People say you should write what you know. When they say that, they mean you should pull from your own experiences or from something you witnessed first-hand. The writing may not be a direct interpretation of those experiences. It’s common practice for liberties to be taken in the name of an entertaining story. But there’s a foundation of lived-in experience, which helps to make the story that much more believable. If your story hints at the truth behind the your experiences, there will be some truth to the story. Audiences will be more interested.
Perhaps this is why so many coming-of-age stories have been written. All adult writers lived through the trials and tribulations of growing up. They use those experiences to colour their characters in a more realistic way. An immature child or teenager will find their maturity over the course of their adventure. It doesn’t matter if that adventure is fantastic or not. It will teach the character an important lesson and help them grow into the person they were meant to be. Or it will at least put them on the path to mature adulthood.
When you think about coming-of-age movies, you probably think mostly of teen movies. The movies of John Hughes could be seen as coming-of-age movies. Newer movies like The Way Way Back or Me and Earl and the Dying Girl could also be seen as coming-of-age tales. Not every coming-of-age tale is grounded in reality, though. Sometimes, the idea of a child or teenager maturing is used as the basis to tell a fantastical story. This week’s movie was one of those.
Legend of the Sea was an animated movie about sea dragon Prince Draco (Rob Schneider) finding his place among his kingdom. Draco and a couple friends were out playing with a magical orb when they stumbled upon an evil squid-like creature who wanted to usurp his father and take over the kingdom. As Draco tried to spy on the creature, he was captured as a bartering chip. He soon escaped and learned that he had to be a little more thoughtful in his actions so that he would be mature enough to inherit the throne.
Draco was very much the child or teen character that inhabits the main role of most coming-of-age stories. He was immature. His experience throughout the movie helped him grow. By the end, he had matured enough that he was ready to move onto the next phase of his life. His mistakes had helped him grow. It’s the same as many coming-of-age stories that push people through their most painful emotional moments, as they grow into someone more capable of handling the stress of adult life. He went from a more childlike character to a more adult character.
And to better represent that change, there was a major event that solidified the growth. Going back to some of the movies that people see more as the typical coming-of-age stories, there’s always some sort of important event that causes characters to see their entire lives differently. There’s a reason that they’re forced to move on from their more childlike behaviour and begin their growth into adulthood.
Me and Earl and the Dying Girl had the dying girl. Her death helped Greg, the main character, truly open himself up to friendship and love. He had been pushing those things away for so long, until he was forced to spend time with her when she was sick. When she died, he saw what she had done for him in her final days. He matured from his initial fear that people wouldn’t reciprocate his feelings and became a more trusting person, which is what he needed so he could grow up.
The Breakfast Club had the confessions. Each of the five main characters confessed to what they did to end up in detention, and how their lives had led them to be there at that moment. There was physical abuse, emotional abuse, neglect, and contemplation of suicide. Through sharing their backgrounds with one another, the characters discovered that they weren’t that different. No matter what cliques they were a part of, they could have similar problems going on at home. It was a revelation for each of them that would, hopefully, show them how to treat everyone better. It would, hopefully, keep them from making the same mistakes as their parents.
Legend of the Sea was blunter in its major moment. Draco, having returned home in the midst of a battle between his father and the evil creature, brought the magic orb along. He knew he shouldn’t be carelessly playing with it and slacking on the lessons his father wanted him to be taught. In that moment, the evil creature tried to kill him. His father sacrificed himself to save Draco, which was the moment when Draco really grew up. Literally. He went from a small Spyro-like creature to a large Gyarados-like creature and took out the evil monster.
Now, the big moment was his father’s death. That might not be what caused Draco to mature emotionally. That happened slightly before. But, to be completely honest, I had a tough time getting through this movie and don’t remember all of it. I remember that the death caused him to literally grow into a larger creature and that, as that larger creature, he was able to put his teachings to good use. So, although it may not have been the moment when he grew emotionally, it was the moment when he grew physically.
Legend of the Sea was a strange little coming-of-age story. It wasn’t as emotional as most of them tend to be. That could be because it wasn’t directed at the same audience. Coming-of-age stories are usually directed at teens who could currently relate to the story, or adults who already experienced similar events in their lives. Legend of the Sea was directed at kids. Of course the emotional depth would be different. Children don’t have the same grasp on their feelings. Not that teens or adults have a good grasp, but they are more self aware of their emotions. Legend of the Sea, being directed at kids, lacked the emotional punch of other coming-of-age stories, but added in the physical growth to represent it to a child audience.
Coming-of-age stories will never go away. There will always be a writer wanting to share their view of what it means to grow up. There will always be a director willing to craft a visual story around the writer’s words. There will always be an audience that wants to relive their younger years, through someone else’s eyes. All the parts will always be there. The movies will continue to be made. Maybe even more than ever, thanks to growing nostalgia.
Writers are always told to write what they know. Pick from personal experiences or experiences of the people they know. Adapt those experiences into a story. It might not be a direct adaptation. Liberties could be taken to tell it in a more entertaining way, or to tell it in a completely different setting. But writing from what they know allows a writer to connect more with a story, and the story to connect more with an audience. If there’s some truth to a story, an audience will find it and an audience will eat it up.
Now for some notes:
- There’s not a lot here. Rob Schneider has been in a few other Sunday “Bad” Movies. They were Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo (week 20), Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo (week 20), Sandy Wexler (week 231), and The Ridiculous 6 (week 344).
- Matthew Warzel was the only other returning actor in Legend of the Sea. He was previously in Parental Guidance (week 27).
- Have you seen Legend of the Sea? I can’t imagine you have. But if you have, what did you think? Leave your thoughts in the comments or get a hold of me on Twitter.
- You can also use Twitter and the comments to tell me what movies I should be checking out for Sunday “Bad” Movies. I appreciate any and all suggestions.
- Check out Sunday “Bad” Movies on Instagram for more bad movie fun.
- And now I want to preview the next post. I’m not going to say next week because this one is hella late and the next post should be up in a few days. Anyway, I’m going to watch a sequel to a movie I haven’t seen for this blog. This is usually called one of the worst movies, so buckle up. I’ll be checking out Grease 2. I’ll see you soon for that one.
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