Teenage hijinx never goes out of style. From the current hit Superbad to older movies such as American Pie, Clueless, and Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, youth-oriented comedies have been a Hollywood staple for decades. But the teen genre of film also includes landmark dramas such as American Beauty and Ghost World — pictures dealing with the uncertainty involved with entering adulthood. How have the themes of teen films shifted to reflect societal concerns? My guest is Timothy Shary, director of the film and video studies department at the University of Oklahoma, and author of the book Generation Multiplex. [Originally broadcast on WLUW’s Under Surveillance in August 2007.]
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