The Representation of Teenagers and Gender in I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997)

I will be looking at the Representation of Teenagers and Gender in this scene from I Know What You Did Last Summer because it links to my horror film opening as I have used Female Teenage Twins as my main characters. The scene begins at 2.34 - 8.25.

REPRESENTATION OF GENDER

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  Barry is really incredibly drunk. The fact that he is drunk and not any of the girls suggests that males in general are irresponsible as they drink way too much than they can handle. Suggests that in society, it is normally teenage males that get childishly drunk, not the females as they are more responsible than the males.

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  After Barry says to the group to just leave, Julie still takes a closer look at the damage they have caused. Shows that again females are more responsible than males as she wants to make sure that everything is ok to just leave. Also suggests that females are more caring than males are, as she seems concerned about whatever they hit with the car, whether it be a deer or a person, to check that it is alright.

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  Barry is the one who suggests that they should just leave the crime scene and make a run for it while they still can. The fact that he is a male and a male is saying this than a female suggests that he is avoiding the problem, which is what most males would do. It suggests that males don’t want to face the problem because they are scared of showing their reactions and emotions of what the reality is.

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  Helen and Julie insist in calling the police or at least an ambulance to help the man that they have hit. This connotes that females would still choose the sensible option, even under pressure. This suggests that females are more sensible than males, as Barry tries to talk Helen and Julie out of doing the right thing.

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  In the end, the group of teenagers decide to dispose of the body and this was the initial idea of Barry’s. This can probably suggest that in pressured and panicked situations, the males have the dominancy over the final decision that is made.

REPRESENTATION OF TEENAGERS

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  Barry is being immature because he is so drunk by standing up in the car whilst its moving and shouting as loud as he can waving around his bottle full of alcohol. This suggests that teenagers are immature as Barry drank too much alcohol than he can handle and he is putting his life at risk anyways by not being sensible and not sitting down with a seatbelt on.
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  When it comes down to making a decision of what to do with the body that they have hit with their car, although there was a lot of discussion, they eventually made the wrong decision by disposing the body at the pier. This could represent teenagers in a bad light as it is insinuating that teenagers always make the wrong and bad decision.