To what extent does the film ‘Bad Neighbours’ represent teenagers in a negative way and what is the impact of this?

“Young people’ you hear about them a lot in the media. Either portrayed as anti-social yobs that all drink, smoke and have sexual intercourse on a daily basis. Or else they are portrayed as victimised and the future of the world we live in.”

Throughout many years now, the youth have been constantly presented in a negative manner. Whether it is shown through books, documentaries or films, there has always been a constant negative perception of them. This can be evident and illustrated through Nicholas Stoller's American - Comedy film, Bad Neighbours (2014) produced by Point Grey Pictures - Good Universe. In Stoller's film, the youth are presented as out of control with no morals or ambitions. During most of the film there is a negative representation shown of the youth; they are seen partying, drinking, taking drugs, and having sex. Furthermore, not only are the audiences shown a negative representation of the younger generation, but one may argue that younger audiences who view films such as Bad Neighbours may be impacted/influenced in a certain manner.  Many teenagers have felt that they are only presented in one way, negatively. There have been various documentaries and interviews in which teenagers express their opinion about the way the youth are presented in the media. Additionally, there is a strong debate on whether or not the youth are presented negatively or not; "To be fair, the media are not misrepresenting teenagers, they are merely reporting the bad side of them.” This essay will go through whether or not films such as Bad Neighbours misrepresent or represent teenagers in a negative way, and whether or not these films have a negative impact on their audiences.

To begin with, Stoller’s Hollywood film ‘Bad Neighbours’ would mainly appeal to the youth of today’s society, throughout the movie the youth are presented as out of control teenagers who have nothing better to do than party and get drunk. The ‘Hot House’ scene in particular shows the negative representation of the youth, this scene starts off with various medium shots that zoom into close-ups of the props being used for the party. There are numerous fast paced cuts, which is parallel to the speed of the scene as it's a party scene. Throughout the first part of this scene there is parallel, non-diegetic music playing, that fits in with the atmosphere. It then goes into a scene with the main protagonists in what looks like a Delta Psi Meeting, in this scene we see Ted ( Zac Efron ) lighting up what looks like a joint and the scene is quite calm, in comparison to the previous scene. He further goes on to talk about what has happened throughout the Delta Psi history, with the non-diegetic music playing in the background. The type of music that is played in certain scenes in this film along with sounds, is key in this type of film, as there are were a lot of parties shown the right kind of music had to be played to create the right environment. Jenny McCartney from the telegraph states; "The frat-house obsessions of sex, drugs and drunken excess while also openly revelling in them – it’s more perceptive than it might first appear." ^1.  Not only is there just one single scene of the youth behaving recklessly, however there is more. Another scene which involved in the movie is the first party in the frat house. The scene starts various medium shots that zoom into close-ups of the props being used for the party. There are numerous fast paced cuts, which is parallel to the speed of the scene as it's a party scene. Throughout the first part of this scene there is parallel, non-diegetic music playing, that fits in with the atmosphere. It then goes into a scene with the main protagonists in what looks like a Delta Psi Meeting, in this scene we see Ted ( Zac Efron ) lighting up what looks like a joint and the scene is quite calm, in comparison to the previous scene. He further goes on to talk about what has happened throughout the Delta Psi history, with the non-diegetic music playing in the background. The type of music that is played in certain scenes in this film along with sounds, is key in this type of film, as there are were a lot of parties shown the right kind of music had to be played to create the right environment. Also, the right setting and props used helped create a better narrative as it mad everything seem more realistic. After he speaks, we see the characters dropping large amounts of marijuana into steel bins, which light up and the scene picks up a faster pace once again. From this there's various shots of joints, people lighting up bongs etc. and numerous people entering the frat house. The camerawork throughout this scene is quite shaky, and hand held to create more of a realistic feel. There's a green tone of lighting throughout, which creates more of an idealistic scene as it's a frat party. We can also see numerous posters of marijuana signs posted on the walls around the house. Additionally, throughout majority of the scene we a dominant representation of teenagers partying and doing silly things, such as jumping down the stairs, smoking more than one substance at once, etc. We also see girls shirtless, behaving recklessly and almost being objectified. We also see boys and girls making out and behaving inappropriately in bedrooms. This could therefore, create a moral panic for the older generation. Even though they wouldn't typically see a movie like this, if they were to, it would create a moral panic as they don't agree with the behaviour of teenagers these days and frown upon most of the things they get up to; "Lifestyles, clothing and pastimes of youth of young people of different classes and geographical origins come to life in his novels and films, providing us with snapshots of changing youth culture" ^2.  Furthermore, there’s a dominant ideology of the youth portrayed throughout the entire film, linking with Stuart Hall’s theory of ideologies. In addition, Blumer and Katz’s, ‘Uses and Gratification’ theory can also be applied as there’s the theory of Personal Identity: teenagers seeing themselves reflected on screen, linking with Dyer’s theory of stereotype’s being a projection of the real world.

