I will be researching how teens are represented in teen dramas, and how the media construct stereotypes of us teens. The representations of teenagers vary because of different producers and also different countries having various views and outlooks on how to portray the modern teenager. As a teenager at 17 I feel the representation I get from teen dramas is poor and unlike any teenage lifestyle I have ever encountered, but in this modern day society I will look to see if the representation is getting any better.
Teen dramas
Over the last ten years there have been countless teen dramas coming and going, because there is now such a wide variety I would expect to feel better represented then teenagers ten years ago would. Dawsons Creek, 90210, Gossip Girl, Laguna beach, The Hills, The O.C, Skins, Inbetweeners are just a few from the countless American and British teen dramas I have watched, however I still feel that every one of these shows depicts an idolized version of an every day teenage lifestyle. I am going to look into why I (as a middle class, white student) am not being represented accurately. 
Why the unreal lifestyles?
For many years screenwriters have tried to capture the reality of teenage life. Many teen dramas have been twisted to appeal to many and bring in the most profit. "sexy" and "comical" sell well, so as a producer who wants to gain as much profit as they can they construct the teen lifestyle around sex and parties. This is only one aspect of my teenage life, some of my friends go out most nights, some stay at home and revise, but the parties and sex life of the "normal teen" has been greatly exaggerated to suit audience needs.
American Teen Dramas
Most American teen dramas revolve around the myth of patriarchal ideology, the male teens are depicted as more dominant and superior to female teens. While there are categories of "jocks" in my life who are thought to be natural leaders, there are also female leaders and the majority of male teens who aren't living the lifestyle as a dominant sex. I have noticed specifically in 90210 but generally in all American teen dramas that females are objectified and seen to have limited roles but mostly objectified as sex objects. Below is a trailer from 90210 conforming to all the ideologies but one in particular, class supremacist ideology which depicts a natural hierarchy in the form of classes.
How 90210 doesn't represent me
This teen drama revolves around the 90210 Zip code which is one of the most famously expensive Zip codes in the world, for the few teens that actually live there this could be representing them but as I am a teenager who lives in a Cotswold village I struggle to associate myself with these teens.
This clip promotes the message of "No Boundaries" and "No Limits" in their trailer which again doesn't represent me at all, in my average teenage life I go to collage, live at home so there are rules meaning there are "boundaries" and "limits" in my life.
The clip also promotes male supremacy greatly as the male teens are filmed fighting and the female teens are filmed using vocal conflict "your such a lying, cheating..." which shows females conforming to the male stereotypes they have of woman.
90210 Average house
My Average home in Chipping norton
Above are images of the Cars used by the 90210 teens and my car. Predictably the cars on the top are the cars used by the rich, spoilt and stereotypically represented Beverly hills teens. The bottom picture shows my 1996 vauxhall corsa which wouldn't even make a background shot in 90210. Here lies the problem, the reason American teen dramas show these cars is becuase the cars carry connontations of flash and rich lifestyles, but because of the audience needs the producers fail to represent the more every day teen who owns a Vauxhall corsa. 90210 supports another popular myth of capitalism, the notion that buying things will make you happy, and you express yourself through the clothes you wear, things you buy, cars you drive, hence the fast expensive cars, and fashionable designer clothing. What products I see on the T.v. in these dramas I want to consume to make my lifestyle more like theirs. The idea that the more expensive gadgets and items carry connotations of being higher status than those who don't have these luxury goods, and the obvious need for these teens to be high status drives them to consumerism. The final cliche portrayed by American teen dramas is following the "American Dream" to become wealthy and live these idealized lifestyles.
Do Teen Dramas effect teenagers identity?
A study done by Dartmouth Uni revealed "Adolescents favorite movie stars who smoke - on - screen are more likely to smoke themselves" this study shows how teenagers idolize their role models on the T.V and how "stars portray images that are desirable to teenagers" so as teen dramas are more and more common the ideal lifestyle is portrayed on T.V which could lead to much rebellion and discomfort against the life a normal teenager leads. 
This study shows how us teens compare ourselves to those who are on t.v. therefore making our ideal selves too far from our real self to feel comfortable. 
For example I watch many different teen dramas so subconsciously I have constructed my ideal self around the over represented "jock" . My realistic self is far from the macho, tough, rough, strong American Teenager I have erected my ideal self around and as a result I lack in self esteem.
For example I watch many different teen dramas so subconsciously I have constructed my ideal self around the over represented "jock" . My realistic self is far from the macho, tough, rough, strong American Teenager I have erected my ideal self around and as a result I lack in self esteem. My Real self ----------------------------My ideal self
Dustin Milligan is a 24 year old who plays an 18 year old, as I subconsciously form my ideal self around him my image gap gets larger and larger as the more mature, handsome and rich ideal self is portrayed on T.V to me. To me its obvious that my identity is effected by the lack of representation I have in the media. My perspective of what's normal and what teenagers used to form their identity round has now completely changed as I adopt a American role model.
English teen dramas
Because the American teen drama genre left a gaping hole in the representation of British teenagers the UK, producers have started to produce more and more teen dramas to fill the hole. There have been few successful British teen dramas, the main one being "Skins" who have just won a Bafta but who have also been reviewed as "skins is nothing more than trendy-looking shit staged in an unrealistic perfect world where the most unlikely of events happen to the most improbable bunch" says sitcom.com, sounds a bit like the American teen dramas.
English producers must be wary of American globalization, Skins "the best teen series to ever come out of England" was inseparable from 90210 which lacked representing the same group of people. Apart from the English dialect and the same swear words I use, I had nothing more in common with the skins characters than I do with the 90210 characters.
Modern English teen dramas
As the newly introduced Skins was welcomed by the public it seemed that cultural imperialism was complete, however to Britian's surprise Damon Beesley and Ian Morris wrote and produced the "best British sitcom of 2008" and "the best British comedy awards too".
The Inbetweeners was the British equivalent to 90210 with a twist, somehow, the writers managed to capture perfectly what middle-class teenage life really is like! says sitcom.com. After watching the inbetweeners I felt that the British teenage public now have one of the first correctly represented teen dramas to come. "forget all the sex and drugs in skins, for most teenagers school revolves around trying to not get bullied, failing to get served in pubs, embarrassing yourselves in front of girls and everything else the 4 characters do".
Filled the Gap?
I feel that Today's modern British teen drama "the inbetweeners" has started to represent the teenagers in society as who they are and its a closer representation of our identities. The inbetweeners deals with issues such as divorce, "my mother would break up with my father......I'm sad" and more common issues a teenager is faced with, more realistic sex scenes, public schools, bullies etc.
Not only does the story line represent me better but the characters are easier to relate to and identify with.
To summarise
Clearly the lack of representation the teenagers get is due to the genre, teen dramas have to have interesting and exciting plots or the viewers would get board. The exaggerated lifestyles portrayed on the Teen dramas have become expected as the audience crave watching an idolized lifestyle, however this is changing. The inbetweeners clearly shows the defiance of conventions that normal teen dramas conform with and elimnate the sensational aspects of the ideal teenage lifestyle. By doing this the Inbetweeners challenge the idea of a hyped up version of teenage life and the audience have greeted this with arms wide open. As a result I feel better represented by the Teen dramas.
Web links
http://www.hecklerspray.com/tv-review-skins/20077584.php
http://www.dartmouth.edu/~news/releases/2001/mar01/tobacco.html
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