Hollywood High: A Totally Epic, Way Opinionated History of Teen Movies

by Bruce Handy

From a longtime Vanity Fair writer and editor, a delightfully entertaining, intelligent, and illuminating history and tribute to teen movies—from Rebel Without a Cause to Fast Times at Ridgemont High, and on to John Hughes, Mean Girls, The Hunger Games, and more.

What influence did Francis Ford Coppola have on George Lucas’s American Graffiti? And Lucas on John Singleton’s Boyz n the Hood? How does teenage sexuality in Fast Times at Ridgemont High compare to Twilight? Which teen movies pass the Bechdel test? Why is Mean Girls actually the last great teen film of the 20th century?

In the same way that Peter Biskind’s Easy Riders, Raging Bulls connects the films of the 1970s to the period’s cultural upheaval, and David Hadju’s Positively 4th Street tells the story of the sixties through the emergence of folk music, Bruce Handy’s Hollywood High situates iconic teen movies within their times and reveals the intriguing stories, artists, and passions behind their creation. These films aren’t merely beloved stories; they reflect teens’ growing economic and cultural influence, societal panics, and shifting perceptions of youth in America.

Much more than a nostalgia trip, Hollywood High is a lively, provocative, and affectionate cultural history, spanning nearly one hundred years. Handy, an acclaimed journalist and critic who spent two decades at Vanity Fair, examines the defining films of each generation and builds connections between them. From the Andy Hardy classics (1937–1946) to the iconic Rebel Without a Cause (1955); Beach Party series (1963–1968); American Graffiti (1973); Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982); the John Hughes touchstones Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club, Pretty in Pink, and Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1984–1986); Boyz N the Hood (1991); Mean Girls (2004); the Twilight saga (2008–2012); and The Hunger Games series (2012–2015); this is a captivating deep dive into the world of teen movies that captures their sweeping history and influence. We’ll hear from icons James Dean, Annette Funicello, George Lucas, Amy Heckerling, John Hughes, Molly Ringwald, John Singleton, Tina Fey, and Kristen Stewart, and discover why the most timeless teen movies resonate across generations.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Film, Pop Culture, Media Tie In, Audiobook, Art

384 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 20, 2025

About the author

Bruce Handy is currently a contributing editor of Vanity Fair. A former writer and editor at Spy and Time, his articles, essays, reviews, and humor pieces have appeared in such publications as The New York Times Magazine, The New York Times Book Review, New York magazine, Rolling Stone, Vogue,

A native of California and a graduate of Stanford University, Handy lives in Manhattan with his wife, novelist Helen Schulman, and their two children. Wild Things is his first book.

Reviews

[Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Teenagers and teen movies would come of age hand in hand." -- on page 4

Although boasting a notably carefree subtitle of A Totally Epic, Way Opinionated History of Teen Movies, author Handy's Hollywood High aims higher than just yukking it up over various snippets of spaced-out stoner/surfer dialogue uttered by Sean Penn's 'Spicoli' character during Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982). Starting in the 1940's - when 'teenager' finally cemented itself as part of common U.S. idiom, and young actor Mickey Rooney headlined a series of comedic films as the lovestruck Andy Hardy (a persona that was definitely not a child, but also not quite an adult) - and then steadily cruising into the next eight decades, Handy insightfully delves into a number of select U.S. movies filtered through their sociological / historical / generational context. As the yearbook-inspired cover artwork indicates, there are chapters on Rebel Without a Cause (1955), the Annette Funicello / Frankie Avalon beach party movies of the 1960's, the 1980's teen-centric filmography of director John Hughes, Boyz n the Hood (1991), and Clueless (1995) among many others. Perhaps none too surprisingly, not EVERYTHING is able to be fully covered - I sort of expected a full chapter on horror flicks like The Blob (1958), Carrie (1976), Halloween (1978) or even the early entries of Friday the 13th and Scream series, but no such luck, while the sleeper Dazed and Confused (1993) receives only a few token (haha😙) mentions - but yet I understand that editorially he had to draw the line somewhere. I also appreciated his hypothesis on Mean Girls (2004) as the last great teen movie of the 20th century - since it arrived moments before cell-phones / texting, social media, and the techno like truly became inescapable parts of the American fabric that also radically changed our landscape - plus how the overall genre has dwindled somewhat into the 21st century, save for the blockbuster adaptations of the sci-fi/fantasy-based Twilight and The Hunger Games series.

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

ARC for review. To be published May 20, 2025.

4 stars

A treatise on influential teen movies from Andy Hardy to “The Hunger Games” films from a former writer for “Vanity Fair.” Rather than a broad overview of a lot of movies, Handy does a deep dive into some of the most important/influential including “Rebel Without a Cause,” the “Beach Party” genre, “American Graffiti, “Fast Times at Ridgemont High,” the John Hughes oeuvre, “Boyz N the Hood” and “Mean Girls” among others.

Sometimes there might be too much information if a reader has never seen a particular movie/read the book(s) on which a movie/the movies is/are based, but the book is well done and written by someone who (mostly) appreciates teen movies (although it’s fairly easy to tell which of these movies Handy likes versus those he doesn’t much care for.) This won’t be for everyone but I enjoyed it and I’m looking forward to catching at least one Andy Hardy movie sometime.

[Lyon.Brit.andthebookshelf · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hollywood High is my type of NF… give me ramblings about cinematic history and I’m here for it. Even more so when it’s an opinionated history of teen movies. Bruce Handy shares…

“I'm writing about movies that I think have something useful and interesting to say about young people and their times— and movies about which I hope I have something useful and interesting to say myself.”

