Expert: Barbara L. Baker - 9/2/2004

Question
In what ways do comedy films influence the way teenagers think and behave? And why does the youth nowadays prefer to watch comedy films over action or drama films?

Answer
Natalie, these are certainly broad questions!  And more complex, even controversial, than they appear on the surface.  

About the first question--there are those in mass media who would argue that media forms, including films, have little or no effect on audiences.  Others would argue the opposite.  Most research seems to support an in-between position.

Some considerations about film, in general:  it is a medium that encourages identification with the characters on screen more than other media (such as television).  We get caught up in characters' lives, and may see such characters as role models.  However, having said that, for many people, a film is just a film, a night of entertainment that has little or no impact on them.

Comedy films fall into an unusual position regarding effects and influence.  Many people are quick to dismiss the "stupid" comedy and/or comedies pitched to young audiences (not necessarily the same thing, by the way).  The vast majority of spoofs (parodies), farces, and slapstick burlesque are not seen to have much impact on any person.  Yet, there is the school of thought that argues that a stupid comedy film like "Jackass" has a negative impact on the behavior of the young, who try to mimic the stunts seen.

Films assumed to be more likely to have an impact on teenagers are the more thoughtful teen comedies, which include an element of romance and melodrama in with their slapstick, such as the "American Pie" series.  These are part of a genre of teenage comedies that date back to the beach party movies of the 1950s and continued through films like "The Breakfast Club" (1985), all other Hughes films of the 1980s, "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" (1986), "She's All That" (1999) and so forth.  Personally, I'm not sure these really have that much of an impact on the behavior of the young, except perhaps in expressing a certain style (both of fashion and of being).

More satirical and dark films, such as "The Graduate" (1967), "Heathers" (1989) and the recent "Mean Girls" probably do not appeal to enough people to have a major influence (although some argued that "The Graduate"
exacerbated tensions between the generations, and that "Heathers" promoted the concept of teen suicide).

This leads me to the next quetion.  I'm not sure that I would agree that comedy films are preferred over action films by teenage audiences.  In particular, certain action films that combine a comic element (such as the James Bond films, the various super-hero films, etc.) strike me as being more popular than comedies, at least among my students (and box office grosses tend to bear that out).  In addition, horror (and horror/comedy hybrids) remain very popular choices of young people.

Below I've listed some books that may prove to be useful to you, esp. on guaging effects:

1.  Singer & Singer, "Handbook of Children and Media"
2.  M. Murry, "Freaks, Geeks, and Cool Kids:  American Teenagers, Schools, and the Culture of Consumption"
3.  L. Sternheimer, "It's Not the Media:  The Truth About Pop Culture's Influence on Children"
4.  A. Quant, "Branded:  The Buying and Selling of Teenagers"
5.  L. Clark, "From Angels to Aliens:  Teenagers, The Media, and The Supernatural"
6.  W. Paul, "Lauging Screaming:  Modern Hollywood Horror and Comedy"
and many other books on film comedy, specifically, have chapters or sections dealing with subgenres like the teenage comedy.

I hope this provides you with some ideas for an answer to your questions.