#12 The coming-of-age film comes home
MANILA, Philippines - In 2012, in the midst of superhero franchises that grew bigger and louder, nothing was heard more clearly than the coming-of-age film. In box-office hits as big as The Amazing Spider-Man, the superhero blockbuster made room for human-sized emotions, with Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone providing the pathos. In smaller films like The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Ruby Sparks, and Wes Anderson’s twee but enjoyable Moonrise Kingdom, teenage dreams and feels once again took center stage. And even in the local indie film festival Cinemalaya, indie cool gave way to a heartfelt narrative in the excellent Ang Nawawala.
What all these films had in common was the refusal to dismiss the trials and tribulations of adolescence — when nothing was more treacherous than the high school caste system, music meant everything, and there was nothing more important than the girl you’re taking to the dance. Growing up is hard, these films said, but it gets better. And sometimes, it can be magical.
“Because I know there are people who say all these things don’t happen,” Charlie says at the end of Perks, “and there are people who forget what it’s like to be 16 when they turn 17. I know these will all be stories someday... We’ll all become somebody’s mom or dad. But right now these moments are not stories.” And just like Charlie’s story, coming-of-age films do just that. They make us remember.
