Though most people’s obsession with Millennials correlates to the
aggregate worth of their wallets—or, in some instances,
the value of their celebrity—there also exists a growing fascination with the importance of teenagers in the formation of a distinct cultural lexicon. From blogs to documentaries, media that reflects the history of adolescence has never been so alluring.
Teenage Bedroom: Apart from the lucky few whose parents didn’t transform their childhood bedroom into an office/gym/closet upon their flight from the nest, adults generally don’t have a tangible time capsule of their Clearasil years. An “homage to all of us when we were still young and exciting,” Teenage Bedroom is a crowdsourced photo Tumblr that celebrates the ‘unique’ decor of adolescent bedrooms, primarily those of recent decades. There are
lava lamps,
Christmas lights, and
walls collaged with magazine cutouts as far as the eye can see. So compelling are these depictions of personal branding, the blog unknowingly suggests that the true pioneers of the
“undecorate” movement may be, in fact, our former selves.
Teenage: Nowadays, documentary portraits of teenagers tend to be
of the reality TV persuasion. Offering a more positive reflection of teens than the content found on cable TV is the forthcoming documentary
Teenage. Directed by filmmaker Matt Wolf (
Wild Combination), the film is an adaptation of Jon Savage’s
Teenage: The Creation of Youth 1845-1945. Like the book, the movie
will be a historical examination of early youth movements, in an era before teens controlled the zeitgeist. Consisting of a blend of archival footage and painstakingly stylized 16mm recreations, the in-progress film is aiming for a 2012 release; however, it still
needs funding.
