Group19: The Bling Ring

The Bling Ring

Today we watched the film 'The Bling Ring.' It is a biographic teen movie based on a crime spree that a group of teens commit in LA. The crimes committed were on Lindsay Lohan, Paris Hilton, Orlando Bloom and others. The opening sequence of this movie went against the usual conventions of a teen film; this is because in the early scenes, we observe a clip of what we believe is what is to occur later on in the film at some point. It is then followed by a montage of the previous clip, as well as pictures of shoes and videos of celebrities. I think this in particular made this movie more appealing to its viewer as we became engaged almost instantly in the storyline.

The Bling Ring focuses on three main factors which are frequently included in many teen films: money, drugs and fame/popularity. The teens in the film are driven by keeping up with the latest fashion which is promoted by celebrities. The characters were also influenced to take drugs as some celebrities have been arrested for like Lindsay Lohan, (there is a shot of her being arrested in the montage). There is very few teen film stereotypes used in this film; this may be because it is a biography, however the character Rebecca could be described as similar to the 'popular girl in school' who all the other girls want to be friends with. The character Marc could also be perceived to be the person who always seeks approval from their surrounding peers - a 'wannabe.'