The Top 40 Teen Movie Protagonists

There was a time – a rather long time, in fact – when teenagers didn’t dominate the motion picture industry. Movies were made by and for adults, and typically featured mature individuals dealing with mature problems. Teen movies finally got a jump-start in the 1950s when lowbrow horror movies and cautionary tales about youthful rebellion made a splash, but it wasn’t until the 1980s that the genre completely exploded, driving the young to the multiplex to see teen movies that explored their adolescent daily lives in realistic, comedic and fantastic ways.

Nowadays, teen movies seem to drive the entire motion picture industry, but since the movies are still made by adults, their heroes don’t always seem to resonate with audiences of any age. The heroes of teen movies who stick with us speak to real issues teenagers deal with, and learn practical lessons that young audiences still can apply to their lives years later. The most iconic heroes of teen movies are fully realized characters like any other, even if they’re stuck in schlocky stories.

 

Related: 11 Other Great Back to School Movies

 

With the latest Hunger Games now in theaters, starring Jennifer Lawrence as one of the most inspirational teen movie heroes around, CraveOnline wanted to take a look at the 40 adolescent heroes who changed our lives, either by inspiring or entertaining or making us think long and hard at the tragedies that befall the young in a society that likes to exploit them, but not always treat them like real people.

Did we miss your favorites? Let us know in the comments. There are too many teen heroes to highlight them all, and what inspires us can be totally subjective. So go ahead and share the teen movie heroes that made your life a little better, one way or another, because that’s exactly what we are about to do.

 

Slideshow: The Top 40 Teen Movie Protagonists

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