The American Teenager

Ben Stein in TAS says of director John Hughes (Ferris Bueller's Day Off; Planes, Trains, and Automobiles; Home Alone):

The insight that will make him immortal... was that the modern American white middle class teen combines a Saudi Arabia-sized reservoir of self-obsession and self-pity with a startling gift for exultation and enjoyment of life. No one had ever thought to note that along with James Dean's sulky self-obsession might also come a shriek of happiness at just being alive.