The Queer Coming of Age Film Genre

This book argues for the existence of the Queer Coming of Age genre, in which films reveal the unique challenges experienced by queer people during this time of their lives, positing that these films are driven by a political undercurrent advocating for queer acceptance and that they provide guidance for queer people to understand their own lives.

In The Queer Coming of Age Film Genre, Brad 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.