Ain't what she used to be...

I finished Uni for the semester a couple of weeks ago, and to celebrate went to Queensland with a few friends for about a week. We drove, and for those of you playing at home, it's approximately a seventeen hour drive to Coolum, and around 1350 km. Going up, we took two nights (staying in Taree and Byron Bay respectively), and on the way back we drove straight through (we left Coolum at 10.30 in the morning, and arrived back at 4.30am on Wednesday!). It was awesome though - although I don't think I've ever listened to as much Backstreet Boys, *Nsync and Adam Lambert as I did on that trip. Interestingly enough, I was travelling with all boys. Go figure on the soundtrack - none of that stuff came from My iPod!!

Anyway, I returned from the trip two days ago, and have done very little with my time since then. Oh, I lie... I went out for dinner with some friends last night at this brilliant dumpling cafe in near my Uni. But I digress.

Every time I hit holidays, I tend to bum around in my pyjamas a lot, spend an inordinate amount of time on social networking sites, and watch a lot of movies. This morning, I seem to have done all three. Yes, it is 2.38pm and I am still in my pyjamas. I have Facebook open on my computer, and I just watched the 1984 masterpiece Sixteen Candles. Which actually brings me to the point I want to make.



Teen movies are not at all what they used to be. Honestly. John Hughes was a friggin' genius. What have teens got now? Oh, the Twilight series. Woo. Looking at current releases, films in the cinema now and coming in the next week or so include Toy Story 3, Shrek Forever After, Grown Ups, Get Him to the Greek, The A-Team, Sex and the City 2, Animal Kingdom, Prince of Persia and Robin Hood. The only ones in there that could be likened to a 'teen' comedy would be Grown Ups and Get Him to the Greek, and maybe (maybe!) Prince of Persia. The problem being that the two former films are more aimed at twentysomethings - a slightly older demographic - and Prince of Persia I found to be aimed less at a specific age and more just anyone who likes Jake Gyllenhall, gaming and/or the desert. I went and saw it, and loved it, and so did my parents. So.



What I'm trying to say is, what happened to the brilliant, often tongue-in-cheek and hilarious teen films of the 1980s and 1990s? This is not just because I have a girl crush on young Molly Rigwald to rival the one on Florence, but because I noticed that films like Ferris Bueller, The Breakfast Club, Sixteen Candles, Clueless, Pretty in Pink and 10 Things I Hate About You just don't seem to appear any more. I really hope this isn't because of the success of asexual Disney HSM series - I miss my teen movies that while idealised and exaggerated, riddled with cliches and stereotypes, don't gloss over the fact that teenagers swear, are rude, hate themselves and often each other, and think about - and talk about, and want to have - sex. The American Pie films went over this a fair bit, but even they're dated now. The last real teen films I can think of are 2003's How to Deal and 2004's Eurotrip, both of which I loved. But even then, they are dated. Superbad is up there too. But even 2008's Juno has mature themes and a moral message, and is more about action/consequence rather than just a comedic romp through one of the most awkward times of life.

I just think it's sad. Where have my clever teen films gone??

Anatomy of a girl crush

Urban Dictionary:

Girl Crush

Feelings of admiration and adoration a girl has for another girl, without wanting to shag said girl. A nonsexual attraction, usually based on veneration at some level.

"I have a total girl crush on a girl from a band. She can sing, she's GORGEOUS, she's doing an awesome degree and she's intelligent. I want to BE her."

This is a pretty accurate description of a girl crush, I think. In a recent issue of Cleo or Cosmo (can't remember which), they went over the details of a girl crush, which is becoming more and more popularised. The girl they used in the article was Alexa Chung, who is honestly one of the coolest women alive.

My current girl crush is Florence from Florence and the Machine. I'm a little bit in love - I don't want to date her, and I'm not a lesbian. But I adore her dress sense, general look, and her voice. I think if I met her, I would actually be speechless (a big thing for me!) and just not know where to look. She's amazing.

I think it's good now that girl crushes can be acknowledged publically without one's sexuality being questioned. Sexuality is such a grey area that pervades pretty much every aspect of modern Western culture, but I think it's awesome that I can express my little crush (okay, my massive crush) on another girl without being suddenly labelled as a lesbian, just as I'm sure that a lesbian would not necessarily be assumed to be straight just because they said they really liked David Tennant, or someone. I like it.

But seriously... if you don't have Florence and the Machine's Lungs, get into it. Awesome stuff.