The Quest for New Young Adult Films
Netflix
The music we listen to, the books we read, the television shows and films we watch – these all help us navigate through life. From these, we understand what traits we do and do not want to have. We collect different parts of these forms of entertainment and our favorite characters and piece together an identity we make for ourselves. We also understand our place in the world. I know what movies made me feel seen and heard and shaped me into the person I am today. As someone who’s still relatively coming-to-age, I continue to notice the way films influence the way I look at the myself and the world.
A couple of weeks ago, Buzzfeed and Lionsgate teamed up to create feature films with Buzzfeed Studios. For a few months now, it’s been said that Buzzfeed would partner with a Hollywood studio, wanting to be taken seriously in the film industry.
However, Buzzfeed won’t be producing just any movie. Richard Alan Reid, BuzzFeed’s senior VP of global content and film, states, “We are expanding our strategy to include long-form content, with a slate that celebrates identity, diversity and youth culture, and concepts that highlight themes and characters not typically at the center of pop movies,” Reid said in a statement.
An article from Buzzfeed elaborated, “With a mission of celebrating and activating the newest generation of movie-lovers, content produced through the partnership will explore themes ranging from comedic reflections on the complexities of daily life to more timely societal issues.” It evokes curiosity as to what the company means and what the creators plan to make. However, audiences wouldn’t see one of their projects until 2021. Will these films be Academy-Award worthy? We can’t be sure. However, we can appreciate the fact that the studio has a mission statement that distinguishes itself from any other.
Apparently, these films will have their target audience as Generation Z and Millennials. While Generation Z consists of those born after 1996, millennials were born from 1981 to 1996. So, one can assume that targeted towards millennials on the younger side. These two eras are by the most socially and politically progressive. It’s time to start expecting more from young adult films/films with a younger target audience.
As stated earlier, the films we watch in our youth help us decide who we want to be and what we want to do in life. That’s why it’s important that younger generations have films that Not only do we want characters to reflect ourselves in their personalities, but they should also face conflicts that might better relate to daily life and current events.
So, who are younger adults looking up to nowadays? It’s time to take a closer look at the trends and main characters in current pop movies and acknowledge which ones we should let fade out.
One mainstream film series that gains attention is the Netflix original, The Kissing Booth. This film received poor reviews. Along with being called out for its sexism, the film had a lack of diversity in its cast. In the first film, the main cast was all white. Now, in the sequel, one can tell that it tries to fix what it did in the last film. The second film added two people of color to its main cast with characters like Marco (Taylor Zakhar Perez) and Chloe (Maisie Richardson-Sellers). There’s also a LGBTQ+ couple in the film. But when one adds up the scenes, the couple probably gets no more than ten minutes of screen time. Audiences also don’t receive any character depth to either of the young men other than the fact that they have feelings for one another.
In actuality, it feels like the film attempted to check characters off a diversity checklist. Even then, there are clear moments in the film where all these characters feel like they are used to help the main protagonist help her solve her own problems.
Yet, films like these do amazingly well. However, popularity seems to get misconstrued with value and praise. Sure, The Kissing Booth 2 has been in the Netflix Top 10 since its release. But, audiences disliked this film more than the original. Netflix even announced that a third installment has already been filmed and is set to release in 2021. This news released just a few days after the release of the sequel, which proves the studios faith in the success of the film. Even though its scores plummeted, audiences will have to endure another two hours of messy storyline and problematic characters. Whereas a film with a lead POC may take weeks or months to confirm a follow-up film.
Films like The Kissing Booth perpetuate the problem in YA films. They send out a harmful message, not just in their lack of inclusion, but their take on relationships and gender. Nonetheless, there are films that take a step in the right direction in creating a new set of YA films.
Alice Wu’s coming-of-age dramedy The Half of It won at Tribeca Film Festival for US Narrative competition. It featured a queer Asian-American girl who’s crushing on Latinx classmate Aster Flores. The film has representation and Wu elaborates on her intentions in doing so. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film received high marks. Yet, there doesn’t seem to be nearly the same amount of buzz about The Half of It as much as there is with The Kissing Booth.
Furthermore, teen romantic-comedy To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before starred an Asian-American lead. The film was well-received by both critics and fans and praised for its representation. The film came out around the same time as Crazy Rich Asians, a romantic-comedy featuring an all-Asian cast, in August 2018. So, the sudden surge in representation had fans wanting more.
Jenny Han, author of TATBILB book series, told The New York Times, “We’ve seen a certain type of rom-com many times, and I have never seen an Asian-American girl as the lead of a rom-com. So, I think being able to experience the first blush of first love through her eyes, it felt really new and sparkly.” Even though the story takes the common romantic plot, the fact thst there’s a POC in the lead makes it refreshing.
These films may not be perfect, but they’re groundbreakers in some sense. They make audiences feel recognized.
Although, it would be interesting to see films that just didn’t focus on relationships or make them a central conflict. Buzzfeed should intend or keep it in mind to expand their storylines and add more character depth and interests. Relationships aren’t a main part of one’s identity and shouldn’t be treated like the biggest life decision one could ever make. We should be past the days of picking a side for which romantic interest the main protagonist should be with. We should be delving into the layers of the main protagonist.
People of color, the LGBTQ+ community, and others all have stories to tell. They should not just play supporting characters with a purpose to motivate a white protagonist. Hopefully, Buzzfeed sticks to its mission plan with diversity and inclusion instead of focusing solely on profit. If all goes well with Buzzfeed Studio films, other Hollywood studios might realize the popularity, demand, and revenue these films can have.
