There is nothing quite like a good, honest teenage movie or television series. The unique experiences of that time in a person’s life combined with compelling characters and funny situations are hard not to like. Ever since the rise of television as a storytelling medium, there have been shows focused on teens and their adventures. As time went on, these stories have been deeply affected by another element: diversity.
Through the rise of not only diversity onscreen but also off it (writers’ rooms, production teams, etc.), combined with an audience that asks for it, there has never been quite as much diversity in the small and big screen. This leads to being able to pinpoint moments of how these changes evolved in a few years, as well as where there is still a need for progress to happen. This influenced every genre, and teen-focused stories and coming-of-age narratives seem one of those that have embraced diversity as much as possible.
Television (and the big screen) has changed forever as a result of this new wave of viewers and creators calling for more diverse stories and characters. With the majority of these requests coming from a younger generation, it is no surprise that their stories have become an example of how to articulate diversity in a narrative. Here are a few comparisons between coming-of-age shows and how diversity has changed drastically over the years.
Topics and Points of View in Teen Shows
Netflix
Teenage-focused stories, which are usually coming-of-age dramas or comedies, deal with many specific subjects that are particular to their demographic. A predominant subject deals with a person’s first relationship and the first really ambivalent thoughts about who you are and what you truly want, which can be considered one of the most beloved elements of these stories.
However, there has been a huge shift in how these themes are discussed and represented on television and the big screen alike, from perhaps the earliest of all time, The Aldrich Family, a 1930s radio show that transitioned to television in 1949. There was the old, whitewashed chastity of the 60s show The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis and the ‘hip’ but horribly dated Welcome Back, Kotter from the 70s, to the brilliant American TV show Freaks and Geeks, which was nonetheless basically devoid of any diversity whatsoever. When diversity was portrayed, such as in Amos ’n’ Andy, it was often offensive.
Sexuality is probably one of the most common factors in these stories. The ‘firsts’ (crush, kiss, etc.) become a central focus of the characters. This element has been a part of teen rom-coms and coming-of-age movies since the beginning. However, now the subject becomes broader, leading to questions of gender and the representation of different sexualities. Drugs and especially alcohol were always featured, in some way or another, but usually in the most moralizing way possible. Yet, now the conversations are more specific to the things available to teenagers today, as well as the repercussions they can bring to someone at a young age.
Ethnicity has become an important element in most stories today, whether through reductive identity politics or through genuinely expansive representation. How diverse a story is can directly affect how many people can relate to the narrative. Having a more diverse cast and production team leads to different points of view on subjects that had been explored from a very Caucasian and heterosexual perspective, which definitely doesn’t resonate with many people around the world.
Teen TV, Then and Now
Warner Bros.The CW
The 80s and 90s had numerous movies and series that placed teenagers as protagonists, but the number of productions really grew in the late 90s and early 2000s. Shows like One Tree Hill, Daria, The OC, and Gilmore Girls were loved around the world by teens and even adults. They have things in common, even with shows that came out later, such as Gossip Girl and The Secret Life of the American Teenager. They have a striking majority of white actors, and most characters are straight. There are some exceptions, but the characters and plot lines were mostly not well-developed or were seen with a prejudiced point of view that perpetuated and influenced them.
Ethnicity was one of the least discussed subjects. Not only did the cast sometimes have just one ’token’ actor of color, but even in the most progressive shows, they were usually the sidekick and didn’t have much complexity. Characters did partake in drugs and alcohol, but there was always a lack of depth that make it seem superfluous, as in the 1989 series Saved by the Bell, where one character becomes addicted to caffeine pills and is cured within a week. Plus, it was usually moralizing and condescending.
There were groundbreaking shows, of course, certain series that paved the way for the current shows to air: such as the lesbian couple in Buffy The Vampire Slayer. Or Moesha had the focus on a Black family and protagonist. These are just a few examples that, although the majority of shows were lacking in diversity compared to today, there were still instances that tried to change that even back then.
Diversity in New TV Shows
Nowadays, there has been an enormous shift in how teenage stories are told and who tells them, possibly reflecting culture as it develops. What have been creative achievements for television, such as Euphoria or The Summer I Turned Pretty, have also increased the range of different targeted audiences. Heartstopper and Euphoria are great examples of shows about teenagers that deal with sexuality and drugs, but in completely different ways: one is for young adults/teens, and the other is focused on a more adult audience, both with completely different aesthetics. And some are right in the middle, such as Sex Education. These lead to important conversations happening in every stage of teen life, following the process of growing up and the new challenges that entail.
Ethnicity has seen a big change in these stories. Never Have I Ever is a comedy about an Indian teenage girl that just wants to be with the most popular guy in school, who is of Asian descent. The Indian culture is deeply explored and seen from a point of view that wouldn’t be possible if the diversity was only on-screen and not on the production side of the show: the creator is a comedy writer and actress, Mindy Kaling. A few other examples of this are Grownish and On My Block.
A great way of comparing the last two decades is to analyze how different the original Gossip Girl and the recent reboot are. The ethnicity of the actors, the questions it raises about sexuality, and how they deal with other subjects are very particular to the current moment. Diversity in teen-focused stories has never been bigger. There is still a long way to go to develop storylines and characters that can make everyone feel included in these stories, but the amount of change that happened in such a small period has to be cherished.
