You’re all partied out, dude!: the mainstreaming of heavy metal subcultural tropes, from 'Bill & Ted' to 'Wayne’s World'

Brown, A.R (2018) 'You’re all partied out, dude!: the mainstreaming of heavy metal subcultural tropes, from 'Bill & Ted' to 'Wayne’s World'.' In: Bentley, N, Johnson, B and Zieleniec, A, eds. Youth subcultures in fiction, film and other media. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham, pp. 109-125. ISBN 9783319731889

Abstract

Brown explores the contradiction that a youth subculture at the centre of a mass-mediated moral panic was also the inspiration for a string of Hollywood movies, which placed the male-teen-buddy ‘metalhead’ experience at the centre of the narrative. The fact that such films are comedies might suggest the role of satire is to ‘make safe’ a troubling youth culture by simplifying and distorting it using established comedic conventions. But, as Brown shows, while the films do comically simplify the references to heavy metal culture, including argot, electric-guitar virtuosity, bands and fandom, they also articulate a form of ‘protest masculinity’ that subverts both plot and narrative, allowing the ‘loser’ male-teen-metalhead characters to triumph against hegemonic forms of male authority that are depicted as pompous and corrupt.

Item Type:	Book Chapter or Section
Divisions:	Bath School of Art, Film and Media
Date Deposited:	14 Sep 2018 15:11
Last Modified:	05 Jan 2022 15:43
URI / Page ID:	https://researchspace.bathspa.ac.uk/id/eprint/11448

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