Which is just what he did… and delivered! Opening up with Andy Hardy and ending with Hunger Games and a string of good ones in between (Fast Times at Ridgemont High, John Hughes films, Boyz n the Hood, Mean Girls) Full of fun info that I continuously shared with my other half and called my mom often to chat about. You really get to see the evolution in teen movies and as a millennial the compare and contrast was riveting. This would be a great addition to any cinephiles shelf.

Thank you to Beach Books my favorite independent bookstore in Seaside, OR for putting this gem on my radar.

Follow me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/Lyon.brit.A...

[Samantha · Rating 2 out of 5]

Competently done and covering all the greatest hits, though likely nothing you haven’t seen before.

If you just want a survey of milestone teen movies this is fine, though it’s pretty much following the usual narrative on the included movies. There are a few things here that probably don’t belong (Hunger Games as a true teen movie is a tough sell), and a lot that was left out that probably needed a mention.

As for the distribution in terms of what *was* included…not wonderful. We get an entire chapter on Mean Girls (perhaps the most over-analyzed piece of pop culture of the last hundred or so years), yet all the John Hughes movies share a single chapter. Clueless merits only a few of pages. A lot of more recent material gets name dropped but is left entirely out of any real discussion.

The problem certainly isn’t Hardy’s writing, which is concise and conversational in the way that writing about this type of pop culture analysis should be. He makes a likable narrator who is good at pointing out where these movies may have failed their audiences without belaboring it too much.

Perhaps the highlight: A smart and lengthy discussion of Boyz n the Hood, which is typically left out of discussions of teen films. This alone makes the book worth a read, even if the rest is content you’ve likely encountered before.

*I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.*

[Victoria · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a fun read! Teen movies are some of my favorite movies so I was really interested in this. The author does a fantastic job in covering movies that shaped generations. This has a laid-back style of writing that makes this digestible. If you're a movie buff I would highly recommend this! Special Thank You to Bruce Handy,Avid Reader Press and NetGalley for allowing me to read a complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review.

[mh · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an extremely interesting history of teen movies and how they reflected the reality of the time period. Beware of spoilers if you haven’t seen the movies mentioned in the book. I recommend this book to all cinephiles, especially those who love teen movies. While reading, I was able to make a lot of connection to YA literature as well and how those books reflect the current times.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my copy.

[Sarah Catherine · Rating 3 out of 5]

✨ The Vibes ✨
An deep dive on the history of teen movies

📖 Read if…
✨ You know Mean Girls by heart
✨ You had a Hunger Games and/or Divergent phase
✨ YA is one of your favorite genres

Teen movies are some of the most iconic films out there. Many critics have downplayed their significance, but these films are arguably some of the most important examples of how culture changes over time and Bruce Handy explains all of this in more in Hollywood High: A Totally Epic, Way Opinionated History of Teen Movies.

One of the things I enjoyed most about Hollywood High was the breadth of information and the examples that Handy included. He explores the early days of the teen genre and the films of Mickey Rooney, teen beach movies starring Annette Funicello, raunchy comedies like Fast Times at Ridgemont High and dystopian franchises like Hunger Games and Divergent, and how each of these films represented the state of adolescence at the time. I appreciated how Handy didn’t try to downplay the significance of these films, but instead acknowledged how they can be evaluated as time capsules of sorts, providing examples of how they capture the social concerns of the time (The Hunger Games is a PERFECT example of this).

I usually enjoy all sorts of entertainment focused nonfiction, but admittedly I did struggle a bit with this one. It was never really clear what point the author was trying to make, as the book bounced between explaining general trends in adolescence, teen movies, and teen stars. Obviously, these things are all intertwined, but the way the information was presented wasn’t as organized as it could be, and as a result, the book felt dry and choppy. I also wanted just a few more fun behind-the-scenes anecdotes, which I usually find to be the most interesting parts of books like these.

Overall, I’d probably recommend this book to anyone who, like me, enjoys reading entertainment nonfiction, or anyone who’s interested in teen culture. Hollywood High is out today; thanks to Avid Reader Press and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Janet · Rating 1 out of 5]

It was like reading a textbook, I was bored and disappointed

[Trevor Seigler · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh, it's hell to be a teenager. My niece is, as of this writing, fourteen, and seemingly trapped in the jungle of hormones and unkind behavior that characterized my own tenure in middle and high school. I'd like her to believe me when I say "it gets better," but I know if someone well-meaning had said that to me when I was her age, I'd write them off as insane. As the films documented in this highly entertaining new book showcase, being a teenager is not just one experience; there's a plethora of things that change, though some remain the same, with each successive generation.

"Hollywood High," by Bruce Handy, takes a look at standout films from the teen movie genre, from the gentle comedy of the "Andy Hardy" series to the bleak dystopia of "The Hunger Games," and so much in-between. Never snooty about the films, Handy instead shows that each highlighted film, artistic merits aside, speaks to its moment and its audience in a way that reflects the larger culture's response to the "youthquake" that seems to occur every other decade. With the ascension of Mickey Rooney to teen-star status (the top box-office draw from 1939 to 1940, spanning two decades), the stage was set for teenagers (a relatively new concept of adolescence, as prior to the term no one really considered the years from 13 to 19 as anything special) to power a postwar surge in stories for them, about them, catering to them.

