Four must-see documentaries about teens (or, How to fully understand teenagers in under 8 hours)

January 24th, 2008 | Comments (2) | Trackbacks (2) |

Okay, okay. The title of this post is admittedly hyperbolic. But my point is that there are some fantastic documentaries being made about teenagers - four of which are listed below. Please leave a comment if there’s another documentary that should be on this list!

Frontline: Growing Up Online (2008, whole program online for free)

A tip of the hat to Brian at Rethinking Youth Ministry for this one. I have yet to watch it, but I plan on doing so once this post is finished.

In “Growing Up Online”, FRONTLINE takes viewers inside the very public private worlds that kids are creating online, raising important questions about how the Internet is transforming childhood. “The Internet and the digital world was something that belonged to adults, and now it’s something that really is the province of teenagers, ” says C.J. Pascoe, a postdoctoral scholar with the University of California, Berkeley’s Digital Youth Research project.

Frontline: The Merchants of Cool (2001, whole program online for free)

I first saw this documentary during my student ministry internship in the summer of 2005, and it impacted me so much that I referenced it two years later in my senior thesis. Even though it is a bit outdated (which throws many of the figures and facts out of whack), the gist of the film is still quite relevant - alarming, even.

They are the merchants of cool: creators and sellers of popular culture who have made teenagers the hottest consumer demographic in America. But are they simply reflecting teen desires or have they begun to manufacture those desires in a bid to secure this lucrative market? And have they gone too far in their attempts to reach the hearts–and wallets–of America’s youth?

Soul Searching: A Movie About Teenagers and God (2007, DVD)

I ordered this documentary after reading Tony Jones’ review. It’s sitting on my desk waiting to be watched.

Based on the book, Soul Searching: The Religious and Spiritual Lives of American Teenagers, by Christian Smith and Melinda Lundquist Denton, which reports on research conducted over a seven year period by the National Study of Youth and Religion. Featuring interviews with the books authors, youth pastors, and teenagers from around the country, this compelling documentary illustrates some of the major themes and findings of the book, and goes behind the book in depicting the inner lives of a sample of American teenagers. Find out what these teenagers really think about God and religion, what their hopes and aspirations are, and what the research says about the effects of religion in their lives.

American Teen (2008, not yet in theatres)

This documentary just debuted at the Sundance Film Festival. The folks at /Film gave it a review that totally piqued my interest.

Set in the small typical midwestern town of Warsaw, Indiana, American Teen follows a self absorbed Cheerleader, a loser video game playing band geek, the basketball star, and the artsy outcast. While at first glance, these descriptions serve as cliche social stereotypes, you will be surprised at how three dimensional these kids are. The drama that is their senior year is both fun, emotional, and at times horrifying. This observational documentary plays out uncensored, giving an surprisingly accurate look at a group of TRL-generation teenagers.