future which may or may not belong on the list of ultimate teen movies of all time. Future has a strong central teen character and covers everything from bullies to oedipal complexes. It's got the outsider.
Also, The Outsiders plays a little with the Super Teen idea, in that teens do something heroic. "You were always heroes. You didn't just become heroes all of a sudden" (I'm paraphrasing)
I expect spoilers for each film could end up in the comments, however, so be wary.
The fact is that the teen-angst movies are generally popular. So it's probably not something that's, you know, just me. But I can't generalize about everyone else who loves these movies but for myself, I've come to the conclusion that because adolescence was such a bumpy ride and so very miserable, that I'm left obsessing for the rest of my life about the causes, effects, emotions, and post-traumatic stress. It's like after a horrible accident, you review what happened in your mind, hoping to make sense of the chaos.
These don't all strictly qualify as angst. They're just my favorite movies that take an interesting look at teenage characters, usually with lots of emotional agony but sometimes with silliness.
In chronological order (mostly Spoiler-free observations, except possibly the ending of Pretty in Pink):
Rebel without a Cause (1955) The king of all teen angst movies, and beyond my capacity to explain the greatness of.
West Side Story (1961) They're pretty, they're in love, they're miserable, there's singing and fighting and dancing and the hell of trying to fit in and find someone you love, with the racial angle bringing the search to belong to a literal level.
The Outsiders (1983) In every way the love-child of Rebel and West Side Story. Stay gold, Ponyboy, stay gold...::sob::
Sixteen Candles (1984) This qualifies as angst because of the humiliation and the quest for the unattainable love object.
The Breakfast Club (1985) Big ball o' angst. There's sobbing and confessing and screaming and cursing and dialogue, dialogue, dialogue. Plus the archetype Bad Boy.
Weird Science (1985) Not angst, except for the humiliation, but belongs on a list with movies that emotionally torment teens, because it's a revenge fantasy. It's also fun to watch.
Pretty in Pink (1986) We all know this movie ended wrong, right?
Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986) This is like the uber teen movie. I've heard Ferris Bueller described somewhere as some kind of teen superhero. Those teens in the other movies in the John Hughes' canon need Ferris to save them. Ferris himself has no angst. All of the emotional misery is channeled into his sidekick Cameron (because it's all about the sidekicks).
Some Kind of Wonderful (1987) Love this almost as much as The Breakfast Club. Oh, such angst. It's got the outsider theme from Rebel Without a Cause, it's got the Romeo and Juliet-themed romance from West Side Story, it's got the humiliation and disenchantment and quest for the unattainable object from Sixteen Candles, it's got the dialogue and angst from The Breakfast Club, it's got the revenge from Weird Science, and it rights the wrong that was the ending of Pretty in Pink. It's every teen movie ever made until Super Ferris showed up.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1992) This is on the list because I happen to think Joss Whedon's original movie was funny and intriguing, even though the actual concept of what he was really trying to do doesn't successfully come across until the tv series. The TV series should be on my list as the all-time ultimate teen-angst thing, but it's TV and I'm trying not to cheat. I have no evidence Joss Whedon was thinking of the John Hughes canon. I know for a fact, because he said so, Buffy was a response more to the girl in most horror movies. But I wonder if it was a response to teen angst films as well. Buffy the movie took a character who up to that point in movies was always the villainess--the popular cheerleader, the teen queen who was a foil to the more quirky and adorable plain girl--and made her the heroine. Buffy the tv series first stripped that character of her crown, still made her the heroine, and ironically gave her as a foil another teen queen popular cheerleader character. Meanwhile the sidekick characters moved into the spotlight. Buffy the TV series (not the movie) was never really about defeating the monsters or saving the world, but the struggles of growing up.
I also got a big Rebel vibe off of Buffy. They even had an abandoned mansion where the lovers could secretly meet. It's interesting that it's the girl who comes to town and shakes up the lives of the ordinary kids who already live there, while in Rebel IIRC, it's the guy. Also, Buffy would appear to be only the second significant appearance of the Super Teen after Ferris (in movies).
Donnie Darko (2001) This is the third example of the Super Teen. The twist is that Super Teen is neurotic. Or maybe he's the only sane one. We're never sure. Like Buffy, it takes Donnie a while to figure out what his destiny really is. The movie has a lot of the classic teen angst elements: revenge, outsider, disenchantment, emotional misery. Then it goes places few movies in any genre ever go, let alone the teen stuff. I'd put it in a teen marathon, though because it's really about all of those themes.
That also made me think of Back to the Future which may or may not belong on the list of ultimate teen movies of all time. Future has a strong central teen character and covers everything from bullies to oedipal complexes. It's got the outsider.
Also, The Outsiders plays a little with the Super Teen idea, in that teens do something heroic. "You were always heroes. You didn't just become heroes all of a sudden" (I'm paraphrasing)
I expect spoilers for each film could end up in the comments, however, so be wary.