This document provides a history of teen comedy films from the 1950s to the 2000s. It describes some of the earliest examples of the genre from the 1950s including The Wild One and Rebel Without a Cause. It then outlines conventions of typical teen comedy films including common character archetypes and settings. The document concludes with brief descriptions of some influential teen comedy films from each decade to show the evolution of the genre over time.

1. History of teen
comedy

2. History of the genre
• Teen films is a film genre targeted at teenagers and young adults in which the plot
is based upon the special interests of teenagers, such as coming of age, first
love, rebellion, conflict with parents, teen angst, and alienation. Often these
normally serious subject matters are presented in a glossy, stereotyped or
trivialized way. Some teen films appeal to young males while others appeal to
young females
• Films in this genre are often set in high schools, or contain characters that are of
high school age. Sexual themes are also common, as are crude forms of humor.
• Early examples of the genre in the United States include the "beach films" of the
1950s and '60s, such as the Gidget series and the Beach party films.

3. Conventions of teen comedy
• Codes and conventions of the teen film genre vary depending on the cultural context of the film, but they
can include proms, alcohol, illegal substances, high school, parties and all-night raves, losing one's
virginity, relationships, social groups and cliques, and American pop-culture.
• The classic codes and conventions are:
• The Jock/Cheerleader
• The Princess
• The Geek/Nerd
• The Rebel
• The Misfit, or The Outcast
• The Average Girl/Boy (the boy/girl next door)
• The New Girl/Boy
• The Loner
• The Band Geek
• Apart from the characters there are many other codes and conventions of teen film. These films are often
set in or around high schools as this allows for many different social cliques to be shown. This is different
in hybrid teen films, but for the classic romantic comedy teen film this is almost always the case.

4. Date Title
The Wild One was released on the 30th December 1953.
1953 The wild one Starring Marlon Brando it was the first film depicting
rebellion and the biker gang lifestyle. It was frowned upon
in the 50's and was banned in the UK for fourteen years.
Rebel Without a Cause, starring James Dean, was released
1955 Rebel without cause in 1955. It was the first film where the main target
audience was teenagers and the storyline was much like
the typical teen movie storylines we have today; with the
'New Kid', romance and trying to outwit the parents. It was
a huge hit with teenagers everywhere.
The 60's were a big time for Teen Movies. With the
1960’s Teen movies of the beginning of the hippie movement, the emphasis was on
60s freedom, peace. music, romance and partying. Films such
as Gidget Goes to Rome and How to Stuff a Wild Bikini
were released however, due to censorship they were
limited on what they could actually show.
Beach Party was released on the 14th July 1963; it was one
1963 Beach party of the first major teen films of the 60's and, much like
many teen films nowadays, was focused on fun and
romance.
Gidget Goes to Rome is a 1963 starring Cindy Carol as the
1963 Gidget goes to Rome archetypal high school teen surfer girl originally created by
Sandra Dee in the 1959 film Gidget. The film is the third of
three Gidget films. The film has been released to VHS and
DVD.

5. The 70's showed the introduction of the hybrid movie; teen-
1970’s Teen movies of horrors (Carrie), teen-musicals (Grease), teen-romance (Love
the 1970’s Story) and teen-comedies (National Lampoon's Animal House).
Grease is a timeless movie and is still watched by many people of all
1978 Grease ages now; however at the time it was directed more specifically at
teenagers with the emphasis being on High School life and summer
romance. The costume choices in particular are the main differences
to today, with the leather 'T-bird' jackets, tight trousers and greasy,
quiffed hair, the pink lady jackets and girly dresses.
. The emphasis was on the parents being clueless and suburb life
1980’s Teen movies of was portrayed to be 'alienating' and 'superficial', Films such as 'The
the 1980’s Breakfast Club', 'Sixteen Candles', 'Ferris Buellers Day Off', 'Girls Just
Want To Have Fun' and 'Pretty In Pink' were released in this era.
The Breakfast Club is a 1985 American teen coming of age. The
1985 The breakfast storyline follows five teenagers (each a member of a different high
club school clique) as they spend a Saturday in detention together and
come to realize that they are all deeper than their respective
stereotypes. Critically, it is considered to be one of the greatest high
school-teen films of all time.
The 90's showed a large increase in the numbers of Teen films
1990’s Teen movies of made. With the censorship laws a lot less strict than they were in
the 1990’s the 50's, there was a lot more focus on sex, nudity and drugs; with
strong themes being things like 'losing virginity'; as depicted in
'American Pie
Four friends from west Michigan, high school seniors, Kevin Myers a
1999 American pie confident student with a girlfriend named Vicky , Chris "Oz" Ostreicher ,
a member of the high school lacrosse team; Jim Levenstein an
awkward and sexually naïve character and Paul Finch a cappuccino-
drinking sophisticate, make a pact, at Kevin's initiation, to lose their
virginity before their high school graduation after a dorky classmate,
Chuck Sherman , claims to have done so at a party.

6. 2000’s Teen movies of In the last decades, Teen movies have become more
and more popular with several being released every
the 2000’s year. Although teen musicals had died down; 'High
School Musical, showed the return of this and became
one of the most popular movie franchises ever. Films
such as Thirteen showed the increase in controversial
themes.
2003 Thirteen Thirteen was a film which tackled very controversial
issues such as self harm, drug abuse and sexuality in
young teenagers.
2004 Mean girls Mean Girls is one of the most famous teen movies of all
time, starring Lindsay Lohan; one of the most famous
teen stars of this generation. Mainly targeted at teenage
girls it fits the criteria of a teen movie almost exactly;
with comedy, romance, bitchiness, 'the new kid' and
other stereotypes and with the settings and themes
focusing on High school life and parties.