A nice little piece reminding me of all the terrible teen focused shows/commercials I watched when I was younger. The ones using cliche dialogue and slang. The interesting takeaway is the need to focus on being a teen show for teens, or a teen show for adults. You can't have both because once you dabble in one you lose credibility in the other. But really, the easiest way to avoid this is to have your own voice. Always Sunny in Philadelphia and Bored To Death for example.
From YPulse:
Guest Post: Why Botched Teenspeak Says Volumes: "
Today's Ypulse Guest Post is from Supergirls Speak Out author and former Youth Advisory Board member Liz Funk on the cringe-worthy teenspeak we sometimes see in media.
If you work in youth media or marketing and have an idea for a guest post, feel free to email me.
Why Botched Teenspeak Says Volumes
Almost every week on "Glee", there are either single lines or sub-plots that make Gen Y viewers freeze in place like biting into something gravelly in a piece of Starbucks banana bread. This is because "Glee", while deliciously entertaining and well-deserving of its spot as an overnight cult hit, has frequent "generational inaccuracies" –dialogue gaffes or plot mistakes that can happen when adults try to recreate the lives of teens.
For example, in one episode of 'Glee' earlier this season, tough-guy Puck refers to himself as a 'stud' while bragging about his seduction of adult women. But teens (or really, anyone) don't use the word 'stud,' let alone refer to themselves as such. Similarly, with the aggressive anti-bullying policies in place at many American high schools, it's likely that anyone who threw a slushie at another kid (a regular sight gag on the show) would get thrown in detention and probably have to help the janitor clean up the mess.
I know that sometimes these generational gaffes happen for the sake of plot. The Glee “slushie facial” sub-plot, while not really sufficiently funny to merit inaccuracy, probably struck the staff writers (who don't actually think kids walk around throwing soft drinks at each other) as amusing and campy enough to include anyway.
Sometimes though it’s pure error—such as Puck referring to himself as a “stud.” He probably should have said something like, “Hey, I get around” or “You know how I roll…” But maybe not—I haven’t been in high school in four years. That's why it is sort of understandable why these errors in teen entertainment happen: teenage vernacular is constantly changing. The slang that was popular a few years ago or even last year probably isn’t anymore. Things that were “phat” seven years ago are now just quintessentially 2002.
But it's not just 'Glee' that makes these fumbles. Jodi Picoult, the phenomenally popular author, often writes in the voice of teenagers and doesn't always get it right. In My Sister’s Keeper, the narration changes between the members of a family, and her writing from the perspective of a teenage boy is generally cringe-worthy, especially when he describes a middle-aged woman as a “bodacious babe.” An even worse offender in this category may be Tom Wolfe who wrote in I am Charlotte Simmons of a wealthy college student listening to Britney Spears and saying, “Come on, Britney, lose control!” Oh my God, that is absolutely not what young women sound like. Every now and then, I'll even get a new YA novel on my desk that just doesn't get the teen vernacular.
As Meredith pointed out, sometimes these mistakes happen because the writers are trying to appeal to a broader audience than just teens. Both with those aforementioned general audience books as well as with teen targeted fare. I know more adults who watch 'Gossip Girl' than teenagers so it makes sense to sometimes cater to those older viewers. And it’s okay, every now and then, to make concessions such as having Blair and Serena downing martinis at a chic lounge (rather than frequenting the East Village hole-in-the-wall bars that tend to be more open to serving minors) because it might ring true or be more entertaining to those adults tuning in.
Still, all those moments that are just plain off and the rare show that gets its dialogue completely right points to a need for more teen input in the entertainment industry. Like magazines that have stringers that help them understand what teens are thinking and saying; Adult media-makers could do something as informal as showing their scripts or their manuscripts to the young people they know. Having the writers go out and listen to what kids sound like at Ohio high schools (or high schools anywhere!) would be even better. Given all the work that goes into taking any kind of media from idea to conception (writers and editors and market research and marketing and publicists, oh my!), adding the simple step of 'consulting teens' would definitely be worth adults' while.
About Liz
Liz Funk is a New York-based author, freelance writer, and speaker. She has written for USA Today, Newsday, the Washington Post, the Christian Science Monitor, the Huffington Post, CosmoGIRL!, Girls' Life, and Mediabistro, among other publications. Liz also served on the 2008/2009 Ypulse Youth Advisory Board.
For more coverage of YA books and publishing, check out the Ypulse Books Channel sponsored by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, publishers of Beautiful Creatures.
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