The Representation of Youth Tribes and Subcultures in the Cinema of John Hughes

In this look for essay I expect to find that the use of early days tribes and subcultures whoremaster clearly be identified in mid-80s japery-dramas special(a)ly in those written, produced and purport by outhouse Hughes. The primary texts I will be analysing be The breakfast Club, Ferris Buellers Day Off and preternatural Science. I induct make turn uped these texts as they be few of many that roleplay junior pack in an oppositional approach comp ared to the dominant ideologies of society at that time.I will be using capital of Minnesota Hodkinsons Youth Cultures Scenes, Subcultures and Tribes and Stuart H every last(predicate)s imitation Cultural Representations and Signifying Practices as secondary sources to intercommunicate this essay. I will similarly be looking at how teens have been represented in otherwise media texts such as Grease and the Ameri preserve Pie sequel. The term representation lav be defined as to how the language of media and its conventio ns are used to represent certain heap and objects to the texts tar pay offed audience. Stuart Hall states in his check Representation Cultural Representations and Signifying Practices that his definition of representation isTo put it briefly, representation is the occupation of meaning through language. Hall, (p. 16). Since the learn industry blossomed it has been dominated by many ideologies as to what is acceptable and what fag be perceived as taboo these theories also suggest how people should be represented. For example, theorist Vladimir Propp proposed that thither are eight principal(prenominal) characters to a film, stating that the woman is the passive damsel-in-distress. In Propps book Morphology of the Folktale it is stated that the children who are interested in the fairy-tale genre, they apply their individualalities with the character they feel intimately connected withPresumably, the kinds of choices made by a child might be re deepd to his in-personity. For example, does a lesser boy select a female donor figure to aid him against a male villain? Does a little girl select a male donor figure to assist her against her wicked stepmother? Propp, (p. 10). so far ascribable to the numerous revelations, character ideologies have been adapted and have prove that the damsel can be subverted into the protagonist of a story and, more(prenominal) often than not, the antagonist in particular, the evil stepmother.The genre of comedy-dramas came of age in the late 70s with romances and teenaged dramas however the genre was suddenly exemplified in the 80s by director John Hughes along with the infamous brat pack of the era. In comedy-dramas the narrative normally includes tropes such as the guy gets the girl with the process and guidance from his trusted sidekick who has to climb over the difficult obstacles of life history and society. An iconic example of this trope can be seen in the late 70s classic musical Grease where the boys in a ga ng are eating away leather jackets, they smoke, carry weapons and drive fast cars.As it quotes in Paul Hodkinsons Youth Cultures Scenes, Subcultures and Tribes this was incredibly common for the transition from teenage years to maturity Most obviously perhaps there has been the development of a serial publication of legal classifications associated with different stages of youth, notably the age at which young people can vote, have sex, smoke cigarettes, drink alcohol and drive motorcars. (p. 4). In comparison to the girl gang of the film, where Olivia Newton-Johns character Sandy is wearing pastels end-to-end the movie, which connotes her virginal lifestyle.This is where John Hughes appends a proclaimed statement that all teenagers are in some way the same and are base in stereo instances which make them similar, which is why I have chosen to take the films The Breakfast Club, Ferris Buellers Day Off and Weird Science due to the fact that the main characters are all teenagers a nd the trilogy of films show the representation of youth tribes in a clear, semantic perspective that states that however a teenager may present themselves, they are all in some particular way the same.In the graduation chapter of the book Stereotypes and Stereotyping by C. Neil MacRae et al they state that stomps nevertheless exist in someones spotlight of view This type of thought process reflects the most traditional conceptualization of stereotypes within kindly psychology, in which stereotypes are considered to be the pictures in the head of individuals looking out into their social words. But stereotypes also exist from the point of view of the person who is being stereotyped. (p. 3)The Breakfast Club (1985) is a unique film, in the genre of teen comedies, because it focuses on the stereotype and probes deeper into the issue of why they are the way they are. This is a contrary to the teen comedy genre because most of such movies will defend stereotypes of many forms, incl uding sexuality and race. This can be seen in films such as American Pie and Not other Teen Movie the latter of which was effective in battling stereotypes by reinforcing them and accordingly turning them into paradoxes. However, The Breakfast Club battles contemporary stereotypes differently.Each character has a personal problem that, seemingly, led to the way they act in public. Bender, being a rebel, retells how he is abused by his father. Such abuse can require a level of apathy about life, plainly Clark (a victim of a different kind of abuse) goes on to assume it is all for show. unrivalled can quickly see that the film not only addresses stereotypes, unless it challenges them by showing that severally student has an assumption about the other. By the end, everyone acknowledges that their colleagues are more rounded and individual than they initially thought, but agree that they are different.Johnson writes to the principal that they learned they all contained some form of each stereotype and finished the essay with this following quote You see us as you want to see us in the simplest terms, in the most convenient definitions. But, what we found out is that each one of us is a brain, and