FMS 394: Lesson 9 TEENS AND MALL CULTURE

 What elements of the socio-political context of the early 1980s shaped discourses of teens and adolescence at that moment?  What changes were taking place in the motion picture industry and leisure culture in the U.S. in the 1980s? How did these changes affect teen audiences as well as representations of teens?  What aspects of U.S. culture do we see refelcted (or refracted) in this week’s screening, Fast Times at Ridgemont High?  What new (or familiar) spaces of teen culture are presented in Fast Times? GUIDING QUESTIONS

 Historical Context:  Cold War and the Middle East  Reagan and the “New Right”  On the cusp of crisis:  The War on Drugs  AIDS  Teen Pregnancy  Gen-X Rising  (roughly) COMING OF AGE IN THE 1980S Reagan campaign poster (1980 election)

 Changes in Hollywood:  Multiplexing and the “K-Mart Audience”  “Generation Multiplex”  Teen Audiences and Teen Images THE FILM INDUSTRY IN THE EARLY 80S

 Teen Spaces of Work and Leisure  School  Home  Cars  The Mall The Mall  Theaters and Arcades FAST TIMES AT RIDGEMONT HIGH (1982)

 Teens, Adults, and Adult Themes  What kinds of teens do we see?  Where are the parents?  How is teen sexuality portrayed? FAST TIMES AT RIDGEMONT HIGH (1982)

Lesson 10: Teens, Gender, and Class in the 1980s NEXT TIME ON FMS 394: