As with all movies, there are certain stereotypes that we’ve grown to expect when watching (no matter the genre), but they seem to be unusually prevalent in teen movies—specifically, movies set in high school or college. Although movie stereotypes generally get a bad reputation, most do have a certain formula that allows audiences to enjoy their watching experience. Certain tropes can be very toxic when you consider that they are pushed towards a younger demographic. Here are some toxic teen movie tropes that need to go:
The “I can change him!”
Typical and classic young-adult trope, this is a story that mostly fits into any melodramatic high school love story. In short, this trope entails a sweet, innocent, clueless girlfriend and her dark, brooding, toxic boyfriend, who is apparently disrespectful to everyone but her. She’s therefore convinced that because she’s the only exception, she is the only one that can change him for the better. We have come to realize how this is actually a terrible lesson to be teaching young girls through the big screen, but we should still not be filling people with these ideas that young women are responsible (or always capable) for taking care or changing toxic or abusive men. You might be familiar with the variations of this, from classic teen love stories such as Twilight (2008) or even from more modern love stories in the ever-so-controversial After movies.
The “I’m Different”/ “Quirky YA Girl”
This is probably the most hated and well-known trope in classic movies, shows, or even books directed to teenagers. There are so many things I can get into that are wrong with this stereotype, including the deep-rooted misogyny that comes with it. The stereotype is commonly found in female protagonists of high school or college-age movies. She’s written to be “deeper” and more insightful than all the other characters, but it usually comes off as putting down other girls in the meantime. Think about After (2020), where the main girl Tessa is portrayed as innocent and intelligent but manages to slut-shame other girls at her college too. Or we can think about Twilight and Bella Swan, who is the classic combination of shy-clumsy-insecure-brunette, which is what makes her stick out to vampire Edward Cullen. Somehow, these traits attract them to all the main male characters of the story or sometimes even get caught in love triangles just because they’re so “different” from other girls.
Teacher-student relationships
An obvious no! Although this is a teen trope that’s been retired in our movies and shows as we grow to become more aware of how this is wrong, this still seemed to be much too common in the media we consumed as young children. The most evident example coming to mind would be in the show Pretty Little Liars, where the main character Aria pursues a romantic relationship with her English teacher, and he reciprocates even though she is 15! It’s worse to remember how many young girls watching the show rooted for them to work out. Some movies often made these situations as lighthearted jokes, such as in Mean Girls (2004), where a running joke is how the PE teacher engaged in a sexual relationship with one of the teenage girls. Riverdale‘s first season wrote its main character, Archie Andrews, as having slept with his music teacher.
Rushing into Relationships/Sex in High School
This one should really be put more into the forefront of the conversation when we talk about harmful media tropes. Most high school or college-focused movies plots surrounds sex and sexual relationships. Examples of these plotlines could be subplots about helping a character lose their virginity or a casual joke between characters about how they were in their first relationships at thirteen. From shows such as Riverdale to Pretty Little Liars and movies such as Mean Girls or John Tucker Must Die (2006), relationships and sex are often plot drivers. This is toxic in that not every teenager will have their first relationship in high school or have sex before they graduate. However, these forms of teenage media pushed into the mainstream pressures teenagers to engage in sex, relationships, or even hook-up culture before they’re ready.
Diversity points through friendships
Although it does not entirely fit into the pattern of romantic relationships that we see this trend, this trope most commonly appears through friendships represented on the big screen. For example, there is the caricature of the stereotypical smart and nerdy Asian male friend who is school-obsessed, the sassy Black woman best friend to advise the protagonist, or even the gay best friend that’s been popping up more recently in modern teen media. Yes, diversity is needed, but not in the sense of characters being used only as tools to increase diversity points while fitting into the molds of their race or sexualities.
End of the day, movies can’t really be movies if there aren’t certain tropes that still lay in them. That’s what makes them comfortable for audiences to enjoy and want to watch again. However, certain ones are either misused or overused in our media, to the point that they are teaching harmful lessons to teenagers to take with them as they grow up. As Hollywood continues releasing out more movies, TV shows, and forms of media that are supposed to represent our generation and younger ones, it’s important to consider how these relationships can reflect in the minds of our youth.