The portrait of teenagers in cinematography and how it can mess up our minds

Have you ever wondered why your life seems so dull compared to the pop culture icons? Well, the life of teenagers in films tends to be over exaggerated as well as cartoony, which can lead to a feeling of not fully living your life as a young person. During adolescence, we tend to feel consumed by our routine which comes along with schoolwork, and the guilt of not experiencing ’it girl life’ could mess up our perception of everyday life. But is it really true? Should we feel this way? Let’s take a look at the ’classics’ of the teenage genre in cinematography.

Gossip Girl (2007)

The series revolves around a group of privileged teenagers who attend a renowned high school in the Upper East Side of New York City, narrated by a mysterious blogger called Gossip Girl. The entire show focuses on their tribulations and scandalous lives as Manhattan's Elite. Even though Gossip Girl is a fantastic series, it also depicts wildly unrealistic expectations of adolescence. Having a highly-prestigious job before graduation, looking perfect all the time or drinking underage are just examples of bizarreness shown in the show. These portraits could negatively influence young people's minds as well as ruin their perception of teenage life.

TheTVDB. “Gossip Girl - TheTVDB.com,” TheTVDB.com, 14 Dec. 2010. Accessed 20 Mar. 2025.

One of the most recognized pieces of cinematography captures puberty as the best time of our lives, that we should live the fullest because it will not last forever. It is  true, but the way of picturing these is not the most accurate one. It is presented as a time of getting into trouble, such as a bad environment, drugs, parties, or quite the opposite, sweet life like in the American rom coms, shopping, friendships, no problems. However, the majority of teenagers will never experience such things. Many screenplays fall into extremes by capturing adolescence in this way. That could be harmful to the youth who are vulnerable to those portraits. These mentioned traits can potentially pass on to the target audience, messing up their minds as well as making it difficult for them to distinguish reality from fiction.

Of course, not every film or series has to be overly exaggerated by the way of depicting some aspects of adolescence. There are some movies that reflect the problems of teenagers well. Moreover, some of the young viewers could possibly identify with the characters and not feel alone in certain situations. Here are  examples of films which fit this description.

Mall Girls (2009) 

---. “Galerianki - Fetele de Mall (2009) - Film - Cinemagia.ro,” Cinemagia.ro, 25 Dec. 2009. Accessed 20 Mar. 2025.

Mall Girls directed by Katarzyna Rosłaniec follows the path of teenage girl Alicja who gets into a bad environment, a group of popular girls from school known as Mall Girls, which leads up to a tragedy. Throughout the story, the main character questions her life choices. The film outlines the problem of adolescent prostitution. It shows how lack of attention from elders can lead to misery. Some teenage girls could identify with those characters, deprived from the attention and understanding they need the most during the most important time of their lives. The film captures the dregs of society and cautions against possible outcomes of following the path of the characters.   

Films are one of the best ways to depict certain problems in different social categories. They appeal to many people in a way that they could feel understood or they just watch them for entertainment. However, the majority of teenagers take a leaf out of behaviour patterns of characters from whom those should not be imitated. We should be aware of the risks that go with doing so. Some of the portraits could mess up our minds and lead up to a disturbance of our common sense. As teenagers, we ought to pay attention to content we acquire while watching some pieces of cinematography and try balancing them out in order to keep our minds clear, without unreal depictions of adolescence.

Nadia Michalik

Bibliography

Baj, Lavender. “All the Times “Gossip Girl” Gave Me Wildly High Expectations of What Teen Life Would Be Like.” PEDESTRIAN.TV, 25 June 2020, www.pedestrian.tv/entertainment/gossip-girl-expectations/. Accessed 4 Mar. 2025.

Stowarzyszenie Filmowców Polskich. “Mall Girls - Festiwal Polskich Filmów Fabularnych.” Festiwal Polskich Filmów Fabularnych, 30 Apr. 2021, festiwalgdynia.pl/en/filmy/mall-girls/. Accessed 4 Mar. 2025.