For the geezers born before 1980 - tween movies?

[Type_A_Tiff]

Posted: 7/18/04 at 1:06am

Here's a debate I was having with a co-worker today. I was complaining about the sudden surge of tween-oriented movies/clothes/music/magazines/etc (likely sparked during the Spice Girls era). I was born in the early eighties, so my tween years were in the early/mid-90s, when Ace of Base and J.T.T. were considered cool (and that was it). My argument is that modern times have become tween/teen oriented to proportions never seen before. My coworker argues (and she was born several years before me) that the tween/teen phenomenon started in the 80s with the John Hughes movies, etc. and that it never really died.

Who's right? Me or me?

Discuss.

[POLisPOL]

Posted: 7/18/04 at 1:08am

He... don't you remember the breakfast club, pretty in pink...?

[Type_A_Tiff]

Posted: 7/18/04 at 1:11am

I'm sure I saw it after school once.

Nursery school. :)

[spiderdj82]

Posted: 7/18/04 at 1:13am

Well, John Hughes movie brought teen movies to ANOTHER LEVEL. But, I bet there were a few before then. I mean, all of the beach movies that came out in the sixtees.

[Matt_G]

Posted: 7/18/04 at 1:14am

Those movies weren't aimed at Tweens. The Breakfast Club, Pretty In Pink, Sixteen Candles, Some Kind of Wonderful, Weird Science, Ferris Bueler, Fast Times... and the many others in that genre were aimed at teenagers and adults.

I really can't think of anything aimed at those ages, 8-13, from the early to mid eighties except for cartoon films (which were still extremely popular back than) that was very popular. But than again it is 1:30 in the morning.

Updated On: 7/18/04 at 01:14 AM

[POLisPOL]

Posted: 7/18/04 at 1:16am

OMG

sing with me!
BEACH BLANKET BIIIIIINGO!!!! THAT'S THE NAME OF THE GAME!

Did I ever said that I'm in love with Annette Funicello???? (when she was young of course)

Posted: 7/18/04 at 1:16am

Please - does the movie REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE ring a bell? Humans in general have always been youth obsessed - hence the myth of the 'fountain of youth.' It is the height of myopia to think that this started now, or even in RECENT history.

Enjoy your youth while you can, because quicker than you think, someone will refer to you as 'geezer' - which, by your parameters, is anyone over 24.

Give me a break.

[Type_A_Tiff]

Posted: 7/18/04 at 1:22am

The sad irony, DGrant, is that I'm taking a 4th year college course in gerontology. :) No offense intended to you. (If it makes you feel any better, a kid not that much younger than myself called me "auntie" at work today for the first time, and I nearly burst into tears.)

I'm not saying that humans have not been youth obsessed until now - I'm saying that the TWeen market has never been as lucrative or popular as now. I don't think that the 8-13 year old demographic as ever been so influential in our pop culture before.

(PS. Rebel Without A Cause is not a tween movie. A good movie, yes, but not a tween movie.)

Updated On: 7/18/04 at 01:22 AM

Posted: 7/18/04 at 1:29am

Honestly, Tiff, I'd say it's a product of what happened after the sixties, and the social 'restrictions' for having a child became MUCH looser - and so we ended up with 'children having children.' This has led to parents who have no idea how to raise a child - and compensate by letting them have whatever they want. There has never been this type of 'tween culture' before because it has never been allowed. Not too long ago, young people were lucky to have some change to go buy candy. Now all they have to do is look crosseyed, and the latest computer game/sport shoe/whatever is laid at their feet.

The 'culture' you're seeing is only responding to the knowledge of who is controlling some purse strings. THAT'S the new phenomenon.

[Type_A_Tiff]

Posted: 7/18/04 at 1:40am

I agree with you. So to broaden this discussion, how to change this?

And why are tweens the target demographic? Not teens anymore? (i.e. the high volumes of Hilary Ashley Olsen Lohan movies lately vs. the American Pie/Dude Where's My Car films of just a few years ago.) Is it that teens have grown up and are looking for films of more substance? Is it that tweens are starved for positive role models?

[Musetta1957]

Posted: 7/18/04 at 1:47am

OK, I was born in 1977 and because my mom would often make various and often random disparaging remarks about "those teenagers" as I was growing up, teen movies have never appealed to me, even when I was a teenager and afraid of what I was going to turn into.

Is that why I don't like teenagers now? Probably.

I'm not sure if I contributed or not. Drive through.

Posted: 7/18/04 at 1:47am

Or is it that teens have to make do with the wages from McDonalds, while tweens have the control of mommy and daddy's purse strings?

[bwaysinger]

Posted: 7/18/04 at 10:21am

I think you're right about the influential power of the teen and tween set today as opposed to any other time in history and that's because this is the first time in history where this (these) particular demographic has had such a strong influence on money. Granted, it's their parents' money but these age groups are definitely in control of a large amount of spending on the part of their parents.
I work very close to American Girl Place on 5th Ave in Manhattan. For proof of the buying power of small girls, look no further.

[son_of_a_gunn_25]

Posted: 7/18/04 at 12:20pm

It also helps that the tweens are at the age where they are much more easily influenced than someone older. They care about fitting in and going with the flow. If they percieve something as everyone seeing it, or everyone else around them having it. They have to have it too. I am not saying this doesn't happen in other age groups, but it seems this is the age group where a lot of kids are looking at society at large (or what they percieve is society at large based on media) to start defining themselves.

[JohnPopa]

Posted: 7/18/04 at 12:28pm

The youth media culture has always been huge (ever see the hoopla around 60's teen idols or, you know, Elvis?) There's just a more massive media culture today and kids tend to me more vocal and excited about that than other things and more than adults who have more to do with their time than worry about the dating problems Hillary Duff might be going through. We're just more aware of the 'influence' than we may have been thirty years ago, when there wasn't media covering everything everyone does.

This is nothing new, kids. And it doesn't affect anything any more now than it did then.

[sean martin]

Posted: 7/18/04 at 1:45pm

Couple a youth-oriented culture with mass media avenues like the Internet (Can you imagine broadwayworld.com even existing in the 80s?), and you have a marketer's niche-market wet dream.

John Hughes? Breakfast Club and Sixteen Candles hold up remarkably well, mostly because of the brilliance of the writing. Can you say the same about anything with Hilary Duff?

Didn't think so. :)

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 7/18/04 at 1:52pm

I don't think anyone noticed there WAS a tween market until the Olsens targeted it - then all of a sudden the rest of the world noticed lots of money to be made there.