Paste: Taking a stab at understanding the ‘Stupid Teens’ horror trope
UC expert speaks to the reasons horror films resonate with audiences, specifically teens
Bryce Bullins, who teaches a class at UC on horror media, was featured in a Paste article breaking down the elements of modern slasher movies and how teens are perceived.
The article describes how evolution of horror films moved the adult audience “Boogie Man" from Transylvania to teen reality, where modern American teens can relate to the environment: the suburbs, summer camp, a school field trip.
And Bullins says 1990s films like "Scream" “lean heavily into that meta commentary and send up that idea that teenagers are dumb.”
However, the article asserts that it doesn’t mean that teens accept the common tropes as applicable to their own intelligence.
Featured image of Chuckie, a teen slasher movie. Photo/Erik McLean/Unsplash.
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