an athlete, and a basket case, and a princess and a criminal. Does that answer your question? (The Breakfast Club, 1985). In 1990, Hughes directed a film that changed the traditional familys Christmas dramatically.Home Alone, have Macauly Culkin, was the beginning of one the most noticeable and well-known series in filmmaking and sticking to comedy-dramas, Hughes includes devil robbers who act as the antagonists. However, he also include a subversion of intelligence between the 8 year hoar Kevin McAllister and the two inseparable robbers. Hughes portrays the child to be an intelligent, smart boy who sets his ha snackation with childish pranks as obstacles for the robbers to come across. However the adult burglars are represented as complete idiots and fall fo r each trap.The sharp direction within this subversion of the characters has become a trope in the comedy-drama genre. John Hughes is a well-acknowledged film director, producer and writer who has created some of the most humorous and warm-hearted movies for a family -based moving-picture showtic entertaining experience and it was his movie-making abilities that gained him the label the king of teen comedy. Every young character in each infamous John Hughes film have been represented as clever and witty and they can easily get away with more than any normal teenagers should in particular Matthew Brodericks character of Ferris Bueller.This subversion of intelligence from Home Alone could be seen four years earlier in one of Hughes greatest creations Ferris Buellers Day Off (1986). This film has been constructively criticised for its pure creativity and originality throughout the entire plot of the piece. Ferris Bueller at the beginning of the film seems to just be a normal young ma n, who has the skill of faking an illness to skip teach however, he has an extraordinary amount of luck and whatever he plans for the day, it goes swiftly without questioning.Hughes has written the troika main characters of Ferris Bueller, Cameron Frye and Sloane Peterson with individual, unique personalities. According to Pieter J. Fouries Media Studies, Volume 1 Media History, Media and Society, Levi-Strauss theory of binary opposition can shape a persons identity Binary oppositions suggest that the meaning of something depends on its opposite good is dependent on bad. Levi-Strauss point of departure was that a collective practice of laws, rules and values direct the individuals thinking and behaviour.Furthermore, societys collective existence shapes the individual and determines his or her individuality. (p. 249). Bueller is shown as a young man who knows everybody and wants to make the most of his life, whereas his pessimistic best friend, Frye, contrasts in personality as h e seems to be living on his final stage bed due to his non-existent relationship with both parents. Peterson, however, is a beautiful young woman who has the reassurance of a motherly figure which can help give up Frye with the hope and faith that he needs.The subversion of intelligence is introduced into the film with the first sight of the Dean of Students, Edward Rooney. His determination to catch out Ferris on his ordinal sick day of the semester boils over his initial integrity and dignity, from getting ado in the face with Slush Puppie to being chased around the region by the Bueller familys pet Rottweiler. Rooney is represented as a teacher who has completely lost any glimpse of pride leaving the three students roaming the streets of downtown Chicago with charm and comical wit.Art Silverblatt claims in his book musical style Studies in Mass Media A Handbook that Ferris becomes a role imitate for everyone, even the adults Ferris nemesis, the school disciplinarian, Mr. R ooney, is obsessed with getting Bueller. His obsession emerges from envy. Strangely, Ferris serves as Rooneys role model, as he clearly possesses the imagination and power that Rooney lacks. (pp. 104-105). Weird Science (1985) was written and directed by John Hughes and stars one of the main members of the 80s brat pack Anthony Michael Hall who plays Gary Wallace, and Ilan Mitchell-Smith as Wyatt Donnelly.Another trademark characteristic that can be seen in numerous Hughes films is that the majority of them are set in the fabricated Chicago suburb of Shermer, Illinois. The first time the audience spots the two Science geeks in the film is when theyre gawking at the girls gym class at school. They may be skinny, but Hughes didnt write them to have glasses or severe acne, as he didnt feel the need to classify the geeks from the jocks as they caneasily be spotted without their stereotypical features for example the geeks normally have their trousers hoisted up paste their waste, showi ng their ankles, whereas the jocks would have letterman jackets, be well built and unified but also be shown as a little bit dumb. However, what Hughes does, is write the characters in a way that any actor of the film could play that character, I believe that the semantic purpose of the film is to inform the audience that stereotypes only exist if the audience perceive them to be that stereotype this means that everyone can be seen as the same without any appreciation of their clothing or hairstyle.The end of the film supports my suggestion, as the two geeks get both of the jocks girlfriends due to the help of their Barbie-doll 23 year old, computerised woman Lisa, vie by Kelly LeBrock. In conclusion, the representation of youth tribes used within the cinema of John Hughes is trying to inform the audience that there are stereotypes, but they are only perceived via a persons point of view.This perception of stereotypes creates space for characters to be represented within an arche type which portrays them to be seen as the same, in a small, yet evidently noticeable way. The mid-80s heart-to-heart up the possibilities for teen dramas and John Hughes created iconic role models using teenage adolescence for the young public viewers. According to Art Silverblatts Genre Studies in Mass Media A Handbook, he claims By the 1980s, adolescence, even with its uncertainties, emerged as the centre of popular culture, with adulthood reduced to irrelevance. (p. 105).