I saw this and thought it a little unique as a Gen Xer. Many of these are a mash-up of different characters from Coming of Age or Famous 80s/90s/2000s movies from back in the day.
I guess, by default, we’re talking about teen movies, pr those movies about being caught between childhood and adulthood and not all of them were comedies. A few of my favorites, growing up:
- The Breakfast Club – A John Hughes classic, and one of the most famous closing scenes with Bender walking off the field with arm held high, with “Don’t You Forget About Me” playing in the background. Great dialogue and interesting backstories for each of the characters, complete with a final essay to Principal Vernon as an eff-you sign off.
Dear Mr. Vernon,
We accept the fact that we had to sacrifice a whole Saturday in detention for whatever it was we did wrong. But we think you’re crazy to make us write an essay telling you who we think we are. You see us as you want to see us, in the simplest terms, in the most convenient definitions. But what we found out is that each one of us is a brain, and an athlete, and a basket case, a princess, and a criminal. Does that answer your question?
Sincerely Yours,
The Breakfast Club
2. Stand By Me – Just a great movie with a great story, plus four unique young actors (RIP, River Phoenix), based on the novella The Body by Stephen King. When I first started to watch it I thought it’d be a snoozer, but the story just keeps developing and wrapping between kids navigating their confusing lives while also dealing with the power structure between older teen bullies and taking a stand for yourself and growing up, growing strong.
3. Napoleon Dynamite – I didn’t see this one coming when I saw it. It was bizarre, quirky, unique, funny, sweet. Watching Napoleon going from what appeared to be an oddball to realizing that his uniqueness is uniquely confident, while also standing up and banding with the geeks and outcasts of the school…to quietly achieve a place in the higher ranks of teen societal structures by getting everyone to vote for Pedro. It also serves as a reminder of just how damned goofy and insignificant high school could really be, and how I can’t believe I ever took any of it seriously.
4. Better Off Dead – A Savage Steve Holland film, this was one of my roommate, James’s, favorite films and we watched it too many times to count. The central theme is following Lane as he loses his cherished girlfriend, Beth, to the school hunk, who happens to be better a competitive skiing, and Lane goes into a depression while also trying to think how he can win Beth back. Enter a foreign exchange student, Monique, who rebuilds Lane’s confidence while also delivering the best line in the movie:
It also features Lane’s parents, who I can now better relate to, between David Ogden Stiers trying to connect with Lane – “mellow off, Lane!” – and his out to lunch mom, Kim Darby, who struggles with home meals, all the while his younger brother is literally winning at life, hosting models and building a spaceship in the house. And you also get Curtis Armstrong (think Booger, from the Revenge of the Nerds movies), who plays Charles De Mar, Lane’s advisor. “Lane, I’ve been going to this high school for seven and a half years…I’m no dummy”.
A few others I like a lot that fall into the category:
- The Goonies
- The Graduate
- Dead Poets Society
- Dazed and Confused
- Rushmore
- What’s Eating Gilbert Grape
- Sixteen Candles (yes, I said it again)
- Fast Times at Ridgemont High
- The Outsiders
So how about you? What coming of age movies do you like…did it give you pause and make you pivot in life, or do you enjoy them because they remind you so much of your own life?
Have at it Refugees, and have yourselves a great Thursday.