We still live in that world, though it's one of diminishing returns every few years, with cycles of teen cinema either reaching for new artistic heights or smugly pursuing the bottom line in raunchy humor or sexual abandon, sometimes doing both in the process (see "Fast Times at Ridgemont High"). Handy moves effortlessly from Rooney to James Dean (avatar of a much more anguished teenage protagonist in his signature film "Rebel Without a Cause"), the beach movies of the early Sixties (Frankie and Annette), the nostalgia of "American Graffiti," the Brat Pack and John Hughes, "Boyz In the Hood" and "Clueless" offering radically different ideas of teenage life in the Nineties, and on through "Mean Girls" and "The Hunger Games."

What sets Handy's book apart from other efforts I've read about specialized cinema is that he doesn't focus on one specific decade or moment in time; entire books could be (and have been) written about each decade of the postwar Hollywood cinematic landscape, some of them masterpieces of critical analysis but many victims to their author's quest for easy nostalgia ("Hey, weren't the Sixties/Seventies/Eighties a wild time for movies?"). Those books have their merits as well, but Handy isn't interested in easy nostalgia. He's pursuing something a little more elusive: what each decade's prime example or examples of cinema aimed at teenagers says about that moment and what it says to us today. You may not agree with Handy's assessments or arguments, but he presents them in such an entertaining way that it makes the book a winner. Besides, it's fun to disagree with a critic so long as their writing keeps you going.

Not content to dismiss entire genres of teen exploitation, "Hollywood High" instead celebrates the evolution of teen-focused cinema from the kind of cheap beach-centric fantasy of American International Pictures to the suburban angst of John Hughes' lily-white Chicago-area escapades, while holding Hollywood to task for its issues with representation (the majority of teen-centered films were once overwhelmingly white and male in who they featured as protagonists, but then again, so was a lot of the cinema then, as Handy shows; it's only in the last quarter-century of cinematic history that other voices have been heard from with more than a token amount of such films). This book is a lot of fun, and full of great insights into each film and decade profiled. "Hollywood High" is the perfect read for a day off from adult responsibilities, if, say, you can't afford a joyride in your best friend's dad's expensive car; or if you need a break from the nightmare fuel that is modern times.

[Caroline · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 -- handy provides a thorough yet readable (by no means all encompassing) encyclopedia of teen movie history, charting the evolution of the genre from mickey rooney's ANDY HARDY franchise to present-day dystopian young adult fare. like the western or the romcom, the american teen movie as a genre is both a reflection and a product of its times -- but unlike those other genres, the american teen movie in some ways invented its own subject. as handy points out, before james dean, before andy hardy, america lacked any concrete notion of adolescence besides "you are no longer a child but not quite an adult. here, put on this triangle shirtwaist factory badge and get to work."

the advent of the teen movie begat, in some ways, the advent of the teenager -- the demographic that became not only voracious economic consumers, but also pop culture tastemakers. i recognize that i'm now at the weird intersection of "sort of knowing what teens find cool, via my fake ass job" and "not really loving what urban outfitters has going on at the moment." adolescence, to me, felt so intense and so permanent; every slight was world-ending, every small victory somehow fated. it's tempting -- perhaps inevitable -- to assume that your present era of life has never been as potent for anyone else in all of history as it is for you right now, at this very moment. in that way, the annals of teen movie history are a useful perspective yardstick -- teenagers have been teenager-ing since the days of wartime rations and the threat of nuclear war, the latter of which our current administration seems to reeeeeeally want to run back.

no one can really approach a book like this impartially, because the teen movie that was in vogue during your adolescence will forever be The Pivotal Teen Movie, just as the SNL cast when you were 15 is obviously the best cast of SNL we'll ever have, and we should just go back to those days. the chapters that interested me most were perhaps unexpectedly the oldest ones, but i also have a weird fascination with the old hollywood studio system and didn't need as much of a primer on, say, edward and bella and katniss everdeen. i did wish as my familiarity with the properties grew that the nature of the text was more analytical -- both narratively and culturally -- than summational, that perhaps more broader cultural theories could be drawn on what cultural behaviors or feelings could be ascribed to teen movies, or perhaps vice versa. (for that reason i liked the dystopia chapter and handy's argument that the complexity and violence of modernity drew teens to dystopian stories as a bizarre escapism). finally, i am literally begging this audiobook narrator to google pronunciations of unfamiliar words instead of just winging them on the mic. my god.

[Desirae · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bruce Handy’s Hollywood High is a sparkling, compulsively readable chronicle of adolescence on screen—a cinematic odyssey from the wide-eyed innocence of Andy Hardy to the brooding angst of Rebel Without a Cause; from the cruising teens of American Graffiti to the detention-bound souls of The Breakfast Club, the irreverent charisma of Ferris Bueller, the raw pain of Boyz n the Hood, and the biting wit of Mean Girls. The saga winds through shimmering YA fantasies like Twilight and The Hunger Games, to timely, trenchant tales like The Hate U Give and the whip-smart irreverence of Booksmart. Each film a mirror, each page a revelation.

Given Handy’s pedigree as a comic writer and the cheeky lilt of the book’s title, one might brace for a breezy romp through high school tropes. But Hollywood High surprises: it’s more elegy than satire, more cultural exegesis than casual stroll. At times, it reads like a dissertation in disguise—richly observed, layered with historical resonance, and alert to the subtle ways in which these films speak not only to teen life, but to the eras that shaped them.

