US Youth Films and Popular Music

Tim McNelis is University Teacher in the Communication and Media Department at the University of Liverpool, UK

Introduction: Youth Films, Identity, and Musical Agency



Part I: She’s a Rebel?: Girls, Guitars, and Agency



Introduction



1. The Girl Can’t Have It: Restricted Musical Agency in 10 Things I Hate About You and Love Don’t Cost a Thing



2. Queer Agency and Reappropriation of the "Technophallus" in All Over Me



3. Silent Punk and Audible Folk: Musical Sleight-of-Hand in Juno

Part II: Listening to the Other: Cultural Borrowing and Critical Reflection



Introduction



4. Consumption, Authenticity, and Identity Experimentation in Ghost World



5. "I didn’t move to Bosnia": Critical Cultural Immersion in Save the Last Dance



6. Cheerleaders, Bullies, and Nerds: Intersections of White Stereotypes and Black Music in Bring it On, Mean Creek, and Napoleon Dynamite

Part III: Unheard Ethnicities: Musical Construction of Ethnic Identity and Agency



Introduction



7. ‘Old World’ Ethnicity, Hybrid Identity, and ‘New World’ Agency in Real Women Have Curves



8. "Neighbourhood is sure changing, isn’t it?": Evolving Traditions and Complex Identities in Quinceañera



9. Reimagining the All-American Teenager: Inaudible Ethnicity and Agency from the Margins in Better Luck Tomorrow



Conclusion: The Continuing Relevance of Film Music to Identity and Agency