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What Movies Teach Us About the Teenage Experience Today
by Adrian Johansen
Ah, adolescence. Those formative years that most adults would not revisit for love or money. They’re a time of conflict and questioning, of uncertainty and exploration. Yet, too many films depict what is often one of the most difficult periods of life with an idealistic nostalgia that little resembles lived experience.
There are some films, though, that actually get it right — ones that encapsulate what it means to be a teenager in the 2020s. What these films reveal is that, while some aspects of teen angst are universal and timeless, others are unique to the world we live in today. So, what can the movies teach us about life as our teenagers experience it now?
The Power of Social Media
There’s no denying the influence that social media has had on all our lives, but it’s today’s adolescents, perhaps, who are feeling it most — often to their extreme detriment.
Indeed, studies show that today’s teens are often far less emotionally healthy than in previous generations. The research also indicates that social media often plays a powerful role in fostering the psychological, emotional, and social hardships that our young people are facing.
For example, the data indicate skyrocketing rates of depression, anxiety, low self-esteem, and poor body image among teens today. This deterioration in the mental health of the rising generation is frequently attributed to the prevalence of social media in teens’ daily lives.
The dire impact that these technologies can have on our young may be seen in films and television series, such as the 2015 television drama, Cyberbully, which chronicles a young girl’s descent into depression in the wake of relentless online attacks.
The series illuminates the challenges that parents of teenagers face when endeavoring to keep their children, as well as themselves, safe online. Not only does Cyberbully reflect the near-obsessiveness that can emerge in teens immersed in social media, but it also speaks to the host of unsafe practices that wanderers on the World Wide Web, no matter their age, routinely engage in. These are practices that not only jeopardize their personal data, but that may also jeopardize their lives. This includes, for example, trusting and oversharing with the wrong people, falling for phishing scams, and frequenting unsafe sites.
A Strong Social Conscience
One of the distinguishing characteristics of the rising generation is the profound social conscience that so many of our young people have. Today’s teens are both deeply empathic and deeply emotional. They value inclusivity and diversity and they feel an enormous sense of moral responsibility, a drive to extend and defend the rights of others, an onus to protect the environment, and a burden to fight for justice whenever, wherever, and however it may be threatened.
What this means is that today’s adolescents are often highly politically involved, as can be seen in the 2020 documentary, Boys State. The film charts a group of Texas teenagers in a mock gubernatorial camp as they try to form their own representative government out of an assemblage of thousands of high school students across the state.
The Journey to Self-Acceptance
Learning to love and accept yourself is a feat that can take a lifetime to achieve. It’s also an endeavor that often lies at the heart of teens’ deepest emotional struggles.
After all, no matter how our culture may proclaim the value of children, it is still an adult’s world. That means that, for far too many teens, psychological, social, and even physical needs go unrecognized, misunderstood, and unaccommodated.
For instance, studies show that a substantial population of young females need treatment for undiagnosed or misdiagnosed attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Because parents, educators, and healthcare providers alike are often untrained to recognize the symptoms of ADHD in girls, many are left to struggle, not only academically but also socially and psychologically.
They may feel isolated, misunderstood, and unvalued. They may feel incompetent and out of place, never realizing that the symptoms they experience are by no means the markers of a personal deficiency or shortcoming but merely the signs of an undiagnosed neurological condition.
Even when they don’t address ADHD specifically, there are nevertheless many important films that reflect and relate to the feelings of inadequacy that can develop in today’s teens when their needs go unrecognized and unmet. For instance, the 2018 film, Sierra Burgess is a Loser showcases one teen girl’s difficult journey from self-condemnation to self-awareness and acceptance.
The Takeaway
It’s never been easy to be a teenager, but the challenges that today’s adolescents face are, in many ways, unlike anything that previous generations have had to endure. Fortunately, through fictional films, documentaries, and television series, audiences of any age can develop a deeper understanding of what it’s like to be a young person in today’s world.
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