Essay about Adolescents in Media

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Adolescents in Media: Observation #2

For the purposes of this assignment, I chose to observe and analyze the characters in the 1995 film Now and Then. The story takes place in a small, safe town called the Gaslight Addition, where four twelve-year-old girls grow-up and share an amazing friendship that will last a lifetime. The main plot of the movie is a flashback on the summer of 1970, the summer the girls grew closer, experienced boys, puberty, adventure, and mystery. They all had something that summer that affected them as teens and young adults. Whether it be struggles with family, parents, a recent death, or simply the new confusion about the changes of life and the beginning of adulthood. Each of the young girls experienced something seemingly different that summer. Tina “Teeny” Tercell was experiencing urges and thought she had never had before; she was the only girl who had taken notice to the neighborhood boys, and was eager to grow up and be a woman. Roberta Martin was fighting thoughts and emotions of her mother’s death, as well as the internal changes coming her way. Roberta was a tomboy who was the only one out of the four girls to experience the physical and visible changes of puberty, a well as the only girl who wasn’t eager for these changes to come. Samantha Albertson faced the challenges of a family break-up and divorce, making her different from anyone else in the Gaslight Addition. She seemed to be the only one among the girls to welcome the changes puberty had to bring upon her and one of the most stable of the girls. Finally, there’s Chrissy DeWitt. Chrissy’s struggle has to do with finding her self, and understanding who she is. Chrissy doesn’t understand the more complex thing in life; she’s eager to understand everything about sex and the role of a woman in society. That summer, the girls learned who they were and how important their friendship really was. They fought and then accepted urges and strange feelings. They accepted life for what it was, and in the end, they acknowledged the summer of 1970 to be “the summer that everything changed”.

1. Menarch A. Menarch is a biosocial term defined as a girl’s first menstrual period. B. In the film, Teeny converses with her friends about the changes happening within their bodies. She openly talks to her friends about their new breasts, and the mysteries of having their first menstrual period. C. This is an example of Menarch, because they are aware of their periods, and the occasion of getting their FIRST period. 2. Hormones A. The term ‘hormones’ is a biosocial term that is defined as the organic chemicals produced by body tissues and conveyed via the bloodstream to other body tissues. B. Throughout the film, Teeny experiences urges to kiss boys and interact with them whenever possible. She is also constantly thinking of any way to attract them; whether it be by stuffing her bra, or tying her shirt around her breasts. C. Teeny’s attitude and behavior perfectly display hormones and hormones in action. The term ‘hormones’ doesn’t only refer to the chemical produced by the body, it also refers to the thoughts, urges, emotions, and behaviors caused by them. 3. Early-maturing Girls A. The concept of ‘early-maturing girls’ is a biosocial concept that refers to young girls who are eager to grow-up and mature before other young girls their age. These girls usually have low self-esteem, experience more depression, and involve themselves with older boys. B. Teeny stuffs her bra daily, in order to attract older boys. There is also a scene where she accepts a cigarette from a much older man and attempts to flirt with him. C. Teeny is an example of an early-maturing girl because she seeks out older males, and is seemingly insecure about her image 4. Body Image A. The term ‘body image’ is a biosocial term that is defined as a person’s idea of how
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