Entre a realidade e a ficção: uma reflexão acerca das representações juvenis em produções midiáticas e televisivas da atualidade

Abstract

This study aims to examine how audiovisual media productions (such as films, soap operas, and TV and/or streaming series) aimed at a younger audience address and represent adolescence (specifically from 12 to 18 years old) through the narratives of their main characters. To this end, a discussion was held with a class of 3rd-year high school students from the Escola Estadual de Uberlândia, using a pre-defined set of questions and sampling two scenes from youth series, one from Euphoria (2019) and the other from Heartstopper (2022), respectively – with the intention of understanding youth through the lens of youth itself. Based on the information gathered during the discussion, this work compares the narratives of both series and the students' unique definition of being young/being an adolescent, in order to understand the extent to which these series represent real young people. Finally, this is initial work on the subject and, although there is a conclusion on the points presented, it does not exhaust everything that still needs to be researched and discussed about representation, identity, and youth.