Teenage (2013 American film)  

From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia

(Redirected from Teenage (film))
Jump to: navigation, search

Related e

Wikipedia
Wiktionary
Shop


Featured:

Teenage is a 2013 documentary film directed by Matt Wolf and based on Jon Savage's book Teenage: The Creation of Youth Culture.

Contents

Plot

The film documents the evolution of youth culture from the early twentieth century starting in 1904 until the end of WWII in 1945 when the concept of the "teenager" was developed. Youth culture and movements through four decades of evolution are examined as they emerged primarily in European countries. By the end of World War II, the new teenage demographic was recognised in 1945 with the publication by The New York Times of the "Teen Age Bill of Rights" by Elliot E. Cohen, which, among other things, asserted the youths' right to determine their future and control their lives.

The film documents the history of German youth movements like the Wandervogel, the Hitler Youth, and the Swing Kids of Hamburg. It also examines the role young people played in the resistance against the Nazis, showcasing Sophie Scholl and her organisation White Rose, an anti-Nazi resistance group. As part of its retrospective into the early UK youth culture, the film looks into the lives of Brenda Dean Paul and the bright young things.

American youth movements such as the flappers, victory girls and Boy Scouts are also included in the film.

Cast

Technique

In the making of his film, Wolf used those parts from Savage's book that were also found in archival film of the era so that they could be shown in their original form on the screen. The main thesis of Wolf, as it unfolds through the documentary narrative, is that the teenagers gradually became a distinct demographic due to social changes such as their entrance in the labour force and conscription. Wolf's documentary does not follow a linear historical account of the events but develops its story by meandering through the musings and thoughts of past youth which are voiced by the actors.

For narration, the film uses first-person accounts derived from personal diaries, films, and biographies of the people depicted in the documentary. In the case of Brend Dean Paul, Wolf uses her autobiography, published in 1935, to narrate her segment in the film. In a similar vein, the Hamburg Swing Kids are shown in the documentary through their self-made movies.

There is no single narrator for the film. Instead four actors use their voices to portray different people. Jena Malone voices an American girl, Ben Whishaw narrates the British segment, Jessie Usher voices the African-American youth and Julia Hummer narrates the life of a German girl in Nazi Germany, based on Melita MaschmannTemplate:'s diary “Account Rendered”.

According to The Guardian the blending of faux Super 8 film footage with the actual archive footage is successful but since it is not flagged as such, it raises questions regarding the authenticity and "good faith" of what is being presented.

Interviews

Wolf has described his film as a "living collage". In an interview with the Tribeca Film Festival, Wolf was asked why he highlighted the personalities of Bright young things member Brenda Dean Paul, Hitler Youth Melita Maschmann, Swing Kid Tommy Scheel, and Boy Scout Warren Hall in his documentary. He replied that he considers Brenda Dean Paul as a "proto-Lindsay Lohan". He also said that he considers Melita Maschmann, a Hitler Youth leader, as a "very extreme character" who rebelled against her parents by joining Hitler's Youth. Wolf continued that he considers Nazi-era youth Tommy Scheel, who smuggled swing records and British fashion as a form of rebellion against the Nazis, as the "hippest of them all" and "almost like a proto-punk".

In the same interview, Wolf also said that he was "intrigued" by Warren Hall because he was an ordinary kid, unlike the other characters who were larger than life. According to Wolf, Warren, as a boy scout, just wanted to "fit in", but was "hampered" by the racism of his era and expressed his "anger and frustration" against the discrimination he experienced.

In the Tribeca interview when asked if he thinks that women are "catalysts [for change]", given his extended coverage of their viewpoint in his documentary, Wolf replied positively explaining that young women faced oppression not only because of their youth but also because of their gender, "fac[ing] both misogyny and ageism".

In another interview with the New York Times Style Magazine, when asked what the youth movements such as the Boy Scouts the Wandervogel, the Jitterbugs etc. had in common, Wolf replied: "Rebellion", which, although expressed in different ways and contexts, "it all contained a kernel of desire to break away from their parents’ generation’s values and beliefs".




Unless indicated otherwise, the text in this article is either based on Wikipedia article "Teenage (2013 American film)" or another language Wikipedia page thereof used under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License; or on research by Jahsonic and friends. See Art and Popular Culture's copyright notice.

Personal tools