Teenagers develop their own set of behavior patterns, usually in rebellion against adults and their institutions, which set them apart from adults as well as each other (deMarrais and LeCompte 87). Every piece of entertain portrays youth culture in the same fashion, as rebellious youths. Youth Culture is propelled by the entertainment that they engage in and the entertainment is based upon the youth culture. .
Youth culture is why every child, at one time or another, feels the need to break away from his/her parents, and why high school students form cliques. High school is a showcase for youth culture: walk into any cafeteria and you will find yourself bombarded with all the current fashions, fads, slang, and music. Adolescents form ideas from watching television, from reading books, from listening to music, and from watching movies, and they bring these ideas to school with them. High school students form groups based upon similarity--of ideas, looks, dress, intelligence, and interests, and these groups change with the ideals of the students that make them up. America's youth is represented by its own music, literature, clothing styles, fads, and, ever increasing- technology. It seems as though anything that displays raw energy and emotion and/or that adults dislike has the potential to become a part of youth culture. Sexuality, drugs and alcohol, rebellion, perception of adults and authority figures, and home life are all parts of our world that affect teenagers more profoundly than any other group of people. And these are the very subjects that teenager films deal with.
The teenage perception of adults-parents, teachers, authority .
figures-is an important product of youth culture. John Hughes dealt with this issue very well in the 80's with The Breakfast Club and Ferris Bueller's Day Off. Rather than telling America's youth, "Respect your elders," John Hughes seems to be saying with these two films, "Your elders are morons.
