US Youth Films and Popular Music : Identity, Genre, and Musical Agency

This book brings theory from popular music studies to an examination of identity and agency in youth films while building on, and complementing, film studies literature concerned with genre, identity, and representation. McNelis includes case studies of Hollywood and independent US youth films that have had commercial and/or critical success to illustrate how films draw on specific discourses surrounding popular music genres to convey ideas about gender, race, ethnicity, sexuality, and other aspects of identity. He develops the concept of ‘musical agency’, a term he uses to discuss the relationship between film music and character agency, also examining the music characters listen to and discuss, as well as musical performances by the characters themselves Cover -- Half Title -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Dedication -- Contents -- List of Figures -- Acknowledgements -- Introduction: Youth Films, Identity, and Musical Agency -- PART I: She's a Rebel? Girls, Guitars, and Agency -- 1 The Girl Can't Have It: Restricted Musical Agency in 10 Things I Hate About You and Love Don't Cost a Thing -- 2 Queer Agency and the Reappropriation of the "Technophallus" in All Over Me -- 3 Silent Punk and Audible Folk: Musical Sleight-of-Hand in Juno -- PART II: Listening to the Other: Cultural Borrowing and Critical Reflection -- 4 Consumption, Authenticity, and Identity Experimentation in Ghost World -- 5 "I didn't move to Bosnia": Critical Cultural Immersion in Save the Last Dance -- 6 Cheerleaders, Bullies, and Nerds: Intersections of White Stereotypes and Black Music in Bring It On, Mean Creek, and Napoleon Dynamite -- PART III: Unheard Ethnicities: Musical Construction of Ethnic Identity and Agency -- 7 'Old World' Ethnicity, Hybrid Identity, and 'New World' Agency in Real Women Have Curves -- 8 "Neighbourhood is sure changing, isn't it?": Evolving Traditions and Complex Identities in Quinceañera -- 9 Reimagining the All-American Teenager: Inaudible Ethnicity and Agency from the Margins in Better Luck Tomorrow -- Conclusion: The Continuing Relevance of Film Music to Identity and Agency -- Index Introduction: Youth Films, Identity, and Musical Agency Part I: She’s a Rebel?: Girls, Guitars, and Agency Introduction 1. The Girl Can’t Have It: Restricted Musical Agency in 10 Things I Hate About You and Love Don’t Cost a Thing 2. Queer Agency and Reappropriation of the "Technophallus" in All Over Me 3. Silent Punk and Audible Folk: Musical Sleight-of-Hand in Juno Part II: Listening to the Other: Cultural Borrowing and Critical Reflection Introduction 4. Consumption, Authenticity, and Identity Experimentation in Ghost World 5. "I didn’t move to Bosnia": Critical Cultural Immersion in Save the Last Dance 6. Cheerleaders, Bullies, and Nerds: Intersections of White Stereotypes and Black Music in Bring it On, Mean Creek, and Napoleon Dynamite Part III: Unheard Ethnicities: Musical Construction of Ethnic Identity and Agency Introduction 7. ‘Old World’ Ethnicity, Hybrid Identity, and ‘New World’ Agency in Real Women Have Curves 8. "Neighbourhood is sure changing, isn’t it?": Evolving Traditions and Complex Identities in Quinceañera 9. Reimagining the All-American Teenager: Inaudible Ethnicity and Agency from the Margins in Better Luck Tomorrow Conclusion: The Continuing Relevance of Film Music to Identity and Agency