THE VIOLENT YEARS

Paula Parkins leads a gang of bored young women. The gang's core members—besides Paula—are Georgia, Phyllis, and Geraldine ("George", "Phil", and "Gerry" for short).

The gang agrees to wreck a school as the request of a local criminal, Sheila. (The film implies that Sheila is in league with the Communist Party and their anti-American movement.) Gerry and Phil are fatally shot while fleeing the wrecked school; Paula herself guns down one of the cops. Seeking refuge from the police, George and Paula return to Sheila's, where they report their wrecking of the school. But Sheila, who never had any intention of paying the girls, attempts to have them arrested as "loose ends"; as she reaches for the phone, Paula shoots and kills her. A highway patrolman notices the girls driving Sheila's car and wearing clothes from her wardrobe. In the heat of the ensuing car chase, the girls crash their car through a store's plate-glass window; George is killed and Paula is hospitalized. Because Paula is a minor and therefore ineligible for the death penalty, the judge sentences her to life imprisonment without possibility of parole. However, Paula gets a reprieve of sorts...dying from the complications of giving birth to a child she accidentally conceived, either from the man she and the gang "criminally attacked" in lover's lane or during her make-out party with Sheila's fellow mobsters. The judge who delivered Paula's conviction also denies Jane and Carl custody of their granddaughter, based on the neglectful way they raised Paula.

The cynical tag line "So what?" is used repeatedly by the girls to underscore their uncaring, nihilistic attitude.

After a deadly police shootout and a failed escape, Paula is hospitalized and sentenced to life imprisonment, ultimately dying from complications of childbirth. Her parents are denied custody of her child due to their neglect.

The film closes with a bleak judgment on parental neglect and teen rebellion, as none of the main characters escape unscathed. Paula's demise and her parents' loss highlight the film's moralizing stance: unchecked privilege and lack of supervision can breed tragedy, leaving both generations to cope with irreversible consequences.