Youth--Movies About Being Young / Coming of Age

Cropped screenshot of Judy Garland from the trailer for the film The Wizard of Oz. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The films that I'll be listing in my April postings may not necessarily be films that I'd call my favorite films, but they will be favorites in the genres I'll be naming.   The A to Z genres are very specific micro genres as opposed to the broader genres like action, romance, or comedy.

        This category is huge.  In fact it probably could cover more than one category, but being for the letter 'Y' I'll just say this micro-genre will be about being young--anything from childhood to teens.

         Some of my favorites may be yours too, but if I missed one of your favorites tell us about it in the comments:

Heidi (1937)--There are so many Shirley Temple films that I could put on this list, but I'll pick just one.  They used to show this on television every year when I was a kid and I never missed a showing.

The Wizard of Oz (1939) --Judy Garland was a teenager when she made the film that would become one of the most beloved of all time.  It's the story of a young Kansas girl who gets carried away by a tornado to the Magical Land of Oz where she meets a truly memorable array of characters.

The Exorcist (1973)--Innocent young girl becomes possessed by devil and priest is brought in to perform exorcism.  One of the scariest films ever.  This was a huge box-office hit and has continued to make money with releases and spin-offs.  Not for the kids or the highly sensitive.

E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)--One of best science fiction-fantasy stories about kids.  This film by Steven Spielberg is ideal family viewing.

The Goonies (1985)--The ultimate adventure with kids searching for a stash of pirate treasure.  A great film with an excellent cast.

 Stand By Me (1986)--Based on a Stephen King story, the film tells about a group of boys who trek along a railroad track to find the body of a missing boy who was struck by a train.  Funny and sad--one of the best coming of age stories.

Cinema Paradiso (1988)--Boy befriends projectionist in local theater and learns to love movies.

Home Alone (1990)--Kid accidentally gets left behind when the family goes on vacation leaving him to fend off bumbling burglars.  Funny film that spawned a series of sequels.

My Girl (1991)-- A sweet film about a girl who lives in a funeral parlor with her single father who is the mortician.  A story of death and first love.

Almost Famous (2000)-- Inspired by the real life story of rock journalist Cameron Crowe, this film tells the story of a 15 year old hired by Rolling Stone magazine to tour with a popular rock group  and write an article about it.

Juno (2007)-- Sixteen year old becomes pregnant and has to decide what to do about it.

        What other films about youth can you name?   Which on my list are your favorites?   Is there a youth movie that you particularly relate to in your life?

          Are you ready for the Blogging from A to Z Challenge Reflections Post?   Starts Friday May 3rd with the list open for a week.   For more information go to the A to Z Blog.

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My Mom's a Dancer

           Lois Kay Trevillian was born a year after Shirley Temple.  When Lois was a small child Shirley Temple was the rage of the nation.  Parents of little girls across the country dreamed of their child becoming the next Shirley Temple and little girls idolized her.  Lois was one of those girls.  I've often heard about this because Lois Kay Trevillian is my mother.

          The other day as I was talking on the phone with my mom, she was reminiscing about some of her experiences in her life and happened to mention in passing, "I should write a book!"  This immediately caught my interest and I encouraged her that she should.  She began to back down on the idea.  My mom's not too big on writing these days.  I told her that if she would just write down things in a rough draft, I would write the book for her.  I was fired up about it, but she wasn't.  Maybe I can just start writing things down and maybe come up with a good memoir someday.  It's funny, she's told me stories recently that I'd never heard before and I've known this lady for 59 years.

          Ever since I can remember she has told stories about her childhood aspirations as a Shirley Temple wannabe.  My mom started taking dance lessons at the Virginia Chittum Dance Academy in Morgantown, West Virginia when she was about five years old.  This undoubtedly was a tough sacrifice for her parents as this was during the Great Depression.  Her parents must have seen some special talent in their daughter and believed that she could be a dancer.  My grandmother used to show me pictures of my mother in her dance costumes and she did look a bit like Shirley Temple.  My mother said she even won a few Shirley Temple look-alike contests.

          As the years went on my mother continued studying tap dance and acrobatics. My favorite memory that she would share with me when I was young was how, when she was a teenager, she and some of the other older students accompanied their dance teacher, Virginia Chittum, to New York City.  I recall being fascinated as she described going to Coney Island.  They also attended  a Radio City Music Hall performance of the Rockettes, who had become the aspiration of the young dancers.

          Lois Kay, which was her stage name, began making a name for herself in her hometown of Morgantown as a tap dancer who also incorporated feats of acrobatics into her numbers.  She continued her dance career after she began attending the University of West Virginia. One her fellow students at the university whom she started appearing on the same stage with was Don Knotts, the actor who is most remembered as bumbling sheriff's deputy Barney Fife on the Andy Griffith Show. 

         Another performer with whom she would often work was a juggler by the name of Bob Jackson.  Bob was a very popular player on the West Virginia University Mountaineers basketball team.  Crowds loved Bob's performance on the basketball court as he would incorporate his juggling moves into his playing ala Harlem Globetrotters.  As fate would have it, Lois and Bob fell in love and after college continued pursuing their show biz dreams.

         My mother continued to perform her acrobatic tap dance act and the duo would get booked on shows in night clubs in the Cleveland, Ohio area where they had settled.  As she had her children--first me and then my sister-- she danced less and learned to juggle.  My mom and dad worked up a fast paced juggling team act that was always quite a hit on the shows where they performed.  My mom no longer tap danced, but she continued to perform her perilous balancing act on two folding chairs.  Eventually when my sister got older she took dance lessons and took over the act that my mother had been doing.

         After my siblings and I became adults and left home and no longer worked in the juggling act with my parents, my mom and dad continued to work the duo act they had started with.  My father juggled almost to the day he died of pancreatic cancer at age 67.  Toward the end, in a morphine induced delirium at the hospital, I recall him confusedly talking to my mother about their juggling act as he believed they were getting ready to perform.

       At age 80, my mother no longer dances, but she loves the television dance shows like Dancing With The Stars and So You Think You Can Dance.  And she can still tell a pretty good story when she wants to. Before he died, my father wrote his memoir, which is now in my possession, and which I hope to gather together with photographs so I can do a self-publication in the coming year.  I hope that my mother has many more years ahead of her, but I also hope she might reconsider that memoir idea.  She's got a great story to tell.

        I'm sure that there are many communities like the one where I live where free or nominally priced classes are offered to people who want to learn about or get help with writing their memoirs.  A memoir is a great thing to leave to children, grand-children, and beyond.  I know that several readers have written their memoirs.  If you haven't yet, have you ever thought about writing one?   Do you have any memoirs that your forebears have left you?  Has anyone had any experience with self-publishing a memoir?  Have any of you taken one of the classes in memoir writing and how did it help you?  Let's hear about some of your thoughts and experiences.