Back to the Future
Crap teen flick, candyfloss for the mind? Far from it. Recalling Francis Fukiyama's concept of the 'death of history', this film is in fact issues a subversive challenge to the status quo of normative historical concepts. In undertaking a poststructural subversion of the linear notion of 'history', the film occupies, through its central character Marty McFly, a subject position outside of conventional temporality. As Marty travels through time, returning to the 1950s, and then back again, he destablises the gravity and authority of a commonly-held monolithic notion of the time-space continuum, revealing multiple lenses of possibility through which the world and its occupants can be viewed. Furthermore, the part where he plays "Johnny B Good" at the high school prom kicks some serious arse.
TeenWolf
Another Michael J Fox classic, this film cunningly re-interprets Franz Kafka's immortal short story "Metamorphosis" in a contemporary setting. The central character gradually realises he is becoming a werewolf, and must struggle to accept the challenges and possibilities this brings. TeenWolf also operates as a subtle allegory for the process of adolescence. The growth of bodily hair and increase in strength are a beast-fable embodiment of the patterns of male adolescent development. The film also recalls the words of a great philosopher: "Am I a man dreaming of being a werewolf or a werewolf dreaming of being a man?" This profound existential dilemma is given sympathetic treatment as Fox's character rides on the tops of cars, executes perfect slam-dunks and picks up lots of chicks. In short, a masterpiece of its genre.
Gremlins
Made during the height of cold war hysteria, this film provides a metaphor for the American fear of communism. It tells the story of