Handy’s prose shimmers with precision and flair, often choosing the road less traveled lexically—when was the last time a book on teen flicks dared to toss in uxorious or sybaritic? Yet it never feels pretentious. Wit bubbles up amid the scholarship; you’ll find yourself chuckling even as Handy is unpacking the socio-political subtext of Fast Times at Ridgemont High or the fragile masculinity of James Dean.

This is no encyclopedic compendium—Handy’s curation is selective, subjective, and unapologetic. His focus lingers lovingly on Andy Hardy, Rebel, American Graffiti, the John Hughes canon, Boyz n the Hood, Clueless, Mean Girls, and Twilight. As the timeline marches closer to the present, the chapters grow quieter, as if the lens fogs with the immediacy of now.

Still, what emerges is more than nostalgia. It’s a serious, nuanced study of the teenage psyche as projected by the dream factory—filtered through Handy’s signature blend of reportage, humor, and cultural insight. He writes with the heart of a critic, the soul of a storyteller, and a scholar’s eye for the zeitgeist. In Hollywood High, teen movies aren’t just entertainment—they’re cultural artifacts, rites of passage, time capsules, and reflections of who we were, who we are, and who we pretend to be.

[Jane · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm tempted to rate this down to 3 stars because I'm so annoyed by the author's apparent aversion to the word WHOM, but anyway:

This is a truly informative, organized, well-researched book. I love teen movies, and I even have a limited affection for the Andy Hardy movies. This book is organized roughly into decades, centering around a couple of well known teen movies in each; it's not exhaustive but is pretty representative. While a lot of it deep dives on plots (spoilers abound), an equal part is a social history of teens as a demographic, starting somewhere in the ballpark of WWII. As such it's a pretty excellent overview.

My main complaints, aside from grammatical quibbling, are a) the omission of Empire Records and b) the folksy/pandering tone that's sprinkled around (summarized succinctly in this week's NYT review). I don't need humorous overtones; just give me the content please - even for readers who haven't read de Tocqueville, you don't need to assume that we'll be driven off by the mere mention.

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for the arc!

[Martin Maenza · Rating 4 out of 5]

Avid Reader Press provided an early galley for review.

I like that Handy starts with an introduction that outlines the early history of when the teenaged demographic came into being in the 1940's. It is a reminder of something we just take for granted now in the 21st Century. That set the stage for the discussion of the seismic shift in pop culture that would follow. I also got a lot out of the earliest teen movies from that era (man, Mickey Rooney was a Hollywood hound at such a young age).

As a teen of the late 70's/early 80's, I found Handy's commentary of this period to be very spot on. Given that, I have every belief that his portrayals of the earlier and later decades in this book to also ring very true. His analysis of the films chosen are also very detailed and reflective of commentary of the teen cultures, serving as mirrors back to their intended target audiences.

In the end, too, I realized that some cherished films from my past (ones that I would consider having influences on views and storytelling) contain problematic elements. But, as Handy shows, that seems to have been the case with teen movies all throughout their eighty-year history. Some things do not change.

[Colin · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book did not work for me. I loved Tarantino's Cinema Speculation and Peter Biskind's Raging Bulls, and the format of this book is similar, so expected to like it. But it felt flat and boring. The chapters lingered too long on each movie, the author didn't fully establish himself as a enthusiast like Tarantino, and the details he added about the making of these movies were uninteresting (kudos to Biskind's dishy asides on that front). Also there were too many quotes from contemporary reviews, seemingly little in the way of interviews, and his takes were milquetoast. Bring me more Tarantino enthusing for pages on an obscure Robert Duvall gangster movie.

[Lysa]

I wish this had more original thought in it. :-/

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

It took me awhile to get into this one, but once it hit my favorite 80s movies it went much better. really interesting book about a topic I really enjoy :)

[John Schorg · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is a book that does its job and does it well. It recognizes that the history of teen movies didn't begin with John Hughes, so there are shoutouts to Andy Hardy and very good breakdowns of Rebel Without a Cause and Beach Party films. It also studies the Hughes films with a more critical eye than is usually offered and finds several of them lacking. There could have been more on Dazed and Confused, but then, there always could be more on Dazed and Confused.

[Chris Jaffe · Rating 5 out of 5]

There's a Margaret Mead quote on page 20: "When mothers cease to say, `When I was a girl I was not allowed .. . ' and subsittute the question, "What are the other girls doing?' Something fundamental has happened to the whole culture." That's key to the book overall.

On the face of it, this is a history of movies about high schoolers and the most prominent movies about them. -- And to that end, it's very successful, with plenty of quality analysis of the flicks Handy puts under his microscope.

Pay closer attention and it's also a backdoor socio-cultural history of American teen-dom - and it's pretty damn good at that as well.

It's a look at about ten movies (or series of movies, in some many cases) that made some sort of immediate and lasting impact on the American public and how it looks at teens. First you get the 1930s/40s Andy Hardy movies starring Mickey Rooney. They were the first movies about a teen, and for many of that age, it's how they learned how to be teenagers. Unlikely as it sounds, the dictionary didn't even have the word in it until 1941 (Oxford Dictionary). Only 6% graduated from high school in 1900. Not a majority until 1940. Not a marjority attending until 1930ish. It was only a quarter attending high school in 1920. Yeah, teens were young, but they could still work. Hell, in slavery days, half the four million slaves in 1860 were age 16 ore less (and a third were separated from their parents). Until the 1880s, states rarely even had drinking ages. Many states had the age of consent around 10 until the late 19th century. Teens, however, were shifting from economic producers to consumers in the 20th century. Child labor was banned by 1938. And that's when Andy Hardy defined how a teen should act.

