Thirteen: The Age of Adolescence

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Thirteen: The Age of Adolescence Adolescence is the stage in life when you are no longer a child, but not yet an adult. There are many things that still need to be explored, learned and conquered. In the film Thirteen, the main character, Tracy Freeland, is just entering adolescence. While trying to conquer Erikson’s theory of Identity vs. Role confusion, Tracy is affected by many influences, including family and friends that hinder her development. Many concepts from what we have learned in class can be applied to this character from identity development, to depression, to adolescent sexuality and more. In this film Tracy is a prime example of an adolescent and much of what I have learned this year can be applied to her character. “Fitting in” is a concept that is seen a lot in adolescence. Teenagers will do pretty much anything at times to have friends or appear to be “cool.” That is exactly what happens to Tracy in this film. As the film begins, Tracy is a good, simple girl, and her pureness all changes when she befriends the most popular girl in school, Evie Zamora. Evie is very rebellious. She does not have a strong authority figure in her life (Levy-Hinte, London, & Hardwicke, 2003). The sweet, innocent young Tracy is soon to be completely transformed. Evie is vividly a bad influence on Tracy from the beginning, as seen when she influences Tracy to steal something the first time they hang out together (Levy-Hinte, et al., 2003). Stealing is illegal and considered a minor crime and turns Tracy into a delinquent (Berk, 2011). Tracy’s identity development is heavily influenced by her new friendship with Evie from that moment on. Evie is so popular, but she makes very poor choices and Tracy follows her lead because she wants ... ... middle of paper ... ...t this theory in development, Tracy must decide what is truly important in her life and head in the right direction. She still has a lot of growing up to do. Tracy Freeland in Thirteen is the epitome of a person going through the stage of adolescence. All of the surroundings you grow up in affect and help shape the person you become. In Tracy’s case, her identity was formed by her choices with her new friends, and how she chose to explore that new world. It can be seen throughout this film how easily adolescents are influenced by those around them when deciding the type of person they want to be in adulthood. References Berk, L. E. (2011). Exploring Lifespan Development (2nd ed.). Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon. Levy-Hinte, J. (Producer), London, M. (Producer), & Hardwicke, C. (Director). (2003). Thirteen [Motion Picture]. United States: Working Title Films.

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