Say Anything - 1989 - Cameron Crowe
Analyze how teenagers and adults are represented in the teen movie genre. Discuss at least 2 of the following films: Ferris Bueller's Day Off and Say Anything....or any other teen films you are interested in or know about.
Introduction:
What are the conventions (rules) of the teen movie genre? How did it originate and how has it developed over time? Introduce the 2 films you’re going to talk about – year, director.
Narrative – briefly explain the narratives of the 2 films you’ve chosen. Explain how far they conform/subvert (challenge) the conventions of teen films.
Teenage characters – compare the 2 sets of teenagers in the films. Discuss:
Adults – compare the representations of the adults in the films. What are the relationships between the adults and children in the films? What are the sources of conflict? Are they typical of teen films or not?
Messages and Values – what does the director want to say in the film? Does he have any messages about society/ teenagers/ how teenagers are treated etc? Do the messages depend on the time the film was made?
Conclusion What is your opinion on these 2 films? Which film do you think is the most conventional teen film and why? Which characters do you most identify with and why?
The two movies that I am going to compare are down below. The two movie I am comparing are: Ferris Bueller's Day Off and Say Anything.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The two films I am going to be talking about, and comparing, are: Ferris Bueller's Day Off, directed by John Hughes in 1986, and Say Anything, directed by Cameron Crowe in 1989. Many teen movies have fairly steady and straight forward conventions such as, many of the main conflicts could be: wanting to be cool/popular, wanting love, or even just wanting to be independent.
In Ferris Bueller's Day Off, the narrative is quite straight forward and is quite linear. Some of the narrative is done by the main character, as the story progresses. This movies narrative is easier to follow because of how straight forward it is. In Say Anything, the narrative is a little bit all over the place. You can pick up what the story line is and such but the narrative is not that straight forward. Mainly because the main character is going every single way with his emotions. For example, there is a lot of internal conflict with the main character, because he loves this girl, and he keeps on contemplating whether to pursue her or not. These two movies don't really challenge the conventions of teen films. Most of the things in these movies whether it's the characters, the stereotypes, or what challenge the main character overcomes, is all quite true to the teen film genre of movies. Ferris Bueller's Day Off challenges the teen film genre just a little bit more than Say Anything, because in my opinion, the movie is a little rushed (the events in the movie). In Say Anything, nothing of the teen film genre is really challenged. There is a boy in love with a girl and he pursues her. The movie also goes into a lot of emotional detail.
The teenagers in both movies are a pretty good representation of what some teenagers are like. In Ferris Bueller`s Day Off, the teens all look cool, the main character has a leather jacket and he walks with a cool stride. The teens in this film are also quite determined, with the exception of one character who kind of mopey most of the time. In Say Anything, the teens are similar to the ones in Ferris Bueller`s Day Off. The main character is a cool guy. He wears a big jacket. Many teens in the 80`s wore either a leather jacket or a big huge long jacket big similarity there in clothing. Between the two films, the clothing is quite similar. Many of the styles of what teens wore in the 80`s are present and you can identify them quite easily. As for their values, both main characters of the two movies, are very determined. Ferris is determined to skip school and have the best day off ever, and Lloyd is determined to win the girl of his dreams. In Say Anything, the characters, I believe have a lot deeper values towards certain things, mainly because the movie deals with the deep subject of love. In Ferris Bueller`s Day Off, the teens values are a lot more child-ish per-say. Especially Ferris, he has some child-ish values to him. He pulled off the greatest day off ever, without his parents knowing.
The adults in both films are a little different. In Ferris Bueller, the parents have a nice relationship with their son, their daughter is a little testy and grouchy most of the time, but overall, the parents have made a nice happy family. Although the parents are quite gullible and oblivious. They had no idea that their son skipped school. In Say Anything it is pretty much the same. Diane has a nice relationship with her father and everything is all good. Although conflicts start to arise when she is seeing Lloyd. Many of the sources of conflict are quite typical. In both movies, the main character(s) want something but they need to overcome some sort of conflict to get there.
The messages in these films, I think, don`t depend on the time it was made. Sure some things were different back then but it was only the late 80`s, it`s not like the movies were set back in the 50`s. In Ferris Bueller, I think the director is trying to say, ``Enjoy your life. You only have one shot at it so make it worth while.`` (That quote is not an actual quote, I made it up). The director in Ferris Bueller, I think, is definitley trying to say something like the quote above. Have fun, enjoy life, life is too short to worry about everything. In Say Anything, I think the message could easily be ``If you want something, get it before it`s gone.`` (Once again, this is not an actual quote, I made it up). I think this because, In the movie, Diane got a big scholarship and she would be leaving in a couple months. Lloyd knew thins and he is deeply in love with her, so he had to make a choice whether to go along with her or not. I personally do not think that there are any messages about society. Although, I think that both of the movies messages towards teens and how that sometimes we makes mistakes and sometimes we just need to get away from everything and be free.
In conclusion, both of the movies were not too bad. I personally like Ferris Bueller`s day off better, just from a comedy aspect and that fact that they do tons of crazy things. I think the most conventional teen film, out of the two I have chosen, is Say Anything. Mainly because it deals with teens being in love and many teens can relate to that. Either because, they have been in love or they love someone. I think I most identify with some of the characters from Ferris Bueller`s Day Off, because, they all just want to have fun and live a little. I want to have fun too. I just do not want to be sitting around doing nothing and be boring. Life is too short to sad, boring and it is definitely too short to not have fun.