^{1) McCartney, J. (n.d.). Bad Neighbours: 'surprisingly perceptive' Retrieved December 06, 2016}

2) Fictions of Youth: Pier Paolo Pasolini, Adolescence, Fascisms (Toronto Italian Studies)

In addition, ‘Bad Neighbours’ is not the only film that has created a negative representation of the youth in today’s society. There are many more films, such as Phil Lord and Chris Miller’s ’21 Jump Street’. Similarly, this film also conveys a negative representation of the youth, however, it is still yet appealing to the youth of today’s society; “Teen films hold a special place in the hearts of almost all moviegoers since we have fond and frustrating memories of the films that spoke to us in our adolescence.” ^3. Furthermore, ownership and control portrays what the media releases and allows audiences to view, and throughout the film it only conveys a negative representation of teenagers creating a moral panic. One may argue that the youth watch these films due to seeing themselves reflected on screen or in fact for a diversion; and escape from reality. Additionally, by there being more than one film out there in the film industry presenting a negative stereotype of the youth may indeed create a moral panic for the older generation, as all they see is teenagers behaving out of control and may believe this will happen or does in fact happen in real life; "As a group, ‘youth’ have become a ‘matter of concern’ – the target of various policies, schemes, interventions and strategic attention.”  ^4. Furthermore, there’s always been the dominant stereotypes of what teenagers are like; “Dumb guys, deadly guys, bullies, buffoons, betrayers, predators, punks and thugs. Their hooliganism is a stirring example of youthful high spirits, their stupidity excused by naiveté” ^5.   This therefore, does convey that the youth of society do have a negative stereotype constantly shadowing them.

 3) Shary, T (2005). Teen movies: American Youth on Screen. London: Wallflower.

4) Riele, K. T., & Gorur, R. (2015). Interrogating conceptions of "vulnerable youth" in theory, policy and practice. Rotterdam: Sense.

5) Bernstein, J. (1997). Pretty in pink: The golden age of teenage movies. New York: St. Martin's Griffin.

Both these films, ‘Bad Neighbours’ and ’21 Jump Street’ are typical American high school comedies that portray the negative/dominant stereotype of the youth in today’s society. The major values in this film is to make the audience believe that the younger generation are young reckless teenagers who just want to party whilst doing illegal things, such as, smoking, underage drinking, sex and so on. By creating movies like this does not only emphasis the negative portrayal of the youth, but create a moral panic for the older generation, as they agree with the ideologies and stereotypes of teenagers. Moreover, despite the fact that these films may create a moral panic, some teenagers may argue that they aren’t represented accurately or fairly in the media, “The social positions and experiences associated with being a teenager in these films didn’t really describe my life” ^6. This further creates the debate of whether or not teenagers are accurately presented in a fair manner, “Teen film is generally thought more interesting for what it says about youth than for any aesthetic innovations, and is represented as closely tied to the historically changing experience of adolescence” ^7. Additionally, in today’s society the youth are extremely vulnerable and are the main target in the media stated by Jon Lewis, “But while much of the recent work is compelling, youth culture has proven yet to be an exclusive target.” ^8. Due to the youth of today’s society being vulnerable gives the media more of an opportunity to take advantage of them and present them negatively,  "For youth who are vulnerable (or ‘at risk’, disadvantaged, marginalized or disenfranchised – terminology varies) the interconnectedness of various indicators of vulnerability are a phenomenon of life.” ^9.  The youth are being presented this way as it wants society to believe teenagers are reckless and have no goals or ambition. Instead, all they do is get drunk and throw loud parties. Furthermore, the younger generation are portrayed in this manner to show the huge difference between both generations. Moreover, one may argue that the youth of today are more out of control due to having more freedom than expected; “Teenagers had more opportunities to have an active social life because they had become more mobile” ^10. Therefore, this connotes that people believe that teenagers are out of control due to the amount of freedom they have. Not only this but as a society we are led to believe that teenagers a reckless, misbehaved people. Additionally, ‘General Multiplex’ represents the ongoing need to research both youth and youth culture and believe that the youth of today’s society live in their own world, “Planet youth” ^11. And do as they please. This once again reinforces the point of the youth being completely out of control with no boundaries whatsoever.

