1. FMS394: Teens, Film, and U.S. Culture
Lesson 2:
Rock, Rebellion, and the Rise of the Teenpic

2. Guiding Questions
What role did popular music play in the rise of the teenpic?
How do teen tastes and activities become sites of generational tension and youthful rebellion?
What do the forms and popularity of film representations of delinquency tell us about U.S. culture in the 1950s?

3. Hollywood's Resistance to Teens
Why were movies so late to court the teen marketplace?
Industry conservatism and skepticism
Demographic data about teens only just emerging
“Adult” artistic sensibilities
Film as a “family” medium
Exhibitors vs. Producers and Distributors

4. Pop Music and Teen Culture
Music is where teens begin to shape the cultural landscape
1953: A Tale of Two Charts: Pop and R&B
Patti Page's “How Much is that Doggie in the Window?
Ruth Brown's “(Mama) He Treats Your Daughter Mean”
Patti Page
Ruth Brown

5. Pop Music and Teen Culture
1954: The Chords and Crossover Appeal
Sh-boom
1955: The Rise of Rock and a Tale of Two Versions
Tutti Frutti
Little Richard
Pat Boone
Little Richard
Pat Boone

6. Rock and the Rise of the Teenpic
Above: Blackboard Jungle (dir. Richard Brooks, 1955)
Right: Rock Around the Clock (dir. Fred F. Sears, 1956)

7. Rock and the Rise of the Teenpic
Elvis Presley and Jailhouse Rock (dir. Richard Thorpe, 1957)
“Indigenous” perspective
-Significance of entertainment media
-Legitimates rock as a musical form
-Class and sexuality via delinquency and violence

8. Moral Panics and the Rise of the Teenpic
James Dean and Rebel Without A Cause (dir. Nick Ray, 1955) Trouble in Suburbia Drag Racing Teen Hero/Teen Anti-Hero Exploiting Delinquency? Skirting the Code

9. Cleanpics and the Endless Summer
Next Time on FMS 394…
Cleanpics and the Endless Summer