Well, this is a category I always thought I might start eventually, but I was never quite sure about that. It's kind of hard to define what constitutes "coming of age." You could check out Wikipedia's entry on the term, as well as its list of coming of age films. I'm not sure I necessarily agree entirely with either entry, of course. The latter might very well include movies I wouldn't include under that heading, as well as lacking movies I would. But hey, I don't know anything... I don't feel that I, personally, have ever actually "come of age." But I gather it can happen at lots of different actual ages. And of course, it can mean different things to different people. In any event, it seems as if such stories are usually things I might otherwise categorize as period pieces. I dunno why... perhaps the nostalgia of filmmakers... but these things tend to be set decades earlier than the movies were made. And, of course... the experiences tend to be largely negative, though some are moreso than others. Some might actually be good, and even those that aren't at the time, may seem less negative in retrospect. I dunno. But whatever, growing up is hard to do. Of course, it's not like these movies are about just one character, they all have lots of characters, of varying ages, and the events affect everyone, and may be viewed differently by each character. And they all have various things going on, so... the so-called "coming of age" may be just one aspect of the films, and I sort of feel like defining the films based on the experiences of one of the characters seems kind of oversimplifying the plot, or underestimating the importance of other characters, or whatever. But... *shrug* I dunno. I wish I could think of more to say.....

See also teen comedies