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Queering Teen Culture: All-American Boys and Same-Sex Desire in Film and Television |  | Author: Jeffery P Dennis
Publisher: Routledge
Category: Book
List Price: $50.50
Buy Used: $25.00
as of 9/3/2010 19:33 CDT details
You Save: $25.50 (50%)
Seller: scifietc
Rating:  reviews
Media: Paperback
Edition: 1
Pages: 238
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 8.2 x 6 x 0.8
ISBN: 1560233494
Dewey Decimal Number: 791.436353
EAN: 9781560233497
ASIN: 1560233494
Publication Date: May 22, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
Why did Fonzie hang around with all those high school boys?
Is the overwhelming boy-meets-girl content of popular teen movies, music, books, and TV just a cover for an undercurrent of same-sex desire? From the 1950s to the present, popular culture has involved teenage boys falling for, longing over, dreaming about, singing to, and fighting over, teenage girls. But Queering Teen Culture analyzes more than 200 movies and TV shows to uncover who Frankie Avalon’s character was really in love with in those beach movies and why Leif Garrett became a teen idol in the 1970s.
In Top 40 songs, teen magazines, movies, TV soap operas and sitcoms, teenagers are defined by their pubescent “discovery” of the opposite sex, universally and without exception. Queering Teen Culture looks beyond the litany to find out when adults became so insistent about teenage sexual desire—and why—and finds evidence of same-sex desire, romantic interactions, and identities that, according to the dominant ideology, do not and cannot exist. This provocative book examines the careers of male performers whose teenage roles made them famous (including Ricky Nelson, Pat Boone, Fabian, and James Darren) and discusses examples of lesbian desire (including I Love Lucy and Laverne and Shirley).
Queering Teen Culture examines:
- Ozzie and Harriet, Father Knows Best, and Leave It to Beaver: Were Ricky, Bud, and Wally sufficiently straight?
- the juvenile delinquent films of the 1950s: Why weren’t the rebel-without-a-cause “bad boys” interested in girls?
- horror, sci-fi, and zombies from outer space: “Body of a boy! Mind of a monster! Soul of an unearthly thing!”
- teen idols—pretty, androgynous, and feminine: No wonder they were rumored to be “funny”
- beach movies: She wants to plan their wedding but he wants to surf, sky-dive and go drag racing with the guys
- Biker-hippies boys of the late 1960s: “I know your scene—don’t think I don’t!”
- the 1950s nostalgia of the 1970s: Why does Fonzie spend all his time with high school boys?
- teen gore: What makes the psycho-killer angry?
- and much more, including Gidget, the Brat Pack, buddy dramas, nerds and “operators,” Saved by the Bell, The Real World, and the incredible shrinking teenager
Queering Teen Culture is an essential read for academics working in cultural and gay studies, and for anyone else with an interest in popular culture.
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| Customer Reviews:
Not a bad book May 9, 2008
D. R. Suggs (Oklahoma)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I found this a very interesting book. I have seen many old shows and always thought some of the character were closeted lovers. I could relate to many of the 'bonds' between characters. The adolescent age period is consistent with the 'chum' stage of Harry Stack Sullivans' psychological developmental stages.
As the book entered into more current media, it seemed to be reaching to stay with the point, I personally believe the lack of actual same sex bonding is due to public awareness of 'gayness' and the major attempts society makes to supress this lifestyle.
Male bonding and the "gay coded" character in 50's-90's media June 23, 2006
Bob Lind (Phoenix, AZ United States)
19 out of 19 found this review helpful
Like many of my generation, I can trace back some of my earliest same-sex attractions to teen characters I saw on TV shows or in films of the early 1960's. Frankie Avalon had Annette Funicello as a girlfriend, but why did he seem to be so much happier when he spent all of his time with his surfer buddies? Why was Dobie Gillis (Dwayne Hickman) always starting the show by telling the audience that "I really like girls", but then spent most of his time with his best buddy, Maynard (Bob Denver), and only chasing one girl, Thalia Menninger (Tuesday Weld) who obviously didn't like him? And why did I always prefer Ricky Nelson, even though he seemed to be a bit of a sissy compared to his athletic big brother David?
In his comprehensive study of homoeroticism and subtle portrayals of the (few and far between) "gay-coded" characters on the big and little screens in the last half of the 20th Century, Jeffrey P. Dennis explores the prevailing subliminal trends and intentional messages made by writers, directors and agents of the time. He explores how masculinity was portrayed and protected in each genre of teen films over the years: films about juvenile delinquents, monster movies, hippie-biker films, psycho-slasher flicks, and all the way to the Brat Pack. He also explores the filmography of popular teen idols, putting in perspective his take on why certain roles were taken, perhaps to quash rumors of his sexuality. Lots of background on popular sitcoms of the periods, from "Father Knows Best" (Did you know there was a whole series of episodes where teenager Bud's lack of masculinity or interest in girls was a concern for his family?), through "Happy Days" (Why did Fonzie seem to always prefer the company of teen boys?) and all the way past "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" (Xander confronts a character he suspected of hiding the fact that he is actually a werewolf, but is more unnerved when he finds out his secret is that he is actually gay!)
The content is not just the author's theories, but indexed with source footnotes in most cases. (I found more than a half dozen films with gay content I never knew about, which I intend to explore on cable or via DVD.) I also found out about long-forgotten films TV series that were made to play up the masculine charms of aging teen idols (such as 1965's "Never Too Young" in which Tony Dow played an auto mechanic who never seemed to have a shirt on, after having never appeared shirtless in 6+ seasons as big brother Wally in "Leave It To Beaver".)
Recommended reading for all ages, though "baby boomers" who remember early TV shows will especially get a kick out of the revelations about their favorite shows. I give it four stars out of five.
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