Teenage girls rule

The success of recent films like “13 Going on 30” and “Mean Girls” would seem to indicate that Hollywood has finally taken notice of an overlooked demographic: teenage girls.

Of course, teenage girls have always been a part of the movie-going equation, but generally the formula works this way: Girls will not only pay to see lighthearted romantic comedies, they will go to movies about explosions, aliens and car chases because boys will to movies about explosions, aliens and car chases. Boys will not go to movies that do not involve explosions, aliens and car chases. Now that’s not written in stone. But box office numbers say volumes.

What’s new this time around is that there are suddenly so many movies about teenage girls, that actually give them more substance than just being the trophy girlfriend of the high school’s quarterback. The 1980’s gave the genre a jump start with films like “Sixteen Candles” and “Pretty in Pink,” but the field’s been preety open during the last decade. This week, the marketing machine that is Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, better known as the Olsen twins, releases the teen girl comedy “New York Minute,” which is sure to be a box office hit.

Why? Because legions of teenage girls have grown up right along with the twins, now just a few weeks from their 18th birthdays. It’s estimated that by the time they’re 21, their media empire will make them worth $1 billion. That market power is reflected in the unprecedented spending power teenage girls have acquired. Today’s girls are more consumer savvy than previous generations. Instead of having girlhood dictated to them by the media, they have turned the tables and are using their hard earned cash to dictate how the media should portray them. And they’re just getting started.

“13 Going on 30,” “Mean Girls” and “New York Minute” will be joined later this month by another girl film, “Saved!,” a comedy that follows a group of students that attend a Christian high school. Can you think of the last movie that tried to tackle that particular subject? That’s the kind of presence that this generation of teenage girls have built up. The good news is that Hollywood is finally sitting up and taking notice.