Just Wait Until You’re 19
There is a period of life, some may recognize as the transition to “coming of age.” The feeling of growing up, taking the move from one part of your life to the next. Where there is a definitive shift in self-identity, finding one’s “place” in the world, new perspective and understanding…
The emphasis on personal growth.
I can still vividly recall the first day of high school. The nerves, the excitement, combined into a 14-year-old version of me. The promise of good change was just a blink away. But also the addition of new responsibilities.
The idea of “deciding” what I want to do with the “rest of my life” was simply, extremely stressful. The impending onslaught of adulthood, once an endearing milestone to reach, is now followed by dread.
What is my place in this world?
There was a solution—a small one—I found in Coming-of-Age films. Their themes of adolescence and transformation acted as a hopeful direction. For in these films, the ‘feeling of growing up’ and moving onto the next chapters of life is the main concept.
One of the defining Coming-of-Age television series of the 2010s was the extremely popular series Pretty Little Liars. Drama fuelled by never-ending mystery. Love triangles, betrayal, and everything else that makes up an addicting plot. Additionally, the show contained injurious concepts to its intended young female audience. One of the main characters develops a relationship with one of her high school teachers, who recognizes that this relationship is an abuse of power. However, it continues throughout the series.
What is significant about this depicted relationship is that it was written with the purpose of encouraging the audience to have a positive reaction to the “ship.” Despite the young girls’ parents recognizing the absurdity of the relationship, the audience was left angry with their decision to intervene. In the seven seasons of the show, the team behind Pretty Little Liars asked fans to root for the relationship. Fans that included myself, and my impressionable friends.
An idea can be so heavily influenced by consumed media it engrains into self-identity. When watching characters transform into new versions of themselves, the audience can derive inspiration to put towards their own self-identity. The danger lies in what ideas are accepted by an individual. Especially an impressionable, vulnerable audience.
Coming-of-age is not always standing in the back of your friend’s pickup truck while “Heroes” by Peter Gabriel plays in the background. Not every coming-of-age moment happens at the same point in every individual’s life. This moment can be defined by religious or ethnic rituals, moving out, starting a new chapter of life etc. But we can recognize that as much as it is solely individual change, this process is affected by outside sources.
“With an increased maturity, and sense of self, I recognize what I believe to be morally harmful with a confidence I hope 14-year-old me would be proud of.”
There is great importance in the people who surround you. The morals you choose to uphold. Your reaction to different media. An abundance of ideas that will combine into who you CHOOSE to be. It is not without trial and error, nor does it occur in an instant.
There is a sense of nostalgia that follows the Coming-of-Age genre. When you can resonate with the character's moment and connect it to personal experience. In a period where personal development in every key area of life is happening, a sense of control can be lost. It is important to note again what we do have control over are the ideas we accept.
As a more developed version of me, I recognize the horrible concepts involved in the media I consumed during the times I was coming-of-age. That is the purpose of development. With an increased maturity, and sense of self, I recognize what I believe to be morally harmful with a confidence I hope 14-year-old me would be proud of.
There are ups and there are downs to engaging in life. Moments of intense emotion, or moments of numbness. But those moments are not infinite. After all, we are just floating on a giant rock, aren’t we?
Header by: Owen Doane
