The Coming Of Age Cinematic Universe

And The Adult Coming-Of-Age subdivision.

Whenever I am writing for this newsletter, I prefer the issues I publish to be… topical. Not in a “scrolling the Twitter Timeline to get topics” way, I think that’s the worst way to go into writing something. Rather, I simply just try to base my subjects on something relevant. A recent release, a recurring theme in the public eye, a subject matter that I have any particular thoughts on. It’s always been relatively easy for me to keep up with my minimum of two issues per month schedule for that very reason. January of the year 2023 has been the first month that I truly worried I wouldn’t be able to come up with a second topic. I didn’t want to discuss Oscar nominations because there are a number of Award Season Titles I have missed out on (plus my Diego Calva campaign mission failure is still a sore subject for me), nor were there any recent releases that felt required an entire issue dedicated to them…. I was getting a bit stuck.

I’m sure if you have read my Last Three Years issue, or have ever scrolled my Twitter Feed, you can safely jump to the conclusion that… I had some struggles in my upbringing. I wouldn’t say I had a bad childhood, I would hate to imply I had it worse than any other person, but… there was a lot of darkness. Despite this, I hold nostalgia close to me. With that darkness, I still romanticize the light. I reflect on the trips I was able to take, the games I used to play, the people I met who I can’t remember the names of but still left an impression in my mind. The calm within the storm makes it easier for me to reflect.

All of that is to bring up the topic of coming-of-age films! Films that capture the journey from youth into adulthood. It’s the only medium of art that, when done right, can capture the exact essence of emotion I was referencing in the last paragraph in a precise, specific way. Obviously no two people could ever have the same exact experience, but there’s still an inherent relatability to growth and reflection being explored on screen. It’s a genre uniquely universal in theme, even if the content isn’t relatable in itself.

I can’t relate to the journey Saoirse Ronan had in Lady Bird, but I can relate to the same angst and complicated dynamic she had with her mother at several different points. Especially the last scene of the movie (as shown above), I felt in such a deep and cutting way that I could write an essay about it on its own. On a surface level, I can not relate to any of the Little Women in Little Women, I was born two centuries after them, but I can still watch them at Christmas together and reflect on my own siblings growing up. I can still see Amy and Jo and know exactly how they feel about one another the entire time. That’s the thing about these stories, you certainly don’t have the same experience being shown on screen, but to some degree the theming can still be, and should be, striking and resonant… when done right.

That does bring up a common criticism, which is the lack of representation in the genre. There are some brilliant exceptions, see : Moonlight, Rocks, The Half Of It, but the general brand of this genre is quite… straight, white. That tends to reflect in a lot of the same tropes and beats being met in these films. At its average, there is a formula at play. Of course I can understand any given person’s inability to connect to a genre that, at its standard, does not include them. Why would they be moved? Nobody’s story is the same, but they sure do look it when you compare and contrast some of them. I, more than anyone, wish there were more Trans Coming-Of-Age represented on screen. I’d like to hope the genre is getting better at portraying a wide range of stories, but I do fear it’s still struggling at decentering the same narratives rehashed over and over again.

What still moves me about this genre, even at its most average and formulaic, is how it explores the uncertainty of young adulthood. The lostness that you can feel when you don’t know what’s coming next. Questioning whether you ever will figure it out, or if the lostness is all there is. In Little Women, when Jo says “I can’t believe childhood is over.” right before Meg’s wedding, before everything we know is to come, is one of those moments that I feel captures a universality in human emotion.

(Pictured Above : Film writer, director and star Cooper Raiff with Dakota Johnson in Cha Cha Real Smooth, Photo Creds : The New Yorker, Apple TV+)

Last year Cha Cha Real Smooth came out on Apple TV+ and… I did quite like it. Its impact sure has lessened on me over time but that’s beside the point. The journey at its center is of a 22 year old man learning to…actually start living his own life. Through the good and the bad. 

 

The film itself is a bit more poignant and deep in context, but you get the message. I am turning 23, and watching it made me realize that… You learn so much about yourself in your adult years. Not even just young adult years. Dakota Johnson and Cooper Raiff’s characters both learned a lot about themselves in the film’s runtime. The movie was centered on Cooper’s character and his relationship with the older, wiser Dakota, but the movie could’ve very well been centered on Dakota Johnson and her journey, while still being equally as effective. People are always going to be growing for as long as they shall live. The adult coming-of-age journey is very underexplored. This film was quite imperfect, but it sure exemplifies that point for me better than anything else I could name right now. Forgive me for my… vague plot analysis, it has been a while since I have seen this film, and I am also quite bad at detailing plot recaps.

My aforementioned Last Three Years newsletter is largely based around a quote from the film Young Adult, which though falls far from the “coming-of-age” formula, still helps show how there are stories with similar themes and journey’s to be told through characters of any age. Diablo Cody is the writer of Young Adult and if I had wanted to, this could’ve just been an ode to her pen. People complain about her writing style, fair, but she does the Character On A Growth Journey thing so well. From the most obvious coming-of-age classic Juno, to more arguable likes of Jennifer’s Body and Young Adult, to a motherhood journey in Tully. She has grasped the art of a protagonist growing into themselves, whether it be a teenager or a woman in her 30s-40s. I’m well aware the actual coming-of-age genre is focused on the journey from childhood to adulthood, but I believe the same journey can go for adults finding their footing in their existence just as well. I have grown a love for the journey of adulthood being explored on film, rather than just the journey to adulthood. Perhaps I might just be #adulting? Probably that, but this is my newsletter.

(Pictured Above : The final shot of Steven Spielberg’s Oscar nominated film The Fabelmans, Photo Creds : Twitter, Universal Productions)

Looping back to topicality and Oscar nominations, The Fabelmans was conceptualized around Steven Spielberg’s very own Coming-Of-Age. Unsurprisingly (but actually quite surprising to me, as I did not go into it expecting to like it very much), it is one of my favorite films of the past year! The best coming-of-age moments come in the third act. There’s a scene with the non-Oscar nominated duo of Gabriel LaBelle and Paul Dano near the end, I actually can’t find a clip of it nor do I want to be the one to upload it, so just trust me when I say it encapsulates everything I love about the genre in a single scene. Gabriel LaBelle is also just very good at this acting thing. The last scene, the shot I have pictured above, just cinematic brilliance. Steven Spielberg can really make a film, I suppose!

Turning Red is a film released on Disney+ last year, I’m sure you already know. Nominated for an Oscar for Best Animated Feature Film. You may or may not expect this from Disney, but it’s one of the most effective coming-of-age projects released in the past five years. There was discourse along the way, but the theming and exploration of the mother-daughter dynamic and the generational wounds made for a surprisingly heartful, mature, stunning project. Sandra Oh will always be famous, and the soundtrack is full of hits, but you already know that.

I was going to leave you with my very own Coming-Of-Age Movie Playlist…. But unfortunately, everything I listed was the Go-To Film Twitter Favorite Choices, and I felt as though that would get me… judged and ridiculed by everyone reading. I don’t want to get judged and ridiculed. Instead I’ll share a hot take. I would personally argue… Shiva Baby has some bones of a coming-of-age script inside of itself.

It doesn’t operate within the same formula, but that girl is an adult coming of age protagonist through and through. She’s also a good example of mentally ill bisexual representation! Thank you, Rachel Sennott, we truly appreciate your service.

Alright, so… in conclusion… Moonlight is one of the best films ever made! In case you didn’t already know, but you should have already known that. Ashton Sanders gives one of the best performances of the 2010s. Just wanted to end on a truth that should be universally accepted.