I’m just gonna go straight into this. From what I have experienced and seen through TV and Film, stereotypes are very prevalent in teen dramas. For example; in Gossip Girl, the main characters who are all teenagers are not necessarily misrepresented but are stereotyped. The rich teenagers are shown as snobby and ingenuine people. I understand why this wa done but at the same time I feel like this is unfair to those who don’t act this way. This representation just adds on to the negative connotation of “rich” teenagers.


To reiterate, Gossip Girl has a significant misrepresentation of teenagers. Not every teenager is so mischievous and rude. I say this because from what I can remember, every single teen in the show is completely irresponsible and obnoxious. This may seem sad, but I have seen all five season twice and each and every teen is shown in the worst way possible. Of course the characters have their moments where they shine and burst out of their bubble, but for the most part, it isn’t pretty.


Another media that has a lot of stereotypes with teens is High School Musical. This isn’t just for the first movie,but I’m talking about all of them. Again, in HSM the rich teens are seen as snobby and airheaded. The jocks are also dumb and are nothing more than just muscle with peewee brains. As someone in High School, I can safely say that this isn’t the case more many teens. When I say many, I mean the majority. Of course there are still teens that most definitely act this way.





As you can assume, I am not in favor of these representations. Although they may sometimes be accurate, this isn’t always the case. They are partially correct I would say. Personally, I know many teens who are incredibly responsible and that are extremely mature. I would retain the snobby characteristic because I have met my fair share of snobby teens. However, the idea of teens being lazy and jocks being dumb is absurd. This needs to be changed because many of the movies and TV shows that I know (which are primarily popular ones) express these negative attributes towards teens.

Blog Post #2

Drama


The genre drama consists of serious issues or topics. Drama really embraces character development and the emotional struggles of said character. Typically, Drama enacts real life and serious situations. Telling a story on a characters strengths or weaknesses can also be conveyed through drama which has the capability of playing into character development.


Many production techniques are used in drama. Typically in TV film, the same characters will be present. This is done to develop character development. In addition, contrary to comedies or sit-coms, dramas will not have a laugh track or much if any stings. In TV, every episode will correlate with one or more storylines and help develop the story.


My first film sample is The Blind Side. This film not only has a lot of emotion but it is expressed through characters. As the film continues, the audience is presented characters dealing with internal conflict. Through this conflict, character development is prevalent. In addition, this film is based on a true story which allows the story to have a serious and almost relatable appeal to viewers.


My second piece of media is Gossip Girl. This is an american teen drama series that shines light upon wealthy individuals throughout a lot of episodes. Copios character development is shown here as well. Just like most drama series, every episode helps further the plot of one or more storylines. As previously mentioned in the paragraph above, many of the ideas represented throughout the show can also be seen in real life.


Other examples of Drama in media include:





The Godfather





Titanic





Saving Private Ryan





Game of Thrones





Fight Club