Well, since everyone else is tongue-tied . . .
[ B.O.Y.S.: Boys On Your Screen (The Message Board) ] Written by Sensitive Stephen am 22 Mar 2001 17:09:48:
As an answer to: Trends of Boys in media written by St. Mule am 18 Mar 2001 23:14:50:
I think television has had a bad effect on movies, and I hope that movies are having a good effect on TV.
The thing that annoys me most about many boy movies is the rise of the "smart-ass-wise-beyond-his-years" character who talks and acts like an adult, usually to make the surrounding adult characters seem buffoonish. This character is typically found in TV sitcoms of poorer quality, and some of that mentality has leaked over to films.
The boy films that I love the most show boys in a natural state, such as "My Life as a Dog," or "Billy Elliot." The boys act as boys in real life would be likely to do.
What caught my attention in the first half-season of "Malcolm in the Middle" (besides the fairly frequent eye candy) was the representation of young boys who act like young boys. Dewey, Malcolm, and Reese sat around in their underwear watching cartoons, they played with anything that wasn't nailed down, they fought, they romped, they explored, they destroyed. They left the girl-chasing to their much older brother Francis. On "Tucker," however, Eli Marienthal's considerable talents were hobbled to a single plot line, played over and over: chasing the blond pussy next door. Even for mainstream audiences, it was monotonous (how much MORE interesting would it have been if, say, Kenicky came for a sleepover! :o). Kevin Arnold may have kissed Winnie Cooper, but there was a lot of other interesting things going on in HIS life as well.
I think boy movies are best when they allow boy characters to exhibit their own special boy expressiveness. Whenever Johnny Sheffield spoke in a Tarzan film ("Mother, may I go with Cheetah and gather some fruit?"), the illusion of him as a jungle boy was shattered. But when Boy and Tarzan would romp together in the jungle or swim (requiring Tarzan to save Boy from the crocodile, of course!), it was sheer poetry, and the magic was full-bore. Throughout most of "The Black Stallion," Alex was mute and looked perplexed when in the company of other people, very boy-like. Contrast that to his natural comfort and grace while seducing The Black on the beach. Billy Elliot cannot find words to express to his father what dance means to him, but he was never more eloquent or joyful when he danced his feelings for the one audience who mattered--his dad.
I suspect that the "Harry Potter" phenomenon is going to bring a resurgence of kid-oriented books and films. As fun as these fantasy-fests might be, I hope there will still be more nauralistic accounts of childhood being made.
Boy characters should be three-dimensional and complex. However, they don't need to be miniature versions of standup comics.
I'd love to hear more about your views on this, since you've no doubt seen a lot more movies than I have. I'm glad that non-U.S. and independent films are a lot easier to own these days, since Hollywood really does a poor job overall with boy films.
--Sensitive Stephen