What the Teen Choice Awards Tell Us About Teens
Author: DavidJones // Category: Movies, Music, Pop Culture, TV, Youth Culture
Yesterday I looked over the nominees for the Teen Choice Awards (August 10). Some thoughts came to my mind that I thought I’d share with you. You can agree or disagree…I’m cool with whatever. But I think from just looking at the nominees, we can learn something about today’s teens:
- When it comes to media/art, teens are more concerned with who’s involved, how this applies to my life, what emotions does this bring, and what’s this based on over quality. In the category for Best Drama, the nominees are: Angels & Demons, Obsessed, Slumdog Millionaire, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, and Twilight. While Slumdog Millionaire won the Oscar for Best Picture, and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button was nominated, I predict neither of these films will win. Instead, the nod will go to Twilight, a movie that was ripped by critics. Why? It’s based on a bestselling teen novel, features teen heartthrobs, and proves…
- The world/culture of a teenager is very different from other demographics. Twilight is leading the way with 12 Teen Choice nominations. Second place a tie with High School Musical 3, Miley Cyrus, and Gossip Girl all having 10 nominations. All of these nominations provide examples of fads that are “hot right now” but probably won’t be in 5 years. Vampires are in. The HSM phenomenon is still big. Miley/Hanna Montana still appeals to tweens. Gossip Girl is a recycled teen drama that was popular 10 years ago but probably won’t be popular 5 years from now. 10 years from now…maybe. Teen culture is all about what’s hot right now. These trends fade very fast! Teens catch em for a short time, and then wave goodbye to them as yesterday’s news. The rest of life doesn’t seem to move quite as fast as the world of teens.
- Teens are drawn into things that appear old than they are. In the movie category of Best Bromantic Comedy (yes, that’s a category), the nominees are: I Love You Man, Role Models, Marley & Me, Pineapple Express, and Tropic Thunder. If you look carefully, 4 out of the 5 movies are rated R. Technically, teenagers are supposed to be 17+ to see R-rated movies in the theater. However, 80% of the nominees for the Teen Choice Awards are R-rated. Cute and fun comedies don’t appeal to teens as much as the raunchy stuff that college students are seeing. Let’s face it: the average teenage guy would rather see a movie like The Hangover (featuring nudity, sex, drug references, etc.) than Paul Blart (a cheesy/clean comedy with Kevin James).
- Teens are caught in a match of tug-of-war between being a kid and being an adult. This is definitely seen in the nominees for Best TV Show Comedy (Hannah Montana, How I Met Your Mother, iCarly, The Office, and Ugly Betty) and Best TV Animated Show (Family Guy, American Dad, South Park, The Simpsons, and SpongeBob SquarePants). Take a look at that contrast. When it comes to comedies, Hannah Montana is lined up right next to How I Met Your Mother. Are a Disney show comedy and a CBS comedy anything alike? Not at all. Look at the choices for TV Animated Show. You’ve got SpongeBob Squarepants thrown in with Family Guy and South Park. While these awards obviously deal with teens from 13-18, it still shows the battle teens face between being a kid and being an adult (and possible the differences between a 13 year old and 18 year old). Teens are in a weird stage in life. They don’t quite know where they fit in with school, church, life, relationships, friendships, etc.
Tags: Gossip Girl, High School Musical, Miley Cyrus, Teen Choice Awards, Twilight
August 7th, 2009 at 3:54 pm
I wouldn’t read too much into these nominations. For one, this is just as much or more about publicity for the nominees as it is about recognition of teen dislikes/likes. Secondly, winners are voted on by anyone with internet access, but there’s no limit on how many votes one person can cast (just that they supposedly can only cast one vote per day). Third, what makes these shows successful is advertising dollars, and advertisers will pay top dollar depending on who is showing up and performing. These shows serve as much as marketing of movies and and music to teenagers as a reflection of what they actually listen to.