Geek Jock

In his essay, High-School Confidential: Notes on Teen Movies, David Denby asks whether genre films reflect reality.  Throughout his essay, Denby points out the ways that the teen movie genre reflects the high-school hierarchy and the ways that geeks always end up on top.  Denby is correct in his observations but I would like to expand whether these typical hierarchies actually reflect reality. 

Obviously there does exist cliques in high-school that can often times be very rigid.  If, however, as Denby writes, teen films are written by geeks in order to put geeks on top and show the world that "geeks rule!", then its very likely that the representation of high-school hierarchies themselves are greatly exaggerated in order to over-emphasize the sense of smallness that the geeks feel.  In other words, are jocks really so dumb?  Are cheerleaders really so petty and shallow?  Are geeks really so victimized?

In my opinion, teen-films don't reflect the reality of high-school hierarchy.  High-School hierarchies are much more fluid and undetermined than teen-movies portray.  For example there are plenty of premier athletes who also have 4.0 GPA which means that they value high quality school work, are interested in their subjects, and spend a good amount of time doing work.  Does the fact that a person is a premier athlete make them a jock, or does the fact that they are devoted to learning make them a geek?  Can't a geek and a jock be friends without any social awkwardness?  The answer is a definite yes.  They can and they are.  

The reason for this unrealistic portrayal of high-school hierarchies is most likely a product of plot driven characterization and a need to exaggerate the angst and loneliness of the typical "geek" protagonist.  By portraying an environment with clearly defined roles it's easy for the viewer to quickly pick up on the main character's motives and feel sympathy for him.