Edge of Seventeen: A Social Criticism on The Culturs of American Families

ABSTRACT

Literary works cannot be separated from peoples life. More over, literature has many functions. One of them is to be a mediator to show some hidden facts in the society trough the literary works. It is claimed as the best way to show the portrait of the facts occur, because it has no limit to explore, improve , describe, and increase the values in the society, and literary works, commonly, be based on the very free point of view of the men of letter to compose their works, and i t makes literature unhampered from any kinds of values.

Movie, as the work of literature has the function depend on its viewers. It can be, only, an entertainer for the viewers by the interesting content of story, criticism of the fact in the place and time where the movie isset, including the cultures, education, governmental system, and other kinds of social problem or matter taken as the theme in the movie. In other hand, a movie can explore and tell the viewers the real life, that may people have not known yet. And off course, this description is only an argument and a judgment of the movie maker to the life in the setting, as both, a member of the society and as a man of letter. But it is very common that the movies are ma de as the portrait of the real life condition of a current society.

The facts above are possibly true, related to the function of literature as mediator to explain the life in the literary works. It mirrors any kinds of social matters and problems based on the different point of view of man of letters and, off course; it m ay bring and create the different description too, even taken from the same object. It based what the point of each man of letter is focused on.

This research is all about the movie Edge of Seventeen, which tells and mirror the social condition of society in Ohio, United States of America in 1980s, and the researcher here catches the social problems in the cultures of its families.

As the result of this study, the writer presents some prove s that the current customs and cultures of American families, related to the behaviors and familys policies, create some negative and bad effects to the children as the next generation. There are some negative thing s found actually, but this study i s focused on the very dominant effects, i t is homosexuality as the deviated behavior of the main character, Eric.