Then you get James Dean and Rebel Without a Cause, taking teens seriously. It's also the first teen movie with a generation gap. Rooney's Hardy wants to emulate his dad, whereas Dean's main character (and his cohorts) are alieanted from then.

Enter the 1960s Beach Party flicks. Let's just have fun in the sun and not take things too seriously. As for adults, they are scarcely present. The author acknolwedges that a key theme of his book is arguably a "softening of adulthood" that critics said these teen movies were doing. But Handy doesn't meant that in an insultiing sense.

American Graffiti introduces nostalgia into the teen movie, it's a bit more self-conscious. It's early nostalgia for pre-Vietnam America, as was Sha-Na-Na as the new Broadway musical Grease. Speaking of music, more than any previous film, it used music to convey the teen experience from the generation. And the "Where they are now" postscript hit people pretty hard. It's not blind nostalgia, as the top hot rodder knows his days are numbered.

Fast Times at Ridgemont High came out when teen drug usage was peaking, teen sex was way up, binge drinking wa up, and working for pay for teens was peaking at around 80%. It's based on a Cameron Crowe book (based on spending a year in a real high school) and there were many more students working than when he graduated, just seven years before. Divorce was skyrocketing, so in this film, parents barely even exist. They're not even a force to be alieanted against. People are sometimes defined by the stature of the job, as we head into the '80s. (But an aborition is still part of the film, as this just got under the wire of the Moral Majority). The movie wasn't nearly as big a hit in its day as Porkys (a last gasp of '50s nostalgia), but it's had a lot more staying power.

John Hughes then became an institution to himself, with 5-6 teen-centered movies. Handy doesn't care much about Weird Science or Some King of Wonderful (which bombed and was apparently a Pretty in Pink gender reversal). Hughes was the king of 1980s teen flicks, an era which gave us the phrase Peter Pan syndrome. It's an era when even many adults (like Hughes) were ambivlient about growing up. But the audience was for teens. It's an era when teens made up a ton of the moviegoing aduience (a percent that would start to decline, as teen movies went into abeyance). Some parts of the films haven't aged well, but Hughes remains a touchstone of teen movies. With Breakfast Club there's a recongition that there isn't one teen experience, but many subcultures.

Boyz in the Hood gave us a hit movie about black teens growing up. All talk about trying to survive high school has a very literal resonance here. Juvenille violent crime was peaking. The chapter also briefly discusses Clueless and Kids (the latter a film the author hates).

Mean Girls is the last traditional teen movie to get its own chapter. The cliques of Breakfast Club still exist and if anything have been ramped up. While it came out in the early 21st century, it's argaubly the last 20th century movie, as it exists at at time juuuuust before twitter and facebook and youtube and all that. It came out during an era when lots of books worried about the modern teen girl experience - and this was even based on a non-fiction book like that. Beginning with Mean Girls, stories and films and TV shows on the teen experience focuses much more on girls. When boys go to the films, they more want to see action films of superhero films, not movies about teen life. (Exception: Superbad, which the author notes once but never talks about otherwise).

It ends with two big franchises: Twilight and Hunger Games. These are not normal teen films, to put it mildly. Teens normal life don't include vampires and mass murder games. But teens live in a time of school shootings. Maybe it's wrong to draw too stark a line from that to the Hunger Games, though, the author notes. But the rise of the iPhone and all that also correlates strongly with rises in depression and teen suicide. Teens are stressed and busier, and have less time for working. In a huge break with the past, a quarter gradaute high school without a driver's licenese. More spend more time at the home than at the mall - the Ridgemont High era is over. So in this time, teens find more appeal in fantasy stories of high schoolers than real ones. (Note: by this same logic, there probably should be Harry Potter here also. I guess he's too young, and it's not a story about Americans, too).

Handy does a really good job making his points. Some parts could be stronger (really, Superbad should be here), but overall it's excellent. RANDOM NOTE: The focus on women's stories at the end and modern talk in the last few years in real life of rise of the manosphere makes me thing there's a big untapped market there for a manosophere teen movie. Based on some social commentary Handy makes, I don't think he'd be a fan of it, though.

[Mediaman · Rating 1 out of 5]

Well at least this author warns you about how badly distorted this book is up front, claiming in the subtitle that it's a "way opinionated history of teen movies." The problem is his opinion is so imbalanced that he leaves out major aspects of teen film history and focuses on some warped ones. And if you don't like it? Well he tells you in the introduction, "Disagree! Write your own teen book!" (As if any of us could get a book deal without his NYC liberal writing contacts.) What a jerk. There's nothing epic about this other than the author's misguided ego.

There are problems from the first page, with his snarky thoughts and gossip tossed in as facts. They're not. Oh, he has a long list of resources in the back (nothing footnoted though) so he grabbed a bunch of unsubstantiated rumors from others and tossed them in here. For example, Handy mentions Mickey Rooney caught getting a blowjob from 14-year-old Elizabeth Taylor over 80 years ago! But that is simply an unverifiable rumor from a book that just came out last year--not historical truth.

But the biggest problem is how incomplete and misleading this is. How can he claim to cover teens in movie but leave out someone like Hayley Mills in The Trouble with Angels? There is probably no singular better teen comedy movie of the 1960s than the one all of us went to at that age about the girls in the Catholic boarding school! (It was such a hit it had a sequel.) Mills was a big teen star of the decade...and he doesn't even mention her. Neither does he include To Sir With Love, the big hit starring Sidney Poitier as an inner-city high school teacher that had a chart-topping song.

