Representation

In teen films the representation of character is extremely important. Characters usually have a trait that will be enhanced and used to represent them. This could also be seen as a stereotype. A stereotype is a feature or characteristic used to identify a person and say they are a certain way. For example the stereotype the blondes are dumb or asians are smart. This is common used in teen film so as to make it relatable  as teenagers in schools will have experienced someone like the character in the film.

Signs and symbols are used to convey something about a character and so that the characteristic is easy to identify. For example the 'popular' boy in a teen film will carry a football and wear a jersey jacket. While not all popular males are on the sports/football team, this is how they will be portrayed in the film as it is easy to identify with.

Another example is that the 'nerdy' girl will wear classes and oversized clothing with her hair pulled back.

The characters in 'Not Another Teen Movie' are typical teen film characters. You have the 'popular jock', 'desperate virgin', 'pretty ugly girl', 'popular mean girl', 'token black guy' etc.

These characters are represented by their costumes and locations. They are also characters that we see often in other teen films for example the film 'She's All That' has all these characters and 'Project X'.