The Decade of Realizations: American Youth During the 80s

Of all the 1980 's films, that can be described as "Eighties Teen Movies" (Thorburn, 1998) or "High School Movies" (Messner, 1998), those written and (with the exception of "Pretty In Pink" (1986) and "Some Kind of Wonderful"(1987)) directed by John Hughes were often seen to define the genre, even leading to the tag "John Hughes rites de passage movies" as a genre definition used in 1990s popular culture (such as in "Wayne 's World 2" (1994 dir. Stephen Surjik)). This term refers to the half dozen films made between 1984 and 1987; chronologically, "Sixteen Candles" (1984), "The Breakfast Club" (1985), "Weird Science" (1985), "Ferris Bueller 's Day Off" (1986), "Pretty In Pink" (1986) and "Some Kind Of Wonderful" (1987) (the latter two being directed by Howard Deutch). For the purpose of this study, "Weird Science" and "Some Kind of Wonderful" shall be excluded; "Weird Science" since, unlike the other films, it is grounded in science fiction rather than reality and "Some Kind of Wonderful" as its characters are fractionally older and have lost the "innocence" key to the previous movies: as Bernstein states "the youthful naivete was missing and the diamond earring motif [a significant gift within the film] was no substitute" (Bernstein, 1997, p.89). Bernstein suggests that the decadent 1980s were like the 1950s, "an AIDS-free adventure playground with the promise of prosperity around every corner … our last age of innocence" (Bernstein, 1997, p.1). The films were very much a product of the time in terms of their production ("suddenly adolescent spending power dictated that Hollywood direct all its energies to fleshing out the fantasies of our friend, Mr. Dumb Horny 14 Year Old" Bernstein, 1997, p.4), their repetition (with the growth of video cassette recorders, cable and satellite with time to fill, and also the likes of MTV promoting the film 's soundtracks) and their ideologies.
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<br>The capitalist ideas so prominent in the Reagan / Thatcher era are as clearly

Bibliography: /b> <br><li>Bernstein, Jonathon (1997) Pretty in Pink: The Golden Age of Teenage Movies St Martin 's Press: New York <br><b>Filmography</b> <br><li>"Sixteen Candles" (1984) directed and written by John Hughes, Universal Studios (US) <br><li>"The Breakfast Club" (1985) directed and written by John Hughes, Universal Studios (US) <br><li>"Weird Science" (1985) directed and written by John Hughes, Universal Studios (US) <br><li>"Ferris Bueller 's Day Off" (1986) directed and written by John Hughes, Paramount (US) <br><li>"Pretty In Pink" (1986) directed and written by John Hughes, Paramount (US) <br><li>"Some Kind Of Wonderful" (1987) directed and written by John Hughes, Paramount (US) <br><li>"Wayne 's World 2"(1994) directed by Stephen Surjik and written by Mike Myers, Paramount (US) <br><li>"Kids" (1995) directed by Larry Clark and written by Harmony Korine (US)