Instead he focuses on Frankie and Annette's 1960s beach movies (and similar) that were spoofs with adults playing more college-age roles than high schoolers. When you look back at these and many of the movies he mentions, they really look like overaged actors portraying 19-year-olds instead of actual kids like in real life.

There are so many major memorable teen moments in film history that he left out, the ones I could think off of the top of my head were Donna Reed and Jimmy Stewart at the high school dance in It's a Wonderful Life, Jeanne Crain in the original 1950 Cheaper by the Dozen (and its sequel, neither mentioned here nor was its modern update). Or how about Napoleon Dynamite, Mr. Holland's Opus, Bring It On, Friday Night Lights, My Bodyguard, Dead Poets Society, Bachelor and the Bobbysoxer, and lots of old 1940s/1950s classics about schoolkids? Nope, none included in a book about teens in movies. Hard to believe.

Others are mentioned once or twice as an aside, such as Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure, Ten Things I Hate About You, Fame, Goodbye Mr. Chips, and Easy A, when they should have had a larger parts of the text. Handy also mostly leaves out some big teen-related horror movies that people will be screaming about not being included.

And the list could go on--like a whole lot of Disney movies that were all about teenagers (including High School Musical, it's sequels and all the copycat Disney musicals such as Teen Beach Movie, Descendants & Zombies). It is a huge embarrassment that he totally skips over Disney, Nickelodeon, other television movies or even many modern streaming teenage films while focusing on the warped rebel films he's interested in. Why he spends a long initial chapter on Andy Hardy while ignoring many other high-school based old movies is beyond me.

Meanwhile The Graduate is mentioned on six pages. It's a movie about a COLLEGE GRADUATE and has NOTHING to do with high school teens! This happens elsewhere as well (including references to Friends and Mr. Mom?).

I'm sure this guy will argue his choices based on his narrow classification of "teen movies," but that's what makes this so bad. He focuses on the rebels he likes and fails to adequately define a genre or its cultural impact beyond himself or those he relates to.

It's baffling how off-kilter this is, especially from a guy who claims to be a "journalist" but in truth is a warped, argumentative, biased and inaccurate fake rewriter of film history. In the high school of life Bruce Handy is the class know-it-all who really is kind of a dumb druggie bullying loser. And this book is just one long term paper that he turned in, filled with fluff, BS, propaganda, and mishandling history. Handy should be sent to detention for a long time for skipping so many classes and missing out on what really happened in those other classrooms he never visited at Hollywood High.

[Paul Mackie · Rating 4 out of 5]

How movies changed teens and teens changed movies

https://popculturelunchbox.substack.c...

This is part 1 of my series on teen-movie history, inspired by Bruce Handy’s new book.

Bruce Handy, a writer for Vanity Fair, brings a magazine writer’s vivid flair to his latest release, Hollywood High: A Totally Epic, Way Opinionated History of Teen Movies. The book is a lively chronicle of how teens have been portrayed in film over the past century, doubling as a snapshot of Hollywood history. It’s obvious Handy’s a seasoned journalist—his story unfolds in bite-size, magazine-style vignettes that highlight memorable moments from the teen-movie canon, making for a genuine page-turner.

Looking back to 1940, Handy shows how American teens developed their own shared experience. Most seventeen-year-olds were graduating high school—a radical change from 1900, when only a privileged few did. Back then, child labor was rampant and young people entered the workforce early; teens rarely had the chance to bond or stay at home.

With adolescence newly extended, Hollywood caught on. The 1937 film A Family Affair was groundbreaking—it introduced Mickey Rooney as Andy Hardy, cinema’s first true American teenager. Handy notes: “Eight and a half decades later, the picture remains a pleasant enough sit … Dropped into a film where the rest of the cast affects mid-Atlantic accents and stagy mannerisms, Rooney functions like a wild card, a jolt of modern energy.” Rooney’s performances helped usher in a wave of relatable, mischievous teen protagonists and family-centered comedies, paving the way for future sitcoms like Leave It to Beaver.

Louis Mayer of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer is considered by Handy to be the mastermind of teenage movies, having “steered MGM away from expensive literary and costume dramas towards more populist fare.”

The fourth film in the series, 1938’s Love Finds Andy Hardy, is largely viewed as the most memorable one, named by National Review for its glorification of the American family. But on the more reality-based side, it’s really a movie about horny teenagers, like all the other films discussed in this book. While Garland’s The Wizard of Oz followed in 1939 and offered a very different kind of look into the teen years, she set a more replicated tone with her awkward outfits in the Hardy films: “the serial mortifications of growing up.”

Rooney’s on-screen antics were matched by a wild real-life persona; MGM famously fed young stars “pep pills” to sustain their manic energy. Handy contrasts the appeal of teen stars like Rooney with child actors such as Shirley Temple, whose careers frequently faded with puberty while budding teens like Judy Garland charted new territory.

The industry knew at that point what to do with the Temples of the scene, but it didn’t have a template for the likes of Rooney or Garland. In hindsight, Rooney was probably not the best teen to set that template. Ava Gardner, the first of his eight wives, later wrote, “He was incorrigible. He’d screw anything that moved. He had a lot of energy. He probably banged most of the starlets who appeared in his Andy Hardy movies—Lana Turner among them. She called him Andy Hard-on.”

Shifting to many years later, in the 1980s, Handy explores how teens became Hollywood’s most reliable audience segment. It was the era of John Hughes, whose output over four years—Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club, Weird Science, Pretty in Pink, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Some Kind of Wonderful—played a major role in defining the genre. The book also promises deep dives into films like Boyz n the Hood, Mean Girls, and Fast Times at Ridgemont High.

