What does it mean to “come of age''? To grow up from naivety to maturity?

From childhood to
adulthood? At first I thought it was about overcoming hardships and challenges but, after
studying it in class, I think it is much more than that. It is actually also embracing positive
experiences and negative ones because it is both the positive and negative experiences that
define your coming of age. Both the positive and negative enable us to open our eyes, to grow,
to mature, to find our true selves and to better our place in the world. As Tablo states, it is “the
pieces of our youth”, our happiness, hardships and memories,” the small secrets and the not-so
great expectations”, the challenges of growing up, learning about realities, realizing that actions
have consequences, that all define coming of age.

The film, The Way Way Back, demonstrates the essence of a coming-of-age story, through the
physical journey serving as a metaphor for Duncan’s emotional journey towards his ultimate
growth as an individual..

The opening scene of Duncan sitting in a car facing backwards while his mother’s boyfriend
antagonizes him is highly significant. The fact that he is facing backwards is symbolic of his low
self esteem, how he is not part of the family, and how he is clearly unhappy. The close up shot
of Trent talking to Duncan through the mirror, combined with his persistent derogatory
question, “On a scale of one to ten,
what do you think you are?
I think you're a three?”.
This fills me with anger. How can a parent be so mean that they can completely destroy his
confidence and dignity? Isn’t a parent supposed to do the complete opposite of that? As the
camera switches to a close up shot of Duncan’s face looking miserable and defeated, we see
exactly how he feels.
This is followed by a mid shot of Duncan putting in Earphones, drowning Trent’s voice,
symbolizing his desire to escape his present reality.
The scene that shows the after effect of his coming-of-age process is the scene when Duncan,
Owen, Roddy and Caitlin are standing together happily and united at their jobs at the
waterpark. This exhibits that Duncan has finally been accepted into a space where he feels he
belongs. Working alongside his mentor Owen at the Waterpark makes him feel like the
expectations of a summer holiday are finally coming true. Duncan keeps his new friends and job
at the water park a secret from his family as a way of holding them close to this growth - as
opposed to having its idealism shattered by his mother’s judgmental partner Trent. The
technique is lighting and how this technique is used is that it is used to show the change of
setting and mood in Duncan’s life. By doing this it shows the start of the coming-of-age process
for Duncan and how life will look like for him in the future.
The second text that effectively conveys coming-of-age is the music video “7 years” by Luckas
Graham. The combination of black and white color images combined with melancholic music
and emotive lyrics conveys how he is looking back on his life reflecting on his childhood
experiences and how they impacted every stage of his life. The challenges of being a teenager
are demonstrated in his lyrics “ By 11 smoking herb and drinking burning liquor ” and we were
“never rich” emphasizing the things teenagers do without thinking about the consequences.
The idea of loneliness as a teenager growing up is also explored in Lukas’s song.
This screenshot of Lukas, lying quietly on the ground, with a man on a skateboard, as Luckas
sings “my mama told me, go make yourself some friends or you will be lonely”, contrasts the
static with the dynamic. This suggests that Lukas feels lonely in a world, trapped in a world of
apathy, where everyone around him seems to be content.
Where as `Duncan’s growth is brought upon by Owen, the growth Lukas describes is
brought upon by his ability to tell stories through writing songs, as well as his interaction with
whom he refers as his “boys”. The image above is portraying monochrome imaging. What this
does is allow background images to appear less prominent and to make the focal point stand
out. This motion image represents the happiness and brotherhood of that point in their lives.
We see this when he says-
“Most of my boys are with me
Some are still out seeking glory
And some I had to leave behind
’My brother I'm still sorry”
This quote displays to us that he is missing the life he had before which he had to leave behind
and this shows us how he has grown up because he moved on from that life and therefore
made a better life for himself which wouldn’t have been possible if he stayed in that
situation.

Both texts show how every aspect of youth, the small secrets the characters/protagonist
experienced and the assumptions of childhood that were challenged as they transitioned into
adulthood, all contributed to the coming-of-age. Both had positive and negative experiences and
they were able to embrace them, thereby deepening their understanding of themselves and
broadening their perspectives of life. However, I would like to leave you with one more idea to
think about. At the end of the song Lukas says as an adult “I’m still learning about life”
suggesting that the coming-of-age is a dynamic process. And that we should always be
growing, maturing because no matter how old you are, there is always more to learn about life
through the many positive and negative experiences we indulge throughout our lifetime.