Listicle: 10 of our favourite high-school clichés

They don’t make American high-school clichés like they used to. Here are our most treasured from film and TV

The jock with the jawline. Rewind to as far back as Grease (1978) and you’ll find that the popular boy is almost always a footballer, ambivalent about his grades, and a bit of a rogue. He’s in The Breakfast Club, She’s All That, American Pie, A Walk To Remember and High School Musical. Even in The Duff, he has a jawline so sharp, it could only belong to a 27-year-old.

She’s wanted. She’s hot. She’s everything you’re not. Even outside of practice, the cheerleader is always in uniform and a high ponytail.

Even in The Duff, he has a jawline so sharp, it could only belong to a 27-year-old.

The bestie with all the dope. She knows why Twilight’s Cullens go missing on sunny days, why Regina George is one of the Mean Girls, and what they’re serving in the cafeteria for lunch. Besties guide the new girl or boy (and therefore you, the viewer) through the film’s conflicts. And strangely, for all their knowledge, seem to have no other friends.

She knows why Twilight’s Cullens go missing on sunny days. Besties guide the new girl or boy (and therefore you, the viewer) through the film’s conflicts.

The cheerleader’s redemption: She’s wanted. She’s hot. She’s everything you’re not. Even outside of practice, she’s always in uniform and a high ponytail. She’s currently trying to win back the jock just so the prom photos come out pretty. Quinn and the gang from Glee didn’t do as much cheering as the Bring It On girls, but they wielded just as much power.

Frizzy curls, spectacles, slouch and scowl – the school is fooled but the audience isn’t.

The obvious makeover: Frizzy curls, spectacles, slouch and scowl – the school is fooled but the audience isn’t. Male students rarely get makeovers (though we love Drive Me Crazy). And when the girls do, it’s usually for prom, to win a bet, or, as in The Princess Diaries, to prepare for royal duties. It doesn’t always go well. She’s All That made its cute artsy heroine look worse.

Cher does the offscreen narration perfectly in Clueless, indicating how well she knows the world and how little she knows herself. As if!

The offscreen narration: Scene opens. It’s an ordinary high school. Camera pans, then zooms in on the loser in the corner, struggling to open their locker. Cue voiceover: “Yep. Thaaaat’s me.” How else to get an insider’s vantage point in a story? Cher does it perfectly in Clueless, indicating how well she knows the world and how little she knows herself. As if!

It’s always the gawky, bespectacled guy who gets bitten by a radioactive insect and turns, overnight, into Spider-man.

The lucky nerds: Jocks never become teen wolves. It’s always the gawky, bespectacled guy who gets bitten by a radioactive insect and turns, overnight, into Spider-man. Even Carrie, mildy telekinetic (until her bloody prom) is shy, gullible, weird. Could any of the X-Men have been popular if not for their mutations? Perhaps Jean Grey.

On the whole, parents are either clued out or absent in teen movies, or just present enough to steer the plot, as in Book Smart.

The adult supervision: We can’t all have Jim’s super-supportive dad from American Pie. But on the whole, parents are either clued out or absent in teen movies, or just present enough to steer the plot, as in Book Smart. Divorced mums work two jobs, alpha dads push kids to join a different college, step-parents meet on alternate weekends (never Christmas).

The big event, like in the To All The Boys franchise, is not just a rest of talent, but of believing in yourself, your love or whatever the movie was aiming at for the previous 100 minutes.

The climax: Prom, big choir competition, football match, homecoming, graduation, or some sectional/regional/national competition -- take your pick for the finale. The big event, like in the To All The Boys franchise, is not just a rest of talent, but of believing in yourself, your love or whatever the movie was aiming at for the previous 100 minutes.

Younger siblings are the ones to watch out for. In Before I Fall, the little sister is really the more grown-up one.

The sibling: Older siblings are useless; off to college or something. Younger siblings are the ones to watch out for. They’re uncorrupted by peer pressure, gossip and self-loathing. They’re the ones with all the wisdom, even if they’re in diapers. In Before I Fall, the little sister is really the more grown-up one.

Where would American coming-of-age tropes be without the obsession with cherry-popping?

Virginity: Where would American coming-of-age tropes be without the obsession with cherry-popping? In Superbad, they can’t even throw a party properly, let alone find willing lovers. Easy A makes a mockery of reputation and scarlet letters. And of course American Pie makes it a group pact, with hilarious consequences.

From HT Brunch, March 18, 2023

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