Representation

Within my project, there are many issues, and events that I am considering to represent. But, I am certain that the group that I would like to represent is teenagers, specifically teenage girls. Not only will these actresses be the most accessible to me, but as a member of this group, I believe for teenage girls to be quite interesting. The media loves to center films, or television series’ about this group, yet they are so commonly misrepresented. Every representation of them portrays teenagers as catty, entitled, and self-absorbed. And I don’t believe that is an accurate representation of what teenage girls are like.

A perfect example of a poor representation of teenage girls, is the film Jawbreaker. This film follows a tight clique of girls, who have a tradition of playing terrible tricks on their friends for their birthday. One of their tricks goes terribly wrong, and their friend ends up dead. It is a poor portrayal of teenage girls, because the clique seems to see themselves as better than everyone else. All girls who were not a part of this clique longed to join, and would do anything to do so. That is quite similar to the movie Mean Girls. We once again have another clique of girls with a superiority complex, and every girl longed for their approval. The members of the clique in these films are usually wealthy, their appearance is typically important, and they are far from nice.

The previously mentioned representation characteristics, are not fair representations of teenage girls. Prior to attending high school, I believed these representations, and feared whomever the high school “clique” was going to be. Yet, when I arrived there was no group of three girls prancing around in coordinating outfits. In my project, I am not sure if there any characteristics worth retaining, as the representation of teenage girls is almost always inaccurate. I would definitely challenge the stereotypes of girls being petty, needy, and reckless.