Dirty Dancing (1987)
The Teen: Frances 'Baby' Houseman (Jennifer Grey).
The Trouble: Baby is seduced by the 'dirty dancing' of holiday camp instructor Johnny Castle, much to the consternation of her conservative father who wrongly thinks he got a colleague pregnant.
How Is It Resolved? Johnny defends Baby against her father's choice of seating arrangements, and wins him over by showing everybody the time of their lives with a Baby-lifting dance routine.
Sample Quote: "I carried a watermelon."
Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986)
The Teen: Ferris Bueller (Matthew Broderick).
The Trouble: Ferris doesn't want to go to school, so engineers an elaborate lie to avoid detection by Dean Rooney in order to give him time to spend the day in Chicago.
How Is It Resolved? Not only does he get away with it, but he earns the newfound respect of his sister and helps best mate Cameron to grow a pair.
Sample Quote: "Life moves pretty fast; if you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it."
The Girl Next Door (2004)
The Teen: Matthew Kidman (Emile Hirsch).
The Trouble: Matthew falls for the 'girl next door,' Danielle only to find she's a porn star, which puts him at loggerheads with her pimp, Kelly.
How Is It Resolved? Forced to make a porno, Matthew actually films a sexual education video that nets him a fortune, as well as the affections of Danielle.
Sample Quote: "In your heart you know, that the juice is worth the squeeze. That's what moral fibre's all about."
Splendor In The Grass (1962)
The Teen: Wilma Dean "Deanie" Loomis (Natalie Wood).
The Trouble: Deanie won't sleep with boyfriend Bud, so he dumps her for somebody who will put out. Meanwhile, she is nearly raped by somebody else, goes mad and is institutionalised.
How Is It Resolved? Deanie falls in love with a doctor at the mental hospital and is planning to marry him when she is released two and a half years later.
Sample Quote: "Though nothing can bring back the hour of splendour in the grass, glory in the flower, we will grieve not; rather find strength in what remains behind."
Superbad (2007)
The Teens: Seth (Jonah Hill) and Evan (Michael Cera).
The Trouble: On the last day of high school, they determine to lose their virginities - only to discover that their only passport to alcohol lies with a geeky classmate whose fake ID lists him as 'McLovin'.
How Is It Resolved? No dice. Seth headbutts his date; Evan's vomits over him; and the two have to patch up their friendship.
Sample Quote: "You know when you hear girls say 'Ah man, I was so shit-faced last night, I shouldn't have fucked that guy?' We could be that mistake!"
10 Things I Hate About You (1999)
The Teen: Kat Stratford (Julia Stiles).
The Trouble: Super-serious Kat doesn't date but she's under increasing pressure to do so when her dad bans sister Bianca from dating until Kat relents.
How Is It Resolved? Kat finds someone she'd go out with in singin' Patrick Verona, even if he's being paid to ask her out.
Sample Quote: "Expressing my opinion is not a terrorist action."
Gregory's Girl (1981)
The Teen: Gregory Underwood (John Gordon Sinclair).
The Trouble: Mixed feelings when Gordon is usurped from playing centre forward for the school team… only for his replacement, Dorothy, to be a hot girl.
How Is It Resolved? Gregory asks Dorothy out on a date, but it's all been arranged that he'll actually go out with Susan, a much better fit for his personality.
Sample Quote: "I feel restless and dizzy. I bet I won't get any sleep tonight."
Rushmore (1998)
The Teen: Max Fischer (Jason Schwartzman).
The Trouble: Fischer - already ridiculously over-extended with extra-curricular activities at Rushmore Academy - embarks on a quest to defeat classmate's parent Herman Blume for the affections of teacher Miss Cross.
How Is It Resolved? Max is expelled and gradually grows up, eventually helping to bring Herman and Miss Cross together.
Sample Quote: "Maybe I'm spending too much of my time starting up clubs and putting on plays. I should probably be trying harder to score chicks."
The Bling Ring (2013)
The Teen: Nicki Moore (Emma Watson).
The Trouble: Nicki's obsession with celebrity brings her into the orbit of the so-called 'bling ring,' giving her a taste for invading the Hollywood homes of the rich and famous.
How Is It Resolved? The gang is caught, Nicki does time and then finds a post-prison career as a Z-list celebrity.
Sample Quote: "Let's go to Paris. I want to rob!"
Teen Wolf (1985)
The Teen: Scott Howard (Michael J. Fox).
The Trouble: Hair sprouting in unusual places, bags of energy, howling at the moon. Runs in the family.
How Is It Resolved? Subverting the usual genre clichés, Scott doesn't hide his hidden lycanthropy but flaunts it, utilising his newfound sporting prowess to become a championship-winning basketball star.
Sample Quote: "You are an animal! Woo!"
