The portrayal of teenage sexuality is evident in both Fast Times at Ridgemont High and The Last American Virgin. While both do a good job of accurately depicting teenage sexuality, it is obvious both movies were created from different points of view. The Last American Virgin was written and directed by Boaz Davidson and, understandably, portrays teenage sexuality more from a male perspective. While Fast Times at Ridgemont High was written by Cameron Crowe and directed by Amy Heckerling, and portrays teenage sexuality rather accurately from both male and female perspectives, but particularly female.
The Last American Virgin seems to portray females more as sex symbols than human beings. Karen simply appears to be an object of Gary’s desire and someone for Rick to fool around with. It is evident throughout the movie that Rick has no real feelings for her, while Gary is willing to do just about anything to have her. This can be seen in Rick’s lack of help with Karen’s abortion and Gary letting her stay at his dead grandmother’s house, which he practically raids to get money for the abortion. Gary also goes to the extreme of letting air out of Karen’s tire so that he can conveniently ride up to her and offer a ride to school just to spend some time with her. While Rick’s “no strings attached” attitude and Gary’s obsession with Karen are accurate portrayals of teenage male attitudes towards females, the audience doesn’t get much insight to the real thoughts and feelings of a female like Karen.
The Essay on Human Sexuality
Human Sexuality My sexuality began in my mothers womb after conception and continued thereafter on May 23, 1978 with my twin sister. Although my twin and I have many similarities we are fraternal due to opposite genders. I probably began to realize my gender as a male while my parents use to change me and I began to explore my own body. Growing up as a male was something I considered very special ...
Another example of The Last American Virgin’s depiction of females as mere sex symbols or objects of desire is Carmela. With her significant other, Paco, out of town she seems to suddenly become promiscuous. In Paco’s absence, she practically dresses and acts like a hooker, trying to sleep with all three teenage boys Gary, Rick, and David. Also, there is the scene where the three teenage boys buy a prostitute. Both scenes accurately depict a teenage male’s desire for sex and sometimes unorthodox or awkward ways of approaching it, but again, females are simply depicted as objects of desire and sex symbols. While it gives great insight into the attitudes of teenage males, the audience is left in the dark about teenage females.
The one other portrayal of teenage females in The Last American Virgin is that they are naïve and striving for the attention of boys. While this is not entirely untrue, it is probably more of a stereotype than a reality. The prime example of this is the three girls that Gary, Rick, and David invite back to Gary’s vacant house. The three girls want to know if there is going to be drugs at Gary’s house while making it apparent they have never done them before. Upon getting to Gary’s house and doing what they believe to be is cocaine, they talk about how good the “cocaine” is merely to impress the boys without ever knowing it’s not real. Throughout the scene, the teenage girls seem terribly awkward and striving for attention. While some teenage girls do act this way, the extent to which it is taken in The Last American Virgin is slightly farfetched and doesn’t truly represent the majority of teenage girls.
The Last American Virgin’s portrayal of teenage male sexuality stays consistently accurate throughout the movie. The prime example of this is the ending. Unlike most teen films with the fictitious “happily-ever-after” ending, this one is refreshingly realistic. With many cases of teenage boys, as in The Last American Virgin, the girl of one’s desire typically doesn’t notice one’s efforts and care, and usually goes back to the “cool” scumbag; leaving the nice guy to drive home sobbing in his pink, pizza delivery station wagon. In my case, it was the green Accord and was less dramatic, but nevertheless, The Last American Virgin does an outstanding job of portraying teenage male sexuality.
The Review on Teenage Girls And Boys
Teenage Girls and Boys The both videos, Reviving Ophelia and Raising Cain, are based on the premise that the upbringing of adolescent boys and girls in post-modern society represents a big challenge for parents and educators. As such, these documentaries represent certain educational value, since they contain many fresh ideas. However, it appears that makers of videos strive to push their ...
On the other hand, Fast Times at Ridgemont High does a much better job of accurately portraying teenage female sexuality while falling off slightly in the portrayal of teenage male sexuality. The males in Fast Times at Ridgemont High are typically depicted as only caring about sex. This is evident as soon as the opening credits roll as most of the males shown are staring at or drooling over girls and their appearance. Another scene early in the film shows Stacey sneaking out of her window to meet up with an older guy. When they meet up they go under a bridge and Stacey is obviously nervous and uncomfortable. The guy is portrayed as only caring about sex as he asks Stacey if they’re going to get to first base. Another example of this is when Brad practices breaking up with his girlfriend so that he can essentially be more promiscuous. A different scene shows Brad fantasizing in the bathroom while he watches his little sister’s friend in the pool.
Also, there is a scene where Mike and Stacey have sex in her pool house. Similar to Rick and Karen in The Last American Virgin, Mike gets Stacey pregnant and Stacey gets an abortion without any help from Mike. While the portrayal of teenage males solely caring about sex is not entirely untrue, it is very one-sided in Fast Times at Ridgemont High.
However, an attempt to balance this is made in the portrayal of Mark as someone more emotional and who has genuine feelings towards girls. Mark asks Mike for advice on how to get a girl (Stacey) in his Biology class. He eventually finds the courage to ask her for her number and gets it. He takes her on a date to dinner and is obviously trying to impress her, but gets nervous and flustered when he realizes he forgot his wallet. Afterwards, Stacey invites him in her house since her parents are away for the weekend and her brother is not home. Mark helps her undress, but you can see he feels extremely awkward, especially as they begin to kiss.
The portrayal of teenage female sexuality in Fast Times at Ridgemont High is much more accurate than in The Last American Virgin. Girls are shown gossiping over other girls’ outfits and wonder if guys like it. Stacey asks Linda for help on how to impress a guy, and even practices giving oral sex during lunch; which a bunch of guys see and give her a round of applause. Stacey sneaks out of her window to meet up with an older guy and wants to hide the flowers she eventually gets from him. She is also visibly upset when she finds out the older guy just used her. Stacey also feels as if Mark isn’t really into her after their awkward encounter in which she makes all the moves. Eventually, Stacey realizes and tells Linda that she doesn’t want sex, just a relationship. This portrayal of teenage females as emotional and experimental human beings is much more accurate than portrayal seen in The Last American Virgin.
The Essay on Sex Play Set Time
Describe And Evaluate The Preparation Of Your Performance To A Targeted Audience ~A Teenage Play~ Introduction We were asked to create a performance for a teenage audience. We thought and discussed many options for a subject matter and came up with relevant happenings to teenagers. The more considered subjects were sex, school and study pressure, friendship and love. Our final decision was about ...
The fact that both films received an R rating from the Motion Picture Association of America seems a little harsh. According to the “guidelines” of the MPAA, PG-13 would be much more appropriate for Fast Times at Ridgemont High and The Last American Virgin. Rough or persistent violence is absent in both films. The “guidelines” for a PG-13 film say, “Sexually oriented nudity is generally absent.” I don’t know what the MPAA’s definition of “generally” is but I know both movies didn’t show anything a teenager hasn’t seen already or isn’t going to see in the very near future. Scenes of drug use were very minimal, and while there was use of “foul” language, “use of one of the harsher sexually derived words” was not. Considering both films were about the lives teenagers and portrayed teenage sexuality rather accurately, there is no reason why a teenager shouldn’t be able to see either of them. In fact, one could argue that all teenagers should see these movies at some point during their teen years, particularly at the beginning of them.
