Response To The Bling Ring

The film we watched is called 'The Bling Ring'. The bling ring is a teen drama. There are many things in the film which shows how the movie is a teen drama. 

The film starts off typically, in a high school. Theres an outsider that comes in new and doesn't know anyone. This is very common in most teen films. Another common thing in the film is that there is a bad girl. She's sort of the ring leader. Then theres the 'Clique'. The group of girls take in the new boy. All these characters is what makes this film a teen movie. 

This film is very modern and everything that happens, shows us that the teenagers nowadays are interested in nothing but fashion and how they look; rather than care about the wider world. 

The clique are represented to be very materialistic; they love fashion and make up. The ring leader in particular, loves the celebrity lifestyle and wishes she could live like that. In a way, this links with other teen dramas because the way the teenagers live their lives is how most teenager want to live life and is shown in most teen movies. In most teen films, you will see teenagers partying and living life to the fullest. This is how it is in The Bling Ring. One thing that differs from other teen dramas, is that the boy is lured in to the group by the ring leader. This is doesn't normally happen in most teen films. 
Also what the teenagers do in The Bling Ring is very different than other typical teenage movies. The clique set out to rob the celebrities houses which doesn't often happen in teen dramas. 

The outsider is exactly how an outcast should be portrayed. He is a young boy who doesn't really know how to dress and feels insecure about himself. He doesn't know how to be around people and feels like he doesn't belong. This is very similar in other teen dramas because there is always an outsider who doesn't get along with the others in a high school. 

The robbery in the film is what makes this movie unique in a way. As a whole the teen drama was good but the ending could've been better. The consequence for those teenagers wasn't enough and frankly that i think that, thats what let the film down. 

The Bling Ring

The Bling Ring (TBR) is a teen film because of the teenage characters, high-school setting and the themes of fame, clothing, money and glamour. 

It reflects the materialistic world American teenagers either tend to live in or tend to want to live in. It also could portray that in modern culture, the only way to get noticed in Hollywood is by how you look, not anything else. The 'Bling Ring' are represented differently to other cliques in other teen films; often in teen films, the rich, fashionable, popular group always start out that way, whereas in TBR, the clique have to steal to have the 'rich, fashionable, popular' status that they want.

TBR is different to other teen films because it's ------>
and that there isn't really a happy ending. There are no typical themes (e.g. romance, violence, etc.) in TBR, which will make it difficult for teenagers (and some adults) to find it entertaining. 



Marc Hall, the protagonist, is firstly portrayed as being an outsider, 'the new boy' in a school for bad kids, but is then sucked into a group of the main, but antagonists characters. Very similar to Cady Heron from Mean Girls, although TBR goes a bit step further by going into burglary and crime, something more serious than just bitchiness and fights over boys and popularity status. 


The Bling Ring shows social networking can be used for bad (finding out celebrities' addresses) and is easy for the police to track down criminals. It could also represent modern stars as being glamourous, but they really do lack in their housing security...

My verdict. I found TBR boring, it was very repetitive 'let's go rob Paris Hilton...let's go rob Paris again!...let's go rob a Victoria Secret model...' I'm sure if there was more time in the film they would've robbed the whole of Hollywood. Maybe even America. The only thing that made the film 'alive' is that it's based on a true story.



Also, I could not stand Emma Watson's American accent. 

Identification of Stereotypes

Binary oppositions are based on stereotypes. A stereotype is a generally understood and common idea(s) that are often exaggerated to give a representation of certain characteristics/qualities in people, characters and groups. A lot of teen films (especially ones set in high-schools) contain stereotypes. Mise en scene is the key way to portray a stereotype. It's what makes it easier for the audience to recognise.

Examples of stereotypes:

• The Jock: 

• Usually seen wearing their varsity baseball jackets
• Popular and smooth with the ladies
• Often seen in a group
• Likely to be going out with a cheerleader/mean girl
• Tall and muscular

Examples of jocks would be Troy Bolton from the High School Musical franchise and Andrew Clark from The Breakfast Club.

• The Mean Girl:

• Often in a group of three
• Ringleader is blonde
• Skimpy, tight clothing
• Loves the colour pink
• Likely to be rich
• Well-presented

Examples of mean girls would be The Plastics/Regina George from Mean Girls or Lana Thomas from The Princess Diaries.

