Overview

In The Queer Coming of Age Film Genre, Brad J. Windhauser argues for the existence of this genre and, using a genre and queer theory lens, investigates how the initial, classic cluster of this genre’s films represent the unique issues experienced by queer people – including trans, non-binary, and intersex individuals - coming of age in society in the mid- to late 90s. As society evolved, the book posits, so too did the ways in which these films explored additional factors influencing the queer coming of age experience, such as race and economic status, in the genre’s second stage. Windhauser explores how this genre depicts the way queer people often engage with the coming-of-age process earlier than their cis-het peers, due to their queer identity, but also how this process can extend beyond adolescence into emerging adulthood and adulthood itself. Ultimately, the book demonstrates how these films have become a tool to both further political goals of queer advocacy and acceptance and to offer guidance to queer people looking to gain a deeper understanding of their own lives and experiences. Scholars of film studies, genre studies, pop culture, and queer studies will find this book of particular interest.

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9781666949858

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Reviews

The queer coming of age movie is a beloved, necessary staple of LGBTQ+ culture that has effected millions of people: it has been inspiring, comforting, consoling and life saving. Confoundingly there has never been a history, or even in-depth analysis of the genre. Brad Windhauser's The Queer Coming of Age Film Genre superbly remedies that. Expansive in scope, astute in its analysis, and always insightful it provides readers with a wealth of knowledge and new, original ways to think about this important, vital body of work. This is an important addition to queer film criticism. --Michael Bronski, author of A Queer History of the United States, professor of the Practice in Activism and Media, Harvard University Thoughtfully informative. Key genre questions provoke our asking: how do queer kids ""come of age"" in light of milestones relentlessly, historically exclusive of their lives? How does film puncture our glib assumptions about teens and children while fictionally depicting them? This book's queries are urgent and enlivening. --Kathryn Bond Stockton, Author of The Queer Child

"The queer coming of age movie is a beloved, necessary staple of LGBTQ+ culture that has effected millions of people: it has been inspiring, comforting, consoling and life saving. Confoundingly there has never been a history, or even in-depth analysis of the genre. Brad Windhauser's The Queer Coming of Age Film Genre superbly remedies that. Expansive in scope, astute in its analysis, and always insightful it provides readers with a wealth of knowledge and new, original ways to think about this important, vital body of work. This is an important addition to queer film criticism. --Michael Bronski, author of A Queer History of the United States, professor of the Practice in Activism and Media, Harvard University Thoughtfully informative. Key genre questions provoke our asking: how do queer kids ""come of age"" in light of milestones relentlessly, historically exclusive of their lives? How does film puncture our glib assumptions about teens and children while fictionally depicting them? This book's queries are urgent and enlivening. --Kathryn Bond Stockton, Author of The Queer Child"

"The one constant fact in the unpredictability of queer life is that people keep coming out. The queer coming of age movie is a beloved, necessary staple of LGBTQ+ culture that has effected millions of people: it has been inspiring, comforting, consoling and life saving. Confoundingly there has never been a history, or even in-depth analysis of the genre. Brad Windhauser's The Queer Coming of Age Film Genre superbly remedies that. Expansive in scope, astute in its analysis, and always insightful it provides readers with a wealth of knowledge and new, original ways to think about this important, vital body of work. This is an important addition to queer film criticism. --Michael Bronski, author of A Queer History of the United States, professor of the Practice in Activism and Media, Harvard University Thoughtfully informative. Key genre questions provoke our asking: how do queer kids ""come of age"" in light of milestones relentlessly, historically exclusive of their lives? How does film puncture our glib assumptions about teens and children while fictionally depicting them? This book's queries are urgent and enlivening. --Kathryn Bond Stockton, Author of The Queer Child"

Author Information

Brad Windhauser is professor in both the Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies Program and the English Department at Temple University.

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