"High-School Confidential: Notes On Teen Movies"

In David Denby’s essay “High-School Confidential: Notes on Teen Movies” he takes a look at the predictability of the teen movie genre that plays upon the perceived world of teenagers. This world no doubt consists of the hierarchy of the school, the cheerleaders, jocks, preps and other popular figures who only deal with each other and make fun of those who are not like them, the middle population or the normal people who fit in with almost everyone and the supposed lower class of the community the nerds, punks, weirdoes and the misunderstood ones. These citizens of teen-world inhabit the malls as well as their schools and more often their bedrooms and other outlets that reflect their teen status. According to Denby, their only enemy is other teens and the social system that they impose on one another. There are always winners and losers in the end of the battle or in the menacing sub-genres there are revengeful desires that turn bloody. Denby also points out that the most original teen comedy is Clueless because it casts away the typical self pity road trip most teen movies take.