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Right from the origins of cinema, countless films and television dramas have offered sensational and seductive representations of young people's lives. Youth is typically associated with energy, idealism and physical beauty, but it is often represented as both troubled and troubling. These representations are almost always created by adults, implicitly reflecting an adult perspective on how young people 'come of age'.
Youth on Screen provides a historical account of representations of youth in Britain and the United States, stretching back over seventy years. From Blackboard Jungle to This is England, and from Jailhouse Rock to Skins, it covers a range of classics, as well as some intriguing obscurities. Engagingly written and clearly organized, it offers a perfect introduction for students and general readers.
List of contents
Contents
Acknowledgments
1. Introduction
2. Troubling teenagers: how movies constructed the juvenile delinquent
3. Dreamboats, boybands and the perils of showbiz: the rise and fall of the pop film
4. Reeling in the years: retrospect and nostalgia in movies about youth
5. Gender trouble: cinema and the mystery of adolescent girlhood
6. This is England: growing up in Thatcher's Britain
7. Skins and the impossibility of youth television
8. Conclusion: histories and futures
Further reading
TV and filmography
Notes
Bibliography
About the author
David Buckingham is an Emeritus Professor of Media and Communications at Loughborough University, and a Visiting Professor at Kings College London, UK. His research has focused on children and young people's interactions with media, and on media literacy education.
Summary
Right from the origins of cinema, countless films and television dramas have offered sensational and seductive representations of young people's lives. Youth is typically associated with energy, idealism and physical beauty, but it is often represented as both troubled and troubling. These representations are almost always created by adults, implicitly reflecting an adult perspective on how young people 'come of age'.
Youth on Screen provides a historical account of representations of youth in Britain and the United States, stretching back over seventy years. From Blackboard Jungle to This is England, and from Jailhouse Rock to Skins, it covers a range of classics, as well as some intriguing obscurities. Engagingly written and clearly organized, it offers a perfect introduction for students and general readers.
Report
"Offering insightful readings of both classic and less known films and TV series, Youth on Screen is a fresh and compelling introduction to mediated representations of adolescence. Buckingham?s analyses of British texts are especially welcome given that U.S. properties have received far more attention to date."
Mary Celeste Kearney, author of Girls Make Media and editor of Mediated Girlhoods
"Buckingham offers an insightful and highly readable account of how young people have been portrayed on screen and the critical debates that have ensued. In the process, this book sheds new light on the evolving politics of ?youth? as a social category."
Sue Turnbull, University of Wollongong
