Course Schedule |
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(Subject to Change) |
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| Week
1: Adolescents before Teenagers |
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| March 30: Introduction to course and syllabus | |
| Screening: Wild Boys of the Road (1933, dir. William Wellman) RARE | |
| April 1: Nostalgia and the Universal Themes | |
| Screening: Margie (1946, dir. Henry King) RARE | |
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Week 2: The Dawn of the Teenage Era |
| April 6: The Teenage Rebel; Bobby Charles, "Teenagers"; Clip from Hidden Values: The Movies of the Fifties; Clip from Roseanna McCoy | |
| Screening: Begin Rebel without a Cause | |
| April 8: Alienated Youth; Discussion of Rebel without a Cause; Clips from Tea and Sympathy, Dino, and The Young Stranger | |
| Screening: Finish Rebel without a Cause | |
| Homework Due: Reading—Excerpt from Big Bad Wolves, by Joan Mellen; Excerpt from Seeing Is Believing, by Peter Biskind | |
| Week 3: Teen Exploitation |  |
| April 13: Narcs and Nymphettes—Discussion of High School Confidential | |
| Screening: High School Confidential (1958, dir. Jack Arnold) | |
| Homework due: "High School Confidential," by Danny Peary | |
| April 15: Teenagers vs. the Monsters—Discussion of The Blob | |
| Screening: The Blob (1958, dir. Irvin S. Yeaworth Jr.) | |
| Homework due: Reading—“Monster at the Soda Shop: Teenagers and Fifties Horror Films,” by Cindy Hendershott | |
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Week 4: Sex and the Single Teenager |
| April 20: Teens in Trouble—Discussion of Blue Denim | |
| Screening: Blue Denim (1959, dir. Philip Dunne) RARE | |
| Homework due: Reading—“Sex and the Single Teenager,” by Susan Douglas | |
| April 22: Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?—Discussion of Where the Boys Are | |
| Screening: Where the Boys Are (1960, dir. Henry Levin) | |
| Homework due: "Where the Boys Are,” by Danny Peary | |
| Week 5: Times They Are A-Changin': the '60s |  |
| April 27: Don't Trust Anyone Over 30—Wild in the Streets | |
| Screening: Wild in the Streets (1968, dir. Barry Shear) | |
| Homework due: Reading—"The Exploitation Film as History: Wild in the Streets," by Thomas Doherty | |
| April 29: The Urban Experience—Cooley High | |
| Screening: Cooley High (1975, dir. Michael Schultz) | |
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Week 6: Teenagers in an Adult Era: the ‘70s |
| May 4: Teenage Wasteland | |
| Screening: Over the Edge (1979, dir. Jonathan Kaplan) | |
| Homework due: Reading—"Over the Edge," by Danny Peary; First Group of Journals Due | |
| May 6: Discussion of Over the Edge and Halloween | |
| Homework due: Halloween (1978, dir. John Carpenter); Reading—"Through a Pumpkin's Eye," by J.P. Telotte | |
| Week 7: Angst in the ‘80s |  |
| May 11: Searching for More | |
| Screening: Reckless (1984, dir. James Foley) | |
| May 13: Come Together—Discussion Reckless and The Breakfast Club | |
| Homework due: The Breakfast Club (1985, dir. John Hughes); Reading—Excerpt from Generation Multiplex, by Timothy Shary | |
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Week 8: ‘80s Teen Comedy: Sex, Money, and Nostalgia |
| May 18: The Way It Should Have Been | |
| Screening: Hairspray (1988, dir. John Waters) | |
| Homework due: Reading—“Hairspray: The Revolutionary Way to Restructure and Hold Your History,” by Renee R. Curry; Postmodernism handout | |
| May 20: Teen Reaganomics—Discussion Risky Business and Hairspray | |
| Homework due: Risky Business (1983, dir. Paul Brickman); Reading—“Comic Ambivalence in Risky Business," by Matthew Bernstein and David Pratt | |
| Week 9: Generation X: The Early '90s |  |
| May 25: Welcome to L.A. | |
| Screening: Where the Day Takes You (1992, dir. Marc Rocco) | |
| Homework due: Research Project due | |
| May 27: The Return of the Teen Movie | |
Homework due: "High School Confidential," by Veronica Chambers, Yahlin Chang, and Alisha Davis |
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Note: I will be out of town from May 28-31. I will not be able to respond to e-mail or phone messages during that time. |
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Week 10: The Postmodern Teenager: The Late ‘90s |
| June 1: Too Far? | |
| Screening: Cruel Intentions (1999, dir. Roger Kumble) | |
| Homework due: “Cruel Intentions: Adaptation, Teenage Movie, or Remake?,” by Brigitte Humbert | |
| June 3: Discussion of Cruel Intentions and Scream | |
Homework due: Scream (1996, dir. Wes Craven). Reading—“Samples and copycats: the cultural implications of the postmodern slasher in contemporary American film,” by Todd F. Tietchen |
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| Week 11: The Millennium Generation | |
| June 8: What Next? | |
| Screening: Bully (2001, dir. Larry Clark) | |
| June 10: Discussion Bully and Research Projects | |
| Homework due: Second group of journals due | |
