First published in 1951, J.D. Salinger’s seminal The Catcher in the Rye has been the hallmark for modern alienation and teenage rebellion, following the eccentric experiences of jaded and arrogant New York teenager Holden Caulfield. Last January, the American author died so it is only appropriate to reconsider the way in which filmmaking novices and pretenders have recreated the work’s caustic, unsympathetic tone for generations of cinemagoers.

The Graduate

Broadway star Mike Nichols marked a new kind of cinematic antihero with the casting of shambling and edgy New York Jewish stage performer Dustin Hoffman as the lead, Benjamin Braddock. After earning his bachelor’s degree at an unnamed Californian University, the driftless and awkward Braddock has no foreseeable plans for the future, sleeps with his father’s friend Mrs. Robinson and eventually finds purpose in the Robinsons’ overprotected daughter, the bland and insipid Elaine. The brazenly satirical and antiestablishment The Graduate is one of the most culturally significant films of the 20th Century, although its impact lessens after repeat viewing.

The Ice Storm

Taiwanese filmmaker Ang Lee balances the idealistic liberation of Mike Nichol’s subversive and ironic ‘60s with the darker, cynical decadence of ‘70s America. As the Vietnam War and the Watergate scandal engulfs the ‘70s landscape, smart and sensitive teenager Paul Hood (Tobey Maguire) uses Marvel comics to explain the indulgence of his family’s sexual experimentation. Meanwhile, his sarcastic, derisive 14-year old sister performs a caustic, vitriolic Thanksgiving grace in which she thanks God “for letting us white people kill all the Indians and steal their tribal lands.” Far more lyrical and deftly sympathetic than The Graduate’s simple arrogance and smug superiority, Lee and screenwriter James Schamus makes adroit, subtle parallels between two generations thrust into the metaphorical and literal tragedy of The Ice Storm.

Daria

A spin-off of the iconic MTV series Beavis and Butt-head, the animated Daria became the poster girl for Generation X slackers. Set in the fictional suburban of Lawndale, the MTV show followed the experiences of two jaded, cynical teenagers as they navigate their way through the rampant consumerism of contemporary culture. Like Salinger, creators Glenn Eichler and Susie Lewis merge intelligent allusions to modern adolescence with the ongoing struggle of a young American attempting to find themselves in a world without parental guidance, a landscape wherein the adults imprison themselves in their self-imposed trauma, like Daria’s ex-radical parents or her emotionally disturbed teachers.

Rushmore

Bright, open and precocious, Rushmore’s Max Fischer is the anti-Holden Caulfield. Although he is not an especially academic student, the gifted Max revolves his life around Rushmore Academy’s extracurricular activites until he falls for the beautiful and unatainable elementary school teacher, Rosemary Cross. Director Wes Anderson and co-writer Owen Wilson beautifully convey the richness of Max’s understated pain as well as his petulant immaturity; they sympathise with his adolescent anguish whilst recognizing the fanatical egotism of his unrequited infatuation. Rushmore is still Anderson’s finest achievement, a beautiful, lyrically offbeat film in which adults and children inhabit the same ground, epitomised when Max explains the “secret” of life to middle-aged millionaire (and love rival) Herman Blume (Bill Murray).

American Beauty

Hardly a teenager, Lester Burnham is the kind of faceless, soulless advertising executive that Holden Caulfield himself would despise. His wife is sleeping with an unctuous real estate agent, his teenage daughter does not respect him and he works at a job he despises with people that he cannot stand. His life changes, however, when he falls for his daughter’s sexually aggressive best friend. Lester begins to liberate himself from his suburban hell; he blackmails his boss, starts smoking weed again and buys trades in his Chevy for a Pontiac Firebird. Although Lester finds freedom in a defiance of a consumerist culture, American Beauty suggests that characters will only find true beauty in the unplanned moments of their existence.

Andrew Moraitis