Whether you empathised with Sandra Dee, rooted for Cher and her ex-step-brother, got the hots for Heath, sang along with Lizzie McGuire, or modelled your early relationships on Troy and Gabriella’s, the chances are you are familiar with the ever-popular conventions of the teen movie.

And while the movies of the past were rooted in romance and PG-13 peril, we can all agree that they were pushing the boundaries of relatability.

That’s without even getting into the whole adults-playing-teens thing.

But did you ever stop to reflect on the ways in which these movies shaped your life – and, in particular, your self-image and attitude towards romance and growing up?

Of course, every movie needs a plot, and the mundanities of average teenage life are unlikely to compel audiences to press play.

But according to Ohio State University PhD student Kate Stewart, the representation of high schoolers in teen movies is so unrealistic that it is leading today’s young people to judge themselves poorly in comparison.

In a recent paper published in the Journal of Children and Media, Stewart and co-author Nicole Martins of Indiana University explained the discrepancies between teen movies and real life, and the potentially negative consequences on their young and potentially impressionable viewers.

By analyzing 53 movies in which the protagonist was high-school aged, the researchers noted aspects of puberty that were evident in each – and their findings were stark.

The movies, which were all released between 2012 and 2021 contained little in the way of references or evidence of puberty processes across female and male characters, with just two movies dealing with increased body hair and two characters experiencing acne. Meanwhile, two of 28 female lead characters mentioned breast development, while four of the female lead characters experienced menstruation.

But for boys looking for relatable characters? The representation was even worse, with the researchers noting nothing to do with growth, muscle development, or the voice breaking and deepening.

And the lack of relatability doesn’t stop there, with teenagers watching characters who are supposed to be their age, while the actors playing them were anything from 16 to 28 years of age. In fact only ten of the actors were actually high-school age, with obvious consequences on the body image of young viewers, fooled into thinking I’m supposed to look like that?

Meanwhile, and perhaps most disheartening for teenage viewers, is the disparity between the young romances in films, and the often disappointing realities of early love in real life. The researchers found that in 88.7% of the teen movies, the main character had a romantic storyline, and were lucky in love 78.7% of the time: wildly unrealistic for teenage romance.

Why is this a problem? Well it’s not helping the self-esteem and expectations of young people who are already surrounded by social media and unrealistic body images and life goals; if they were at least to see real-life puberty and awkward, unsuccessful relationships on screen, they’d have a better idea of what life is really like, as Stewart explains in an Ohio State statement:

“In a perfect world we would see comforting, reassuring, informative depictions of these types of things. But if you’re seeing certain depictions over and over again, then it’s going to start to affect how you view things and especially what you may come to expect.”

To address this, the authors hope that the film industry will take note, making on-screen teen years a little more relatable, at least in subtle ways. As Stewart continues, this could make all the difference:

“Our hope is that the industry will begin to weigh those pros and cons of allowing teen audiences to see puberty and more realistic changes. By shining a spotlight on this, we’re hoping to move forward and build on what we know about what teens learn from media.”

After all, what’s wrong with somebody having a pimple?

If you thought that was interesting, you might like to read about a quantum computer simulation that has “reversed time” and physics may never be the same.