According to a new study, teen movies have a dirty little secret — and it’s harming the real-life adolescents that watch them.
According to a new study, teen films have a dirty little secret — and it’s harming the real-life adolescents who watch them.
After analyzing dozens of teen films, communications researchers at the University of Ohio found, per a new study published in the Journal of Children and Media, that the experiences depicted in them was so different from the lives and experiences of actual teens that they may as well have been speculative fiction.
Looking at 53 teen films released between 2012 and 2021 — titles like « Lady Bird », « The Fault in Our Stars », and « Percy Jackson » — the study led by PhD student Kate Stewart revealed that the protagonists in these stories were very talented at initiating romantic relationships, and often didn’t struggle with the physical aspects of puberty (which can, as we all remember, be quite gross).
Of all the characters in those films, only two — male or female — dealt with body hair on screen, and the same number struggled with acne.
