Hi everyone. I rewatched a lot of the sacred texts from the 2010s recently, AKA the movies that went triple platinum on Tumblr dashboards. Today, I’ve made a round up for you here in case you too would like to take a semi-stressful trip down memory lane. 

I was thinking a lot about the coming-of-age media we got in the 2010s. The difference between teen movies in the 2000s and the 2010s is the shift in the drama from external to internal. In the 2010s, the bullies weren’t the popular kids who shunned us in the cafeteria. Instead, our biggest opps were often ourselves, our untreated mental illnesses, our childhood traumas that alienated us from other people. 

Teen movies in the 2010s have a distinct neuroticism to them that capture (or perhaps set in motion?) the changing perception of mental health among teenagers as something to be taken seriously. Many of these movies were adapted from sad young adult novels written by Gen Xers and elder Millennials, so it’s not like exploring mental illness was particularly new. However, these stories did fit in nicely with the rising interest in wellness and the growing fears of the internet’s impact on the teen psyche. I have a lot of other thoughts about depictions of mental health in the 2010s, but we’ll save that for another day. 

Our next interview about Tumblr is Thursday. Last week, I talked to pop star Jae Stephens, who ran the blog beyoncebeytwice. This week, I’m chatting with Nesrin Danan, photographer and ex-quality blogger. Subscribe to the Yapper tier so you don’t miss it. 

Content warning: This list includes mentions of suicide, cancer, and mental illness. 

It’s Kind of A Funny Story (2010)

This movie follows 16-year-old Craig (Keir Gilchrist), who is passively suicidal and spends a week in the adult psych ward. Craig’s main stressors are that he doesn’t feel like he compares to his cool best friend (who is dating his dream girl) and he’s worried about not getting into a good college. It perfectly depicts how small your problems are as a teen and how big they feel. It doesn’t minimize those feelings, rather it puts them out into the open so that they aren’t so scary anymore.

Zach Galifianakis, who plays Craig’s pseudo-mentor Bobby, is great in this movie. I also forgot Viola Davis was in this! I always liked how they broke the fourth wall in this movie. 

Other 2010s markers of note in this film:

• “Intro” by The xx plays

• Emma Roberts, who plays many film and TV roles iconic to Zillennials

The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012)

The quintessential teen movie of this time period. It made many girls fall in love with Logan Lerman, who remains beloved to this day. The film follows Charlie (Lerman), a high school freshman trying to make friends after spending the summer in the hospital being treated for depression. He befriends a quirky group of seniors, who help him figure out how to cope with high school and his traumatic childhood up to that point. “We accept the love we think we deserve” is a quote that is burned into every 20-something’s brain. When Charlie said it in the movie, it got a big round of applause from me.

The gifs that came out of this movie… you just had to be there. Also, I loved Ezra Miller so much in this movie — at the time and upon rewatch. It’s a shame they have hurt so many people in the years since the film was released. 

Other 2010s markers of note in this film: 

• Nicholas Braun, who has been playing the same kind of guy since he was a child 

• “Are you kidding? I love the Smiths.” A deep, anti-pop sentiment throughout the whole movie.

• “Things sound so much better on vinyl.” 

• Emma Watson’s character Sam has the coolest bedroom ever — string lights and band posters and vinyls.

The Fault in Our Stars (2014)

“You put the killing thing right between your teeth, but you don't give it the power to do its killing.” Righhhhhht. The platitudes abound in this one (thank you, John Green).

This film follows Augustus (Ansel Elgort) and Hazel Grace (Shailene Woodley), two teen cancer patients who fall in love and learn how to cope with the prospect of each other dying. I cried when I rewatched this, just like I cried when I read the book as a 13-year-old. 

Forget for one second that Elgort is a creep and Woodley is a freak, this was 2010s teen melodrama. They played M83’s “Wait” two times, that’s how dramatic it is. Willem Dafoe is in it, playing a weirdo as per his specialty!

Other 2010s markers of note in this film: 

• John Green book adaptation 

• “Boom Clap” by Charli XCX

• A peplum dress 

• Skinny jeans and Chelsea boot combo…

Me, Earl and the Dying Girl (2015)

I remember going to college and a lot of people talked about this movie. Another film with a teen cancer patient, another film that breaks the fourth wall. Greg (Thomas Mann) and his best friend Earl (RJ Cyler) keep a sick girl named Rachel (Olivia Cooke) company and make her a short film. 

Like a lot of protagonists during this time period, Greg is a bit of a loner. He does everything in his power to avoid being seen, to avoid disappointment, and to avoid making friends. He then has to learn how to cope after finally making a new friend and her getting progressively sicker. This is a very quirky and funny movie, all things considered. It’s probably the easiest watch of all these films. 

Other 2010s markers of note in this film: 

• Biblically accurate 2010s outfits (including, but not limited to: stripes and jean short with a pendant necklace, button up shirt with a denim five panel hat, studded hat, polka dot high-low skirt, Brandy Melville crop top and boots.)

Eighth Grade (2018)

Another hit when I was in college, an anxiety-inducing film about growing up online from the premier expert in doing so: Bo Burnham.

The movie follows Kayla (Elsie Fisher) as she navigates her last year of middle school, struggling to make friends while posting about confidence in her daily YouTube vlogs. This is truly a stomach-churning experience because it does transport you back to an adolescence online, in which you see your classmates hanging out without you on Instagram. The horrors!

There is also a scene in this movie where Kayla hangs out with some upperclassmen after shadowing her local high school. One of the high schoolers says, “She’s like a different generation than us,” and supports this statement by saying Kayla got Snapchat in elementary school instead of high school like the rest of them. This is so dumb but actually captures how I feel talking to younger Gen Z sometimes lol.

Other 2010s markers of note in this film: 

• Chokers 

• Snap filters 

• LeBron James Vine reference

• Cringe dabbing

• Buzzfeed quizzes

• Tumblr and YouTube GRWMs 

• Insane lockdown drills

Every Monday letter gets a playlist. These are songs to stand in the car — Perks tunnel style — to.

In this week’s playlist:

• Heroes - David Bowie

• I Know the End - Phoebe Bridgers

• Dreams - Fleetwood Mac

• Green Light - Lorde

• Sweet Disposition - The Temper Trap

• Iris - The Goo Goo Dolls

• Robbers - The 1975

• King - Florence + The Machine

Other things I want to share with you.

• The Met Gala starts soon. I’m most excited for Doechii, Dapper Dan, Zendaya, and A$AP Rocky’s looks.

• Lady Gaga broke the record for highest-attended concert for a female artist, with 2.5 million attendees. I love Gaga so much! Deserved.

• Benson Boone cracks me up with those damn flips. I’m warming up to him!