Christopher Hamilton

Instructor: Malcolm Campbell

UWRT 1101
September 9, 2014
A Story of Social Acceptance: An Analysis of Coming of Age Comedies
When it comes to movies there are plenty of genres for the average movie goer to choose
from and within those said genres it can break down and become even more specified subgenres. One of the leading movie genres that gross a lot of money is of course Comedy. Due to
its humorous nature Comedy has the ability to take aspects from other popular genre but the one
to look at is the Coming of Age Comedy. Usually rated R these movies are relatable usually to
anyone who goes see them, whether it be the main characters actions or mental state usually at
the end there is always some sort of self-revelation everyone can identify with. This genre
analysis shows the key aspects that every movie from this genre share and how they affect the
audience accordingly.
Conventions and Constraints:
The obvious thing every coming of age movie has is first misunderstood teens or young
adults. Throughout the movie there are an array of crude jokes and immature comedic scenes.
They usually dont fit in with their social peers and are usually socially awkward which adds to
the humor. Most of the time theres a girl/guy that is out of their league and sometimes their best
friend or the unfavorable person becomes the love interest at the end. Main characters go through
crazy situations in order to become cool or popular. There is always a party scene at some
point in these movies. One constraint however is during some point in the movie it goes from

comedic to serious tone when the character breaks down (this is before they accept themselves
for who they are or realize the thing theyve been searching for has been there all along).
Genre Purpose and Audience Expectations:
The purpose of Coming of Age comedies is to entertain of course. What few might not
know is that another purpose of the genre is to help the viewers look at themselves personally
and identify something they did not know. Example of how Superbad was so entertaining was
the movie is focused around two white teenagers but the soundtrack was like African American
Soul music. Im sure audiences were expecting the movie to be ridiculous due to the cast, title,
and because its a rate R comedy. Superbad however also surpassed audiences expectations due
to it having certain undertones about abandonment and losing a friend.

Superbad best achieves the purpose of being a Coming of Age comedy because while
having crude jokes and displaying the motive of two teenagers who are desperately trying to
have sex, there is a realization that there is something more important than that which is
friendship. The social and cultural context surrounding Coming of Age comedies are the ideas

that teenagers are required to do drugs and have sex before they become old or past their
prime. Perfect example of this particular context is the American Pie movie series. Also to add
to that the National Lampoon series as well.
Different Genre Adaption:
I would turn Superbad into a drama instead of a comedy. With it being a drama then the
audience can explore the darker side of peer pressure and bullying. A dramatic tone would turn
for example once a funny scenario of a fight during a party scene into a dangerous situation for
the main characters. Instead of crude jokes or immature scenarios to drive the movie, the movie
would be driven on the expansion of the idea of being isolated. The genres purpose will go from
the audience finding ones self to the audience sympathizing with the characters.