•  The Cheerleader:

• Very likely to be wearing their cheer uniform
• Usually athletic and slim
• Quite often dumb/non-academic
• If the captain, quite bossy

Examples of cheerleaders would be Britney Allen from Bring It On: All or Nothing or Jennifer Check from Jennifer's Body.

• The Nerd:

• Likely to be wearing glasses
• Bland coloured chequered shirts
• Jumpers
• Beige high waisted trousers (w/ braces)
• Big backpack
• Neatly dressed

Examples of nerds would be Will McKenzie from The Inbetweeners Movie or Brian Johnson from The Breakfast Club.

• The Weirdo/Loser:
  
• Sometimes wears and listens to 'vintage' things
• Sometimes brags about uncool activities
• Usually short
• Often against the idea of 'populars'

Examples of weirdos or losers would be Allison Reynolds from The Breakfast Club or Philip F. "Duckie" Dal from Pretty in Pink

Stereotypes

When it comes to teen films most of them are created off of the representations of the characters that usually fit the typical stereotype.

Examples of these stereotypes are: 

• The Nerd 

Usually has glasses with huge, thick lenses, a checked shirt buttoned all the way to the top, a backpack, lots of books and braces. 

• The Mean Girls 

All of them pretty, wear lots of make up, have on skimpy clothing (short skirts, high heels etc.), wear lots of pink and the leader of the group is usually the prettiest or has blonde hair. 

• The Popular Guy

Wears a baseball jacket, jock, smooth with the ladies, a flash, expensive car and usually has a crowd behind him. 

• The Cheerleaders

Matching uniforms, usually stay in that uniform for the majority of the film, dumb, the majority of them are blonde. 

• The Pretty Girl

By herself most of the time, quiet, fits the stereotype of a perfect girl.

Representation of Stereotypes

There are many representation of stereotypes in teen movies.

What is stereotype?
A definition of stereotypes is a generally understood idea or set of ideas, that are often exaggerated to give a representation of certain characteristics/qualities in people, characters, groups.
There are lots different characters in teen movies, for example:

The Jocks

















The Nerds/Losers/Weirdos

The Cheerleaders

The Popular Guy

The Pretty Girl

The Mean Girls,














The Fat Guy

This movie is a classic teen film to show the different types of characters.

Binary Oppositions

A big part of teen film openings are dependent on binary oppositions to make the rest of the film interesting to watch through camerawork, editing, sound and mise en scene. Some examples are:

• Princess Diaries: 
• Popular vs Unpopular
• Common vs Royalty
• Lily vs Mia
• Confident vs Shy
• Ten Things I Hate...: 

• Popular vs Emo
• 'Stud' vs 'Dweeb'
• Student vs Teacher
• Jock vs Nerd
• Romeo + Juliet: 
• Montague vs Capulet
• Wild boys vs Rich & Composed
• Informal vs Formal
• Male vs Female
  
• Ferris Bueller's Day Off:
• Brother vs Sister
• Ferris vs Parents
• Ferris vs his friend

Genre and Convention

A teen film has various different themes and topics. There usually is romance, conflict, friendships, competition etc in teen films. All these are quite essential in order to attract young teenagers. Teen films are usually watched by young boys and girls from the age od 12-19/20. In a typical teen film, you will find that that the location is usually in a highschool.

Other locations tend to be in diners, forest/woods shopping malls, house. Theres are also sport locations which are football/rugby stadium, sporthall, gym, dance studio, field. In a highschool, the location the teenagers woulds most likely be at are the hallway, cafetria, toilets, sporthall and classroom.

The locations within the home in teen films would be the kitchen, livingroom, the front of the house and garden.
There are many more locations that would be in a teen movie/s;beach,arcade,cinema,bowling,ice-skating, secluded place, car park etc. Nowadays, teen films are very similar to each other. There is always some sort or romance, one way or another.

The character always seem to stay the same; theres the popular guy most likely known as the "jock", the poplruar girl most likely a cheerleader, the new girl/boy, the geeks/nerds. It never changes with the characters in teen films. also the same thing happens between the "jock", "cheerleader" and the "new girl/boy".