When Dramatizing Adolescent Advocacy, Keep It Real
While a search for identity through advocacy tends to be the primary theme in works that explore adolescent engagement, a search for community can be an equally compelling source.
Dear White People begins with the character Sam White on her regular campus radio show, a device at the center of both the 2014 film and the Netflix series by the same name. The series questions whether and how the “post-race” claims from the ivory tower of a fictional Ivy League university translate to on-the-ground student life. Spoiler alert: those claims don’t always prove true to their idealistic word. Race relations at Winchester University remain, in a word, fraught. And a good number of its students are not okay with that.
As a reflection of our current, real-world moment, race is a central issue catalyzing advocacy among the series’ lead characters, but it certainly isn’t the only one. If anything, it’s the search for identity - who am I and how is that defined? - that drives the characters of Dear White People to challenge established systems. Unlike other depictions of adolescent engagement, such as The Hate U Give, which centers on a flashpoint of racial justice uprising, Dear White People focuses on advocacy as a workaday pursuit for its characters. True to life, these social justice storylines are peppered in with the rest of the adolescent experience: love and heartbreak, experimentation and error, friendship and betrayal. And that’s what makes it authentic.
While a search for identity through advocacy tends to be the primary theme in works that explore adolescent engagement, a search for community can be an equally compelling source. In Reservation Dogs, we meet four indigenous youths who are determined to cut ties with the Oklahoma reservation where they were raised, but who inadvertently strengthen those ties over the course of a season. They discover their craved sense of community right where they are and, as co-creator Sterlin Harjo explains, “decide to become vigilantes and clean up the community, but in a funny way.” The teens’ community engagement remains credible throughout every episodic adventure by avoiding sentimental simplicity and embracing how messy, funny, and sometimes painful these connections are. It’s life.
Our research-based takeaways for portrayals of adolescent advocacy:
Depict adolescence engagement in authentic ways. To be compelling, characters must be more than “do-gooders.” Let them seek out engagement organically, and as part of adolescents’ typical exploration of self-identity.
Don’t be afraid to be open-ended. Developing one's identity is complex and ongoing, lasting well into adulthood and one could argue a lifelong process of discovery. Similarly, our communities ebb and flow, while the fight against injustice is unlikely to be resolved anytime soon. Good stories embrace the open-endedness and ambiguity of this process of discovery, leaving open the possibility of new opportunities for growth and for making change.
Make community a character. The link between support for adolescent development and connected communities is proven and strong. Positive, meaningful relationships can be about more than just family and peers. Communities can also be protagonists – full of key players that help young people develop their identities as they become full members of the adult world. Reservation Dogs does this beautifully by connecting its main characters to various community members in hilarious and touching ways.
Comedy yields credibility. Engagement and advocacy can be portrayed as part of developing positive identity—but there’s a fine line between powerful and precious. Humor, especially around shared, everyday adolescent experiences (e.g. early romance) will keep characters relatable when they stand up for their still-evolving beliefs.
Freelancer
Teen Blog Competition - February 2021
What would Leslie Knope do? Reflect on your own experiences and share your perceptions about how civic engagement is portrayed on TV. How do you think it could be better addressed? Feel free to draw from what you have perceived to be negative and/or positive portrayals.
Winning Entry:
Poppy McElrue, 14
Civic engagement is the active participation of individuals or groups aiming to address public concerns. This includes volunteering to help a community, working to maintain and improve living spaces, or voting in government elections. These are activities we’re familiar with, and may even be involved in, partially due to the effect of the media. We watch television from a young age - our perceptions of politics and widespread issues are shaped significantly by our exposure to shows. Clearly, the TV industry is an important tool for influencing communities, so when it comes to civic engagement, what does it do right and wrong?
A TV show that stands out in the field of civic engagement is Parks and Recreation. It follows main character Leslie Knope, a relentlessly optimistic, cheery government employee. While most of the main cast work in the parks department of Pawnee, Indiana, the show as a whole covers many topics relating to politics and public service. Parks and Recreation presents civic engagement as what it truly is - people working to address public issues, despite the difficulty they may face. For me, Leslie Knope is the embodiment of what it means to be a public servant. The show focuses significantly on Leslie’s pursuits of happiness, justice and equality, showing her unconditional love for her community. Despite most of the show surrounding Leslie, it is ultimately about how her active spirit encourages those around her, and by the end of the series she rarely faces a challenge without the support of her friends. The show’s core messages of friendship, love and public service is what makes it such an influential and positive representation of civic participation, showing the difference it can make to many lives.
Despite this, I believe that in the industry of show business there is an evident lack of representation for civic engagement. Politics is a well-covered subject, whether through positive or negative portrayals, but other areas of public service are constantly overlooked. This may seem insignificant, but it could have a profound effect on how community engagement is perceived. Civic participation in younger generations has declined over recent years - many young people choose not to vote or participate in politics. To combat this, the TV industry must play a part: many young people are avid TV-watchers or Netflix-bingers. More positive portrayals of civic engagement on TV, similar to Parks and Recreation’s influential messages, are useful tools for encouraging our society’s youth to contribute to their community.
Civic engagement is a crucial part of maintaining democracy. To encourage more people to participate, portrayals in TV should aim to be accurate, engaging and positive. Characters like Leslie Knope are incredibly influential - if a show like Parks and Recreation can encourage thousands of young people to become more engaged in society, imagine how many more would participate if other shows also presented civic engagement as it truly is - an essential, powerful and inspirational way to aim for the greater good.