Portfolio Project Genre #1 Coming of Age

Hey Blog!

Now that we are officially starting our Portfolio Project for Cambridge to grade, it's time to get serious. After getting together with my partner for this project, we came up with a couple of genres that we would be interested in creating within when making our film opening: drama, romance, rom-com, and coming of age—which I will be discussing in today's blog.

The coming of age genre in film was largely popularized in the 70s and 80s and features the struggles and wonders of adolescence, often highlighting identity crises, self-discovery, social taboos, first romances, and the "ugly slice of life." This genre often includes archetypal characters—the jock, the nerd, the popular kids—though more recent and/or indie films have strayed from such "universal" experiences to portray some other less common experiences, romantic plots and/or subplots, some type of humor dependent on the tone of the film, and a moral lesson or social commentary. 

Common plots in coming of age movies include:
- Identity Crises where these young characters are finding out who they are as they are first exposed to the "real world."

But I'm a Cheerleader (1999) discusses Megan's, the main character, sexuality as she is exposed to the different people, and their characters, in the boot camp her parents send her to.

- Self-discovery, where characters search to find their place in the world as they begin to transition into adulthood.

In Lady Bird (2017), Christine, a.k.a. Lady Bird, struggles to find her place in society as she attends a small private high school and wants to attend a fun college in the East coast, looking for independence from her family.

Because of these types of common themes, target audiences vary widely in age ranges, gender, and backgrounds. Growing up is something that everyone experiences and people tend to share many experiences that are portrayed in this genre of film. Though largely concentrated around the teenage audience due to our relatability to the characters, many adults and older audiences also enjoy films focusing on growing up as they can remember their own struggles and feelings during such era of their lives. One of the reasons I personally enjoy this genre so much is because of this relatability that I can feel to the characters as they struggle with growing up the same way that I am as I go onto graduate high school.

To focus on the "coming of age" experience, it is common to see many point of view shots that centralize the character and their perspective in their story, low and high angle shots that differentiate between the adults and teenagers in a story. Montages and costume design are often used to portray the growth a character and changes in their lives.

With such a varied target audience, film institutions target their teenage audience through marketing the relatability they might feel, but they focus on nostalgia and memory when marketing towards older audiences. Institutions will focus on the raw feeling that many young people experience as they begin to step out into a world that has such high and varied expectations for them and their struggles in succeeding and finding themselves. With deep themes, many film companies choose music whose lyrics and melodies reflect the intensity of the message the film is trying to project. 

One of my favorite movies within this genre I've already mentioned —Lady Bird—but here are other examples that are some great films reflecting the process of growing up, and are some of my favorites.

The Outsiders (1983) follows a group of young boys living in rural Oklahoma, and their struggles against a group of upper-class boys that teaches us about loyalty, loss, differences in social class and self-reliance.

Dead Poets Society (1989) takes place in a high-end, all-boys school where a new English teacher tries to reach his students through what is considered unorthodox methods. This film teaches us about rebellion against passion, education, and seizing the day. Carpe Diem.

Finally, Easy A (2010) follows Olive, a "clean-cut teen" who pretends to be promiscuous in order to improve her social standings in school. It teaches us to embrace honesty and self-respect over reputation or popularity.

Sources:
Maher, M. (2022, September 1). Coming-of-age films: Is the genre in decline? PremiumBeat. https://www.premiumbeat.com/blog/coming-of-age-films/
KnightWriters – Opinion: Coming of Age Can Make Anyone Feel 17 Again. (2022, November 22). Coming of age can make anyone feel “17 again.” https://knightwriters.org/perspectives/opinion/2022/11/22/coming-of-age-can-make-anyone-feel-17-again/
NoFilmSchool – What Is a Coming-of-Age Movie
Podder, S. (2025, May 20). What is a coming-of-age movie: Elements and examples. NoFilmSchool. https://nofilmschool.com/what-is-coming-of-age-movie
MasterClass – Coming-of-Age Movies. (2021, September 24). Coming-of-age movies: What is the coming-of-age genre? MasterClass. https://www.masterclass.com/articles/coming-of-age-movies
TheScreenAcademy – Teen Movies Genre (n.d.). Teen movies genre. https://www.thescreenacademy.com/knowledge/genre/teen-movies-genre