Youth Day Movies

Being born

Well, it's kinda the very first thing we all ever did, isn’t it? We all came into this world in rather dramatic fashion, with screams, pain, tears and maybe your very first spank marking your grand arrival. The 1989 comedy Look Who's Talking, starred John Travolta and Kirstie Alley as the parents of a super-cute little munchkin named Mikey, who, even while in utero, happened to have a well-developed sense of himself. Much of Look Who's Talking's charm lay in Mikey's dry observations (voiced by Bruce Willis), and while the movie mutated into an annoying baby-talking franchise, spawning two unnecessary sequels, it remains a family favourite.


Going to school and making friends

This is usually the stage where all the really life lessons are learnt, as we become socialised and learn just how screwed up and unfair life can be. Oh, and there's the whole going to class and being bored stiff on the intricacies of algebra and photosynthesis when all you want to do is hang with your friends and gossip. Classic high school movies like Clueless, The Breakfast Club and 10 Things I Hate About You represent just the tip of that great movie genre. The angst, confusion, excitement and triumph of this period has been adapted into song and dance fantasies (High School Musical), supernatural creep-fests (The Faculty), stoned comedies (Dazed and Confused) and depicted as a jungle full of blood-thirsty wild animals and their prey (Mean Girls). But high school is also a place where dreams are made, whether it be due to an inspirational teacher (Dead Poet's Society), a talent is nurtured (the Harry Potter series), or you meet the love of your life (Twilight, Juno).


When hormones take over

Perhaps the movies' greatest fascination with youth (and in general, actually) is sex. While most teen-friendly romantic comedies portrayed first love as a chaste and entirely heartfelt experience (see how the doe-eyed couples in She's All That and A Walk to Remember gave most teenage girls the wrong idea on what teen romances were all about), others were keen to show that, well, ultimately teenagers are horny. How else do you explain the runaway success of American Pie and the endless production line of sequels and copycats it produced? Growing up gives way to an array of intense and passionate emotions that can result in extremes, and Romeo & Juliet, perhaps the most legendary teen romance of all time, is certainly proof of that. You also wouldn’t want to scorn a lovestruck young woman (Carrie) or be her enemy (Winona Ryder in Heathers). 


Rebels with a Cause

This is another rite of passage for most youth, sticking it to an authority figure in that ultimate youthful ideal of independence. Who didn’t want to be Matthew Broderick in Ferris Bueller's Day Off? The teenager spent the day bunking off school with his girlfriend and his BFF, enjoying the sights of Chicago and then somehow ends up the main attraction during a parade. None were as mischievous as the six misfits who have to spend their Saturday at detention in The Breakfast Club, James Dean's portrayal of a youthful lust for danger in Rebel Without a Cause. And then there's rebellion born out of a fight for justice. Sarafina! told the story of the 1976 Soweto Uprising through song, and starred Leleti Khumalo, Whoopi Goldberg and Miriam Makeba. Released in 1992, it put South African talent on the map and served as a stark reminder of the country's dark past as we made our way towards democracy.