Supercurricular

19th November 2025

Media Magazine: The American Teen Movie

Sarah Flanagan, in this article, discusses the newfound complication of sorting films out as time goes on and genres evolve: in particular, the "American Teen Movie". The study of genre is an essential part of media studies

The American Teen Movie began as a setting across multiple genres - horror, romance, comedy - and has now formed its own genre.  The birth of this new genre only came into being because of significant economic and political changes post-WWII in America and Britain. Before this time, the 'teenager' we know today hadn't existed with its distinct social identity. Flanagan says the first film to set the template for the American Teen Movie was Rebel Without a Cause, a 1955 film directed by Nicholas Ray. This film is said to have the characters and narrative themes that have thus been repeated over the years: the male protagonist heads the classic misunderstood bad boy in a new town and school, bringing to life the theme of socialisation, and a teenager's identity. Flanagan discovered that, conventionally, as part of the genre of the American Teen Movie, these misunderstood characters are welcomed into their community whilst their enemies are defeated and rejected.

The genre has since evolved, and become more familiar with the subject of love and romance - nowadays, there has been an increasing narrative theme of success in love. Flanagan calls this a mythological "rite of passage" to the audience, and goes on to talk about Carrie (1978) as a Teen High School/Horror hybrid, where this comforting rite of passage with a resolution is subverted. This is an example of a hybrid teen movie, as seen in the well-known films of today like Halloween (1978), Nightmare on Elm Street (1984), and Ten Things I Hate About You (1999).

What I've learnt from this article is that the American Teen Movie has been formulaic since the mid nineties. This genre thrives on the newfound distinct identities of teenagers, and their need to have a resolved teen movie of their own. These films are idealised and glorified to the point where teens feel that their lives must also be as exciting and resolute; however, this just isn't realistic at all.

27th November 2025

Shelter Advertisement Film

In Shelter's "World of Our Own" advertisement (2024), a little girl and her father are depicted in space. The atmosphere is tranquil, playful and sets up a calm atmosphere for the rest of the advertisement; however, two adults storm into frame, seemingly arguing - this shatters the initial playfulness that was established. This plunges both the audience and the father and daughter back into their reality: the cusp of homelessness. The father, having lost the immersion of their space adventure, attempts to bring the girl back into it after reassuring her that "they're gone now". The film fades to black, and shows the words, "Love alone can't protect a child from homelessness // But your donations could help". 

I chose this particular advertisement from Shelter as it shows that no amount of effort to love and care for a child can make the situation of homelessness any better. Perhaps it is more bearable for the child to be immersed in a fictional world of space, but ultimately they will be plunged back into always fearing losing their home. This reflects altruism by encouraging donations to the Shelter charity out of the care we should have for children and their childhoods without care for one's own interest, but solely out of concern for others - children, as we once were.

Shelter also reflects altruism in this advertisement by theming it around Christmas. Christmas itself reflects altruism as its core is in gift giving, appreciation, and spending time with family. The message of this advert is further solidified in the Christmas theme as Christmas is a global holiday that should be enjoyed by all - it's a time for all to come together. This effectively draws out both the Christmas spirit of altruism as well as the innate nature that we should all embody as human beings.

2nd December 2025

Jean Baudrillard: Dixon Summary

Mark Dixon summarises Jean Baudrillard's theory of postmodernism distinctly with the key concept of "from the real to the hyperreal". This extra reading has quite heavily enhanced my understanding of postmodernism as Dixon outlines Baudrillard clearly, including the cultural phases - pre-modernity, modernity, and post-modernity - which I had not been aware of nor grasped prior to this reading.

Dixon introduces the phrase "media proliferation", a significant increase in media. He writes that the postmodern age, WWII onwards, is marked by this rapid spike in media content, resulting in an "implosion of meaning". In my opinion, this era marks the beginning of constant stimulation by media products; arguably, this has resulted in the postmodern society being at risk of cognitive overload. When the brain is awarded with constant stimulation just at the press of a button, it becomes accustomed to it, and ultimately fragments the attention span. This has set the next generation for failure - that is, at least, unless they work harder to retain information and keep focus, harder than the societies of pre-modernity and modernity would have had to. 

So, reading Dixon's section about Baudrillard has sparked a fuse in myself about the world we live in today, with advancing technologies and media overload. As Dixon says, the postmodern age is etched by the dominance of advertising as a media form - as audiences yearning for more and more stimulation, how is the industry meant to keep up with a standard of authenticity? To this, Dixon says: through realised fiction.