Introduction:
What are the conventions (rules) of the teen movie genre? How did it originate and how has it developed over time? Introduce the 2 films you’re going to talk about – year, director.
Narrative – briefly explain the narratives of the 2 films you’ve chosen. Explain how far they conform/subvert (challenge) the conventions of teen films.
Teenage characters – compare the 2 sets of teenagers in the films. Discuss:
- Visual appearance (clothing, hair, way they move, facial expressions etc)
- How stereotypical they are
- What their values and attitudes are (what they think, believe etc) – use quotations.
Adults – compare the representations of the adults in the films. What are the relationships between the adults and children in the films? What are the sources of conflict? Are they typical of teen films or not?
Messages and Values – what does the director want to say in the film? Does he have any messages about society/ teenagers/ how teenagers are treated etc? Do the messages depend on the time the film was made?
Conclusion What is your opinion on these 2 films? Which film do you think is the most conventional teen film and why? Which characters do you most identify with and why?
The two movies that I am going to compare are down below. The two movie I am comparing are: Ferris Bueller's Day Off and Say Anything.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The two films I am going to be talking about, and comparing, are: Ferris Bueller's Day Off, directed by John Hughes in 1986, and Say Anything, directed by Cameron Crowe in 1989. Many teen movies have fairly steady and straight forward conventions such as, many of the main conflicts could be: wanting to be cool/popular, wanting love, or even just wanting to be independent.
In Ferris Bueller's Day Off, the narrative is quite straight forward and is quite linear. Some of the narrative is done by the main character, as the story progresses. This movies narrative is easier to follow because of how straight forward it is. In Say Anything, the narrative is a little bit all over the place. You can pick up what the story line is and such but the narrative is not that straight forward. Mainly because the main character is going every single way with his emotions. For example, there is a lot of internal conflict with the main character, because he loves this girl, and he keeps on contemplating whether to pursue her or not. These two movies don't really challenge the conventions of teen films. Most of the things in these movies whether it's the characters, the stereotypes, or what challenge the main character overcomes, is all quite true to the teen film genre of movies. Ferris Bueller's Day Off challenges the teen film genre just a little bit more than Say Anything, because in my opinion, the movie is a little rushed (the events in the movie). In Say Anything, nothing of the teen film genre is really challenged. There is a boy in love with a girl and he pursues her. The movie also goes into a lot of emotional detail.
The teenagers in both movies are a pretty good representation of what some teenagers are like. In Ferris Bueller`s Day Off, the teens all look cool, the main character has a leather jacket and he walks with a cool stride. The teens in this film are also quite determined, with the exception of one character who kind of mopey most of the time. In Say Anything, the teens are similar to the ones in Ferris Bueller`s Day Off. The main character is a cool guy. He wears a big jacket. Many teens in the 80`s wore either a leather jacket or a big huge long jacket big similarity there in clothing. Between the two films, the clothing is quite similar. Many of the styles of what teens wore in the 80`s are present and you can identify them quite easily. As for their values, both main characters of the two movies, are very determined. Ferris is determined to skip school and have the best day off ever, and Lloyd is determined to win the girl of his dreams. In Say Anything, the characters, I believe have a lot deeper values towards certain things, mainly because the movie deals with the deep subject of love. In Ferris Bueller`s Day Off, the teens values are a lot more child-ish per-say. Especially Ferris, he has some child-ish values to him. He pulled off the greatest day off ever, without his parents knowing.
The adults in both films are a little different. In Ferris Bueller, the parents have a nice relationship with their son, their daughter is a little testy and grouchy most of the time, but overall, the parents have made a nice happy family. Although the parents are quite gullible and oblivious. They had no idea that their son skipped school. In Say Anything it is pretty much the same. Diane has a nice relationship with her father and everything is all good. Although conflicts start to arise when she is seeing Lloyd. Many of the sources of conflict are quite typical. In both movies, the main character(s) want something but they need to overcome some sort of conflict to get there.
The messages in these films, I think, don`t depend on the time it was made. Sure some things were different back then but it was only the late 80`s, it`s not like the movies were set back in the 50`s. In Ferris Bueller, I think the director is trying to say, ``Enjoy your life. You only have one shot at it so make it worth while.`` (That quote is not an actual quote, I made it up). The director in Ferris Bueller, I think, is definitley trying to say something like the quote above. Have fun, enjoy life, life is too short to worry about everything. In Say Anything, I think the message could easily be ``If you want something, get it before it`s gone.`` (Once again, this is not an actual quote, I made it up). I think this because, In the movie, Diane got a big scholarship and she would be leaving in a couple months. Lloyd knew thins and he is deeply in love with her, so he had to make a choice whether to go along with her or not. I personally do not think that there are any messages about society. Although, I think that both of the movies messages towards teens and how that sometimes we makes mistakes and sometimes we just need to get away from everything and be free.
In conclusion, both of the movies were not too bad. I personally like Ferris Bueller`s day off better, just from a comedy aspect and that fact that they do tons of crazy things. I think the most conventional teen film, out of the two I have chosen, is Say Anything. Mainly because it deals with teens being in love and many teens can relate to that. Either because, they have been in love or they love someone. I think I most identify with some of the characters from Ferris Bueller`s Day Off, because, they all just want to have fun and live a little. I want to have fun too. I just do not want to be sitting around doing nothing and be boring. Life is too short to sad, boring and it is definitely too short to not have fun.