Presenters
Abstract
The rebellious youth culture of the U.S. in the1950s emerged as a notorious subject, especially in cinema, opening up taboo topics around sexuality, crime, and drug abuse, and leading to heated public controversy, both domestically and abroad. Films such as The Wild One(1953), Blackboard Jungle(1955), and Rebel Without a Cause (1955) addressed the failures of the educational system, the increase in juvenile crime, and the erosion of traditional family values. The public responded alternately with enthusiasm and widespread moral panic. In Europe, the influence of American movies dealing with juvenile delinquency became a concern; Rebel Without a Cause was the only movie of the 1950s to be denied a censorship certificate in Britain. These films were called “juvenile delinquency movies,” which evolved into a genre of filmmaking in the 1950s in the United States.
In 1995, Larry Clark’s first film, Kids, depicted crude, reckless teenage characters whose only ambitions were casual sex and getting high. The film caused a stir resulting in public outcry over the explicit content of Clark’s film that led to fervid criticism and even censorship. Clark’s subsequent films, Bully (2001) and Ken Park (2002), provoked similar reactions from the public and critics for their frank nudity and the audacity of their subject matter.
This paper investigates the development of juvenile delinquency movies in the postwar U.S., the challenging ethical issues dealing with such topics that concern each decade, and the public reception and influences of the most canonical and controversial American juvenile delinquency movies from Rebel with a Cause to Kids. In it I argue that filmmakers such as Clark opened a window onto previously hidden aspects of American teen subculture by employing methods of participant observation, thereby bringing an authentic voice to secret lives at the edge of moral decay.