 

^{6) Driscoll, C. (2011). Teen film: A critical introduction. Oxford: Berg.}

^{7) Driscoll, C. (2011). Teen film: A critical introduction. Oxford: Berg.}

^{8) Lewis, J. (1992). The road to romance & ruin: Teen films and youth culture. New York: Routledge.}

9) Riele, K. T., & Gorur, R. (2015). Interrogating conceptions of "vulnerable youth" in theory, policy and practice. Rotterdam: Sense.

10) Tropiano, S. (2006). Rebels and chicks: A history of the Hollywood teen movie. New York: Back Stage Books.

^{11) Shary, T. (2002). Generation multiplex: The image of youth in contemporary American cinema. Austin: University of Texas Press.}

For my historical text I decided to research Allan Carr’s 1978 film ‘Grease’ I've decided to pick this film because it shows a clear representation of the youth and even though there are some similar behaviours that can be seen in the society of today's youth, there's still a large difference, and this film shows a clear example of that. The purpose here is to be able to demonstrate the difference in society regarding the youth in the 70's in comparison to the youth in today's society. The film shows a completely different side to society in comparison to the one today. Yes, the youth are seen having fun, and there are characters who do smoke and drink; “The use of marijuana by youth at this point had become more common, and the availability of other drugs was making youth more eager to explore altered states of mind” ^12. However, it's to a much less extent and they aren't presented as out of control. Furthermore, the film doesn't just show a change in the behaviour of the youth, but it shows the difference in the way teenagers dress, speak and act. Similarly, the youth in the film are still despised by the older generation, just like today's youth and during the Zeitgeist this has been reinforced.  In terms of ‘Zeitgeist’ one may argue that the youth in fact haven’t grown/aged: “the young become a social problem only when they refuse to grow up”^13.  Despite there being a majority of people who do believe the youth are menace to today’s society, there is the minority that disagree with this; “most young people were traditional, cleaning-living, hardworking kids unfairly maligned by the actions of a few disturbed members of their generation”. ^{14 .} This is also reinforced again with the quote, “Teen film does not accurately portray the lives of the adolescents despite its use of the fabulously consuming trivia of everyday teen life (Martin 1994: 65) ^15. In addition, there’s always the question of why teenagers behave in the way they do; “The older generation feared that it’s diminishing influence and lack of control over young people was making it possible for a youth culture , which many believed promoted immortality” ^16. Moreover, ‘Grease’ demonstrates clearly that the youth back then were only slightly different to the youth today as there were similar characteristics shown in society then as the ones today; “Of course children and teenagers existed before the twentieth century began, but social perception of the preadult population was considerably different before the early 1900s” ^17.   

12) Driscoll, C. (2011). Teen film: A critical introduction. Oxford: Berg.

13) Lewis, J. (1992). The road to romance & ruin: Teen films and youth culture. New York: Routledge.

14) Lewis, J. (1992). The road to romance & ruin: Teen films and youth culture. New York: Routledge.

15) Lewis, J. (1992). The road to romance & ruin: Teen films and youth culture. New York: Routledge.

16) Tropiano, S. (2006). Rebels and chicks: A history of the Hollywood teen movie. New York: Back Stage Books.

17) Shary, T. (2002). Generation multiplex: The image of youth in contemporary American cinema. Austin: University of Texas Press.

To conclude, in my opinion, I strongly agree with my hypothesis of the youth being presented in a negative manner. From 1978 and early on decades the youth have constantly had a negative shadow following them, however, it has become more evident in these early ages through the Zeitgeist. Many teenagers feel as if they are in fact presented unfairly and I agree as in most of the media the negative side of the youth are shown in comparison to the positive side.

Word Count; 2612

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Bernstein, J. (1997). Pretty in pink: The golden age of teenage movies. New York: St. Martin's Griffin.

Driscoll, C. (2011). Teen film: A critical introduction. Oxford: Berg.

Fictions of Youth: Pier Paolo Pasolini, Adolescence, Fascisms (Toronto Italian Studies)

Lewis, J. (1992). The road to romance & ruin: Teen films and youth culture. New York: Routledge.

McCartney, J. (n.d.). Bad Neighbours: 'surprisingly perceptive' Retrieved December 06, 2016

Riele, K. T., & Gorur, R. (2015). Interrogating conceptions of "vulnerable youth" in theory, policy and practice. Rotterdam: Sense.

Shary, T (2005). Teen movies: American Youth on Screen. London: Wallflower.

Shary, T. (2002). Generation multiplex: The image of youth in contemporary American cinema. Austin: University of Texas Press.

Tropiano, S. (2006). Rebels and chicks: A history of the Hollywood teen movie. New York: Back Stage Books.