AUDIENCE TASK 2: analysis of 3 teen movies with different audiences

Watching several teen movies will hopefully spark some ideas for my group and I for when we come to create our opening sequence. This post features three different teen movies of different genres: comedy, horror and romance.

LOVE DON'T COST A THING (2003) - Comedy


Love Don't Cost A Thing is a teen comedy which focuses on popularity and high school status. Instead of soley demonstrating the positive side to popularity, this film exposes the pressures of consistency in portraying a particular image to match what is expected by their peers. The above poster includes Nick Cannon (left), who plays the role of a "wannabe" and Christina Milian (right) who plays "the most popular girl in school." Although this movie has predominantly black actors, it is a film for all races and genders, targeted mainly at under 40's and due to its sense of maturity can be enjoyed by anyone. Furthermore, the dominant binary opposition in play is 'beauty vs ugly.'

JOHN TUCKER MUST DIE (2006) - Romance

John Tucker Must Die is another teen movie based on romance. There are various comical traits in this film but the central storyline shows "the most popular boy in school" date three women at the same time and is yet to receive his comeuppance. The movie is set mainly in high school so I believe the target audience to be for high school students; a niche market. John Tucker Must Die promotes the typical idea of teen movie, e.g. cheerleeders are most popular girls, the "geeks" are good at science and male athletes being the centre of attention; it compliments the stereotype perfectly.
 
FINAL DESTINATION (2000) - Horror 

 
Final Destination is the first of five movies publishing the notion of an inability to cheat death. We focus on this specific Final Destination movie as it is considered a teen horror. This particular storyline behind cheating death, shows high school students that are to take a school trip to France. We notice the usual dimensions in the school environment - popular kids, geeks - but due to tragedy they are forced to overlook their trivial differences and stay close to one another. I believe the target audience for this movie to be horror enthusiasts of all ages as well as teenagers. The dominant binary opposition in play is 'good vs evil.'