Before the 1950s, the teenager did not exist. Then, Rebel Without a Cause (1955) was released, and the film industry coined the troublemaking teen. James Dean-- bad boy, embodiment of teen angst, cultural icon --catalyzed the portrayal of adolescents on the big screen. A genre that began with a sexy wounded stare and an ever-present cigarette, has “widened in scope to explore themes such as mental health (Stoker (2013), It’s Kind of a Funny Story (2010)), abuse (Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012)), and LGBT issues (Blue is the Warmest Color (2013))” as Rebecca Zhang remarks in The Princeton Buffer.
Though exaggerated, the themes of coming of age films are effective; though repetitive, they are explicit. The elements of a teenage movie can often be examined through four major characteristics. The themes include sex and relationships, rebellion, highschool, and teenage stereotypes. The experience of high school and the events that occur there are a rite of passage for every teenager, making school the perfect backdrop for a coming of age film. Rituals such as prom in Pretty in Pink, and the shopping fantasy in Valley Girl, are often a staple. Possibly the most noteworthy archetype of teenage portrayal in Hollywood is The Breakfast Club, revolving around teenage stereotypes and the roles they play. According to Patrick O’Neill in his thesis investigating the 1980s Hollywood teen drama, “the dramatization of the role of the teen stereotype and its hierarchical nature is a theme which is consistent throughout the genre, especially from the mid-1980s onwards: the jock, the popular girl, the delinquent, the rebel and the nerd all pervade the films in various forms and manifestations, with The Breakfast Club being emblematic of this.”
Rebellion is a unifying topic throughout teenage films. There is often a generational divide with teens rebelling against adult authority. The adults are portrayed negatively with teachers being corrupt in The Breakfast Club and parents being unseen and emotionally distant in Risky Business and Ferris Bueller's Day Off. Adults are viewed as figures who prohibit and punish; contradict and control. In films like The Outsiders (1983) and River’s Edge, adults are abusive and violent, and, at times, are even worse behaved than the teenagers (O'Neill 8).
Sex and relationships are a crutial aspect in any coming of age movie. In the 1980s, the discovery of AIDS and the HIV virus drastically changed society’s attitude towards sex. This impacted Hollywood’s portrayal of casual sex and promiscuous behaviour. Even though a more celibate youth was being featured, love and romance were still major players in coming of age. This can be seen most notably in John Hughes’ Sixteen Candles (1984), Pretty in Pink (1986) and Some Kind of Wonderful (1987). Now, teen movies focusing on sex and relationships are looking at sexuality very differently. Anying Guo discusses the role of self awareness concerning sexuality in the 2010 movie Easy A. She states that the film’s protagonist’s cocky and blasé tone contained a level of assured self-awareness about sex that many American coming-of-age movies have yet to accomplish.
Today’s coming of age films are moving away from conventional themes for more relatable and real narratives. Movies like Eighth Grade ditch the shiny idealistic gloss of The Breakfast Club for the painfully awkward subtleties of being in middle school and becoming “womanly” (Holderbaum). In her article on Mxdwn Movies, Natalie Holderbaum realizes “this recognition of the teenage hardships is important for representational purposes, as it teaches kids to grow up without the impractical expectations pushed forward by classical Hollywood narratives. Rather, they will understand that what they’re going through is normal, andsomething they could potentially connect with others over.” Where are coming of age movies going? In short, they are constantly changing with the times. It’s fascinating how the genre all about self discovery, is still discovering itself.