So far, Hollywood High is a fast, fun read. 4 out of 5 stars.

[Steph · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a too long, rambling book that has some interesting information hidden in it if you can stick with it long enough to get to it. Given the struggles I had finishing it, it seems fitting that I leave a too long rambling unorganized mess of a review. 𝘈𝘬𝘢 𝘐’𝘮 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘭𝘢𝘻𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘯 𝘶𝘱 𝘮𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴 𝘴𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘣𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘱𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸.

➡️ The writing style was a bit stiff and pretentious for me, uxorious, quotidian, portentously, fecund, conflate, dishabille, - basically be ready to look up some words unless of course your vocabulary is more extensive than mine. It often came across as a dry textbook and while there was some interesting info, it was organized in a somewhat confusing way.

➡️ I’m not entirely clear as to his goal with this - he doesn’t seem to be a fan of many of the movies he is talking about, and the approach felt scattered. He has a little social commentary, a little about the background and past projects of the cast and director, then a look at the box office, then it’s about the studio executives and a bit about shooting. Now back to the release of it… you get the picture. It just felt all over the place and chaotically organized.

➡️ The chapter on Twilight randomly opens with statistics about teenage sex data, random tidbits about rainbow parties on Oprah, porn , etc. and then it’s on to Twilight. The author claims the lack of hooking up in the movie is reacting to the culture changes but he seems to forget that it’s based on a YA book, which rarely feature detailed sexual content.

➡️ The chapters all felt drawn out and 10+ pages too long. There is a detailed recap for each movie and then a lot of analysis, some of which felt repetitive. Some things felt like they didn’t get much attention at all (Clueless is a few pages tagged on at the end of a chapter) and others felt over done. The best chapter for me was on Boyz in the Hood where it actually felt like he took a deeper look at the movie and its impact versus just restating a lot of what has already been said.

➡️ The book shines when it points out things that haven’t aged well, especially as it relates to misogynistic aspects of movies and interviews, as well as highlighting things from older movies that still remain relatable messages today. I wish there had been more of that, perhaps focusing on a wider variety of movies and less long summaries of plots and rehashing some of the more overdone observations. This also was not consistently done as the author randomly brings up Mickey Rooney at 26 getting a blow job from an underage 14 year old Elizabeth Taylor with little comment. It had nothing to do with the book, so why even bring it up? Again, just perplexing choices throughout the book on what was discussed other than the movies.

➡️ The audiobook was totally unlistenable for me. The narrator had a very odd delivery, adding in strange lengthy pauses randomly and emphasizing words in weird ways so they sounded completely off from the correct pronunciation. I lasted only one chapter before switching to the physical book.

[Mme Forte · Rating 4 out of 5]

Probably 3.5 stars, but it's not the book, it's me. I have quibbles with the author's choices of movies, but that's a highly personal thing and I really shouldn't take him to task for it.

This is just what it says, an opinionated survey of the history of teen movies. Beginning with Andy Hardy, continuing through James Dean, the dazed 70s, the Molly Ringwald years, lingering on Boyz n the Hood and finishing up with vampires and dystopia, the author gives background on each era and does his best to explain how the movies reflect teen life in the times they depict -- or in the times when they came out -- and why they've remained in the public conversation and in the hearts and minds of so many of those who experienced them as teens themselves.

As I saw a great many of these movies in my (misspent) Gen X youth, I felt personally involved in much of this material. And I grew up with the soundtrack of American Graffiti, which my Boomer parents played til I think the grooves wore out. There was nostalgia, there were viewpoints I'd never considered before, there were "oh yeah" moments (such as when the author opined on how well a movie might have aged...let's say I'm not proud of having laughed at some of the things I laughed at when I was a kid).

I would take issue with the balance here -- all those John Hughes movies in one chapter, Mean Girls gets its own chapter, Clueless gets a few pages and that's it? But the words Way Opinionated are right there in the title, so he's the boss.

In addition, it's going to take me a LONG time to forget some of the sordid stories about people's personal lives. Elizabeth Taylor at 14 and Mickey Rooney at 26 or so? Gross. Gloria Grahame married her STEPSON? And was caught in bed with him when he was THIRTEEN? Which my mom knew about and was able to recall the details when I asked her about it? Ew.

But people are human and humans are flawed. Anyway, it was an interesting book, I got to feel a little nostalgia for lost, simpler times, and I might force my Gen Z kids to watch a couple of these with me. With the caveat that they are artifacts of their times.

[Zach Koenig · Rating 5 out of 5]

It would be easy for a book like "Hollywood High" to turn into nothing more than a nostalgic recollection of old teen movies. Truth be told, that approach might garner more interest or better ratings. But I really respect what author Bruce Handy did here--not just waxing poetic but instead telling a story about the history of teenage-driven cinema.

Handy goes back to the roots of the genre and starts his tale in the 1930s/1940s Andy Hardy (Mickey Rooney) films. From there, he progresses to the likes of the 1950s beach movie craze, American Graffiti, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, the Hughes 80s flicks, Mean Girls, Twilight, & The Hunger Games (with many more thrown in for good measure).

A very clear progression is shown of how teen culture (a relatively new concept itself circa the 1940s/50s) shaped the cinema--and vice versa. Handy's excellent commentary on each of those films/eras hits on all the key points and sociological points of intrigue.

