The Portrayal of Troubled Youth in European Film

1. The Portrayal of Troubled Youth in European Film Chris Balfour

2. The Portrayal of Troubled Youth in European Film is a more realistic than Hollywood. • They do not seem scared to depict certain circumstances that Hollywood would be afraid to show or bring up. This is a very important part of film because it is creating our judgment of these individuals

3. Comparing the Swedish and American versions of Lisbeth in “The girl with the dragon tattoo” Swedish Version American Version • Aggressive more angry • Messy hair, huge Mohawk • Appearance was enhanced drastically to show more of her personality • Depicted as softer and less tragic • Tried to keep beauty as a forefront.

4. Comparison of Swedish and American versions continued Swedish version American version • Stressed more of the controversial topics in the fill so we could have a better understanding of its characters . • Was trying to pull in a large majority of audience so it didn’t get to into too many controversial topics in-depth

5. European Film shows troubled youth in a sypmpathetic,non-judgmental outlook • They view the characters in their films as more psychologically complex individuals • This is shown in great detail in the movie Boy A • One of the young boys who killed the girl was shown to have been raped by his older brother when he was younger • This gave us a more in-depth reasoning for why he acted out the way he did. The cycle of violence • It forced us to develop a sympathetic outlook on him.

6. Hollywood’s depiction of troubled youth is sugar-coated • Hollywood tries to appeal to as vast an audience as possible, thus to avoid many controversial topics that sugar coat the portrayal of the troubled youth. • A good example of this is in “Let the Right One In” • They vast differences between the Eli in the Swedish and Hollywood version is obviously apparent. • In the Hollywood version they make her look like a girl and there is no question about it. It doesn’t even come up in the viewers mind whether or not she is a girl or boy. • It just feels like the Swedish version of the film depicts Eli as a more complex character with more layers physically and mentally.

7. Hollywood’s avoidance of sensitive topics drives it away from accurately portraying troubled youth • There are many sensitive topics that Hollywood strays away from such as drugs, sex, violence, suicide, etc. • European film does not, which allows it to depict such realistic portrayals of its youth on screen

8. The importance of accurate portrayal • The accurate portrayal of today’s troubled youth is very important for the world. Instead of judging the troubled youth we should be trying to understand them. European film’s realistic portrayal helps people understand a little more what is going on in their heads and causes us to have a little more sympathy for them.

9. Conclusion • The relevance of realistic interpretation is not only needed to give the viewer a more enriching experience but also for today’s youth. To depict them in a realistic form to let the world know where they actually stand. In creating a more whole-some unbiased depiction we can shed light on the actual problems that our corrupting our children and help find solutions to these problems. Although I know these are just films, all media and entertainment sources shape our world into what it will be in the future and if Hollywood is going to examine serious topics, such as troubled youth they should depict it in a realistic manner like European film does expertly.