Throughout history various cultures have conducted rites of passage, initiating their younger members into the customs of their society, marking the transition between childhood, adolescence and adulthood. This transition often marks their full acceptance into a given group and is a clear turning point in their lives, from which point on it changes, often radically. In modern times and particularly in Western cultures many of these formal ceremonies have fallen by the wayside - in their absence it is often up to the individual to figure out their own way in life, sometimes with school proms or fraternities marking a point of transition, and sometimes without any clear event to mark the occasion. Left to our own devices, the process can be a difficult time for anyone, as we struggle to redefine ourselves in the adult world and forge ourselves a new path in life. Thankfully we were raised with films which addressed the many issues we faced as children growing into young adults; movies which reflect the many challenges we faced, whether it was becoming aware of our adolescent sexual urges, fitting in amongst our peers or recognizing our own individuality. The following 20 films are some of the best coming-of-age movies in recent years, which speak to something universal about what it means to emerge from childhood and become an adult.
20. Fast Times At Ridgemont High
Amy "Clueless" Heckerling's directorial debut based on a script by a young Cameron Crowe, who went undercover in a high school for Rolling Stone magazine, Fast Times at Ridgemont High is perhaps the coming-of-age teen comedy which kick-started them all. Featuring an ensemble cast of now-familiar faces, it also launched the careers of some of Hollywood's best known actors. Spanning a year in the lives of students at the titular school, Fast Times... deals with everything from drug use and low self-esteem to peer pressure and dealing with authority figures - in short, everything that sums up the expression "teenage angst". It's also very funny, with a sharp script matched by fine performances from Phoebe Cates, Forest Whitaker, Eric Stoltz and the excellent Sean Penn (proving he's more than capable of handling comedic roles). It also definitely caused more than a few copies of the VHS rental version to seize up at a certain points thanks to adolescent males hitting the pause button during the nude scenes.
