I was a teenager in the late-60's/early 70's and there really were not a lot of memorable teen dream films. It was past the Tammy, Elvis, and Beach Blanket teen film days of the 50's and early 60's. We watched rock music movies like A Hard Day's Night and Woodstock. American Graffiti and Grease were teen-themed 50's nostalgia films that we didn't really relate to as 70's teenagers. The Graduate we related to, but it was more of a college film.
I planted a few duds in there for fun, but I didn't think Stripes or Gremlins were among them. You must have never seen Eddie and the Cruisers. I will always like Streets of Fire, but it is pretty awful.
Yea, not a great period of time for this genre. Although I loved and still do love American Graffiti. My daughter loves Grease. My favorite of teen type movie from that era is To Sir, With Love.
It is very much a California movie. That era was very different in the deep south. Good film from a movie buffs perspective, but we as American teenagers did not relate to those class-conscious British kids. We liked Poitier basically.
I tend to think that teenagers understand and recognize class issues. The Outsiders, Stand and Deliver, Dangerous Minds. Hell even Splendor in the Grass from 1961 is centered around a classist theme.
American class issues, yes. But the British class issues are very different, that is what I was getting at. It was hard to relate to those British teens and I was a teenager at the time.
The separation comes with race... Americans associate poverty and class with race. They just don't get the fact that other people around the world have been fucked over and taken advantage of for a reason other than melanin content.
