Rebel Without A Cause (1955, dir. Nicholas Ray) was a box office hit and kickstarted the idea of the teen film. It tells the story of Jim Stark (James Dean) attempting to adapt to a new town as he makes complicated friendships with unstable classmates, bonds pretty girl Judy (Natalie Wood) and fights off bullies like Buzz (Corey Allen)

Typical locations of a Coming of age film include:

schools - canteens, classrooms, libraries and hallways are venues of some of the most iconic and important scenes we see in coming of age films.

Diners - Diners are an archetypal location used in plenty of coming of age films as a home away from home for our protagonists where they congregate and discuss the latest gossip and events in their lives.

Characters:

every typical coming of age film contains these types of characters:

Badboy - a typically attractive however tired-looking boy known for their law-breaking background and two fingers up to society attitude

The princess - She is the popular mean girl who gets what she wants not out of merit or principle but simply because she wants it. Every boy wants her and every girl wants to be her.

the geek - big glasses and a bigger brain this character will take school outside of the building and will put in the extra hours to make sure they get As in everything when they're not playing D&D or watching star wars.

The comic relief - this character (typically the sidekick of the protagonist) acts as comic relief, something for us to point and laugh at, not with. However, they come in handy whenever our protagonists are going through a crisis.

The Jock - a paralell of The Princess, this character is typically a sporty popular person who also typically gets what they want, not based on merit but because they want it.

The loner - These kids are the weird ones. They don't speak much when they're not in their groups.They pride themselves on not following the crowd and very selective about who they're friends with.

With the rise of the MeToo movement two of the most questionable conventions that have been under fire are The Princess and The Jock. The princess character is selfish, greedy, rude. She is typically seen as a lazy person who relies on daddy's credit card for everything, as well as that she is also seen as someone who can't care for themselves and are seen as stupid. Not only that but they also seem to commonly have a plotline revolving around their sex life. Now although this isn't irrelevant as sex is something coming-of-age films are meant to touch on, the princess is often put in a situation where she is publicly shamed for sex or having sexual desires. A perfect example of this is the Madonna/whore complex in The Breakfast Club (1984, Dir. John Hughs). The premise of the complex is that the sexuality of the princess is essentially a double edge sword in which if she has had sex then she is a whore however if she hasn't had sex she is a prude.

Sierra is at the bottom of the pecking order in high school popularity, she is ignored by boys and subject to offensive and grotesque comments about her weight from fellow classmates. There is a conversation to be had about how High school is no more than a knock off Paris fashion week and how the attractive ones are usually more popular and have more attention paid to them than the less attractive ones.

Towards the end of the film, Sierra is caught out for everything that she has done and when you think she might actually have to face repercussions for her actions the entire film makes a 180-degree turn and Jamey falls for Sierra, the watered-down rapist (I'm still convinced he's a case of stockholm syndrome). This film is incredibly damaging as it romantises so many manipulative and down right illegal exploitation; not only that but consider it's target demographic being teenage girls.

The jock trope is quite often seen as the masculine equivilant of the princess trope. A popular, attractive, tall boy who gets what he wants because he wants it. We see quite an innocent example of that in The Breakfast club in form of Andrew. A popular athlete who is constantly fighting the pressure of having to be the best. However not so innocent, and occasionally more realistic examples have been seen in the form of Bryce Walker from 13 Reasons Why, a rich daddy's boy who gets in serious trouble after sexually assaulting countless girls.

We can't pretend that athletes haven't gotten themselves in trouble with sexual harassment before. They're charming and attractive and aren't used to hearing the word 'no'. So when a 'challenge' arises they'll be sure they get what they want and this is showed through the character of Bryce Walker quite well. But does that mean it's ethical to show these types of behaviors or to stereotype all jocks as these rapey steroid taking psychopaths? I think not.

In the 3rd and final season of 13 Reasons Why a confusing 180° turn is taken as they actually try to turn Bryce into a good guy. They attempt (keyword being attempt) to try and make him into the sympathetic redeemable character. Now this could be done if lets say he had been caught taking steroids or was just a serial liar or exposed someones secrets. But no. He was a rapist who affected multiple girls in ways that will leave a mark forever.

Bryce isn't the only jock that is guilty of these crimes. Montgomery De La Cruz is another character who has been known for his sexual misconduct after he is at the forefront of what could only be considered a gang rape of Tyler Down. This was mindblowing to the audience as not only do we see the continuous and relentless reign of jocks over the nerdy kids but we actually see what is a man on man rape which not only happens a lot more than we are led to believe but we also see the nonchalant attitude Monty has about the event throughout the rest of the show.

Best friends have always existed in films. From Harry, Ron and Hermione from Harry Potter; Graeme and Clive from Paul, or Buzz and Woody from Toy Story. They hold a main-character-like status and keep our true protagonists on the right path as they evolve and change over their character arc, while also having their own development. However, one thing I have noticed throughout many films that include a best friend duo is that the best friend typically seems to be one of three things: overweight, LGBTQ+, or an ethnic minority. This is a serious issue that I intend to break down thoroughly tackling each subsection individually.

Originating in the early 2000s the appearance of gay men in film and tv usually took place in the form of the GBF (Gay Best Friend). "Too gay to function" Damien from Mean Girls and Stanley Tucci in The Devil Wears Prada, the GBF plays the sidekick to the pretty woman who offers emotional support and fashion tips. This offered a form of metaphorical castration for the characters, they'd never been seen as some sort of sexual desire for the leading lady (which suggests the idea that any man could be a sexual instrument for the lead, which carries its own issues) their character is harmless as their as comic relief for the straights. This does nothing but harm for young queer audiences who see what Is meant to be their representation as what exactly? A bumbling, flamboyant fool that has no nuance or intricacy to the story.

The funny fat friend trope is exactly what it says on the tin. It's the friend of the protagonist who is, you guessed it, funny and fat. Their humour tends to revolve around their weight and how overly aware they are, by making references such as how they're always hungry in a self-mocking tone. This is typically a method of adding an extra layer of realism and less discrimination without actually making the main character fat (god forbid someone being overweight, sarcasm). The fat friend is typically a female which raises concerns about how we are making the young women of the future see how they see themselves. If you're skinny then you're attractive, if you're fat well at least you're funny. That is dangerous.

The racist stereotype Hollywood won't drop; the magic black character, broken down by legendary director Spike Lee, is a character with no history; no past, no future, no plot. Their only purpose is to help out the white protagonist when they're in a sticky situation and disappear again. They usually lack much depth or character building and seemingly only exist to add mystique or ambiance for the protagonist. This is highly controversial and just plain and simply racist. This trope has always existed however was recognised by spike lee when he coined the term "Magical Negro." He said in 2001 he was frustrated that executives were continuing to employ the stereotype, naming and shaming "The Green Mile" (1999) and "The Legend of Bagger Vance" (2000). Both these films contain very obvious examples of the magical black character extremely unapologetically.