So, if you are expecting a quick "beach read" from "Hollywood High", you might want to recalibrate expectations (fortunately for something even better!). The book is fun because the topic is fun, but it always stays true to its history-uncovering premise as opposed to fan boy-ing out. For that I give it a solid 5/5 stars.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you’ve ever quoted Ferris Bueller like gospel or debated whether Twilight counts as a teen classic, Hollywood High is your cinematic time machine. Bruce Handy crafts a sharp, nostalgic, and surprisingly emotional deep dive into nearly a century of teen movies, connecting Coppola to Lucas to Singleton, and showing how these films mirrored—and shaped—America’s shifting views on youth, rebellion, and awkward first crushes. From Rebel Without a Cause to The Hunger Games, Handy unpacks how teen cinema became a cultural force. He’s like your favorite film studies professor, but with better pop references. Whether you're a John Hughes devotee or still wearing pink on Wednesdays, this book is a love letter to the films that raised us, embarrassed us, and made us feel seen. A total must-read for any movie geek with a soft spot for teenage angst and cafeteria power dynamics.

Many thanks to Edelweiss and Avid Reader Press / Simon & Schuster for providing me with an eARC of Hollywood High : A Totally Epic, Way Opinionated History of Teen Movies prior to publication.

[soph · Rating 4 out of 5]

a fun, meandering route through the history of teen movies, starting with mickey rooney's andy hardy in the 1930s and ending with the hunger games in the 2010s. handy does a great job balancing anecdotes and analysis of each film (with every chapter centered on a specific film or franchise) with a macro-level view of what teenagehood "means" in each decade, how teenagers are understood, marketed to, and portrayed on-screen. teen movies create a mediated experience for teens, part of the process of making meaning around their adolescence and all the confusion it brings. i appreciated this book for what it was, and i think it's important not to expect it to be something more. handy gestures vaguely at the link between social media and teenage mental health (which is both bidirectional and far less conclusive than jonathan haidt wants you to think) but thankfully doesn't come down hard on either side. overall a light, interesting read! i will say parts of it do drag if you haven't watched that film or don't know a lot about its director.

[Kelli · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bruce Handy’s Hollywood High is a vibrant, nostalgic, and sharply intelligent deep dive into the evolution of teen movies, a genre that has mirrored the shifting attitudes, anxieties, and aspirations of youth for nearly a century. From Rebel Without a Cause to Mean Girls and The Hunger Games, Handy weaves cultural criticism with industry insight, unpacking how films aimed at adolescents became a mirror of American identity itself.

What makes this book so compelling is Handy’s blend of scholarly analysis and affectionate storytelling. He connects filmmakers, eras, and societal shifts with wit and precision tracing how each generation’s depiction of youth reflects broader cultural transformations. It’s both a celebration of pop culture and a thoughtful examination of its influence, offering readers a renewed appreciation for the artistry and rebellion embedded in the teen movie tradition.

[Jarrett Connolly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.

Look I am a SUCKER for these kinda of books. The entire history of a genre? count me in. I loved this book. You get an in depth analysis on the major films, directors, and actors of the teen movie. From good ol’ Andy Hardy to the John Hughes films to The Hunger Games

You also get side by side views on how America viewed the teenager during these eras of film. From awe to fright to economic pandering, you a great look into American society’s complex relationships with adolescents and how the films handled that as well.

Also, learned a LOT about Mickey Rooney’s “private” life if you catch my drift. I knew that man was a dog but wow.

Overall, great read. I would honestly love to see this book revisited one day as the teen movie genre shifts more and more.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

Kudos to this author for what must have been millions of hours of research! Admittedly after reading way more than I ever would need to know about Mickey Rooney, I skimmed through the chapters on James Dean and Frankie and Annette. They just weren’t in my category of interests. But for those who are interested, the details are there! Once I hit the 80s and after, about 50% in, I was invested. Very interesting insights and details on the teenagers (and older actors playing teens) involved in Fast Times at Ridgemont High, the John Hughes movies, Clueless, Mean Girls, and more.

If these chapters were about 15 pages shorter, the rating would be higher, but everything drug on too long for me.

See what you think when this book publishes May 20th!

[Ginger]

I don’t usually do this but I DNF’d after the casual line in the introduction about 26 year old Mickey Rooney SA-ing a 14 year old Elizabeth Taylor. To want to wax poetic about the development of the concept of the teenager in the 20th century and the subsequent evolution of teen films whilst hand-waving this vivid example of age of consent laws and the long undercurrent of “casting couch culture” in Hollywood just turned me right off. Hardy didn’t even need to include this tidbit to highlight how Rooney was viewed as juvenile well into his adult years. Again just a warning for others, especially when one wants to delve into a movie genre that is rife with both problematic and incredibly complex depictions of a turbulent time in everyone’s lives. Just my 2 cents.

[Russell Ricard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Utterly fascinating page-turner.

From Andy Hardy films to Rebel Without a Cause; American Graffiti to The Breakfast Club to Ferris Bueller’s Day Off; Boys in the Hood to Mean Girls; Twilight to The Hunger Games; The Hate You Give to Booksmart, and more—an astutely researched, insightful and incisive look at pop culture through the lens of teen movies.

A serious, critical analysis of the historical underpinnings of teen life and their psychology told in wordsmith Handy’s signature voice that blends humor with reportage, coupled with pertinent historical/demographical/sociological facts, all rooted in highly accessible prose.

A great read for history, pop culture, movie buffs, and academics alike. Bravo to author Bruce Handy.