Feature article about how the two texts taught in class explore the concept of 'Growing Pains'
You may find this hard to believe, but your parents may well be experiencing growing pains as you read this. Has your mother changed jobs? Have your parents recently divorced? They might be experiencing a major life transformation and suffering all the same emotions as you’re feeling as you leave childhood behind.
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By Chloe Lamb
Everyone experiences growing pains at some point in their lives… and I’m not just talking about your legs aching now and again. Growing pains are, in most people’s lives, the struggles associated with the transition from one stage
This really resonates with me as we all feel that we cannot possibly accomplish something worthwhile when we can’t even control our own lives.
The story of ‘Pleasantville follows a brother and sister from the 1990's who are sucked into their television set and
suddenly find themselves trapped in a black and white 1950s style television show. Here they have loving parents, old fashioned values, and an overwhelming amount of innocence and naivity which contrasts massively with
their real lives. Not sure how to get home, they integrate themselves into this "backwards" society and slowly bring some color to this black and white world. But as innocence fades, the two begin to wonder if their 90's outlook is really to be preferred. This clever plot really has you comparing which life you would rather have, it really places normality and the ‘perfect world’ next to each other and makes you consider the positives and negatives of both.
This plot compares to that of ‘Looking for Alibrandi’ as they both experience integral elements of growing pains such as the struggles associated with transition, internal and external
changes, anxiety and confusion, and finally powerlessness. I would recommend that you watch this movie as it is highly entertaining and we all love a good old bit of Reese Witherspoon! There are deep
Not all of you have been sucked into a television set like the protagonists in ‘Pleasantville’, however I am willing to bet that most of you have struggled with the transition you’re currently
undergoing and have experienced similar emotions to the protagonists of these texts.
In both texts, the concepts of growing pains are generated and shown through the all encompassing theme of growing up (including all the good bits and bad bits) and modern language that we can all relate to. Growing pains is a big issue… it’s always a big issue for people everywhere in the world because we all experience transitions and changes
that need adapting to.
If you feel that you are not coping, I would recommend reading these books:
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Catcher in the Rye by J.D Salinger
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Looking for Alibrandi by Melina Marchetta
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The fault in our stars by John Green
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The perks of being a wallflower by Stephen Chboksy
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To kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
If you're not a real reader, then most of these books have been made into movies too!
They are beautifully written and are all coming of age novels, therefore they are easy to relate to. In just thinking about what I’ve done today, I have experienced 3 of the normal elements of transition, as I am currently moving house. I have felt anxiety and confusion, I have struggled with the transition and I have felt powerless because no houses are coming up on the market
of life into another. Growing pains can come in all shapes and sizes but the transition that I will be focussing on is the one from adolescence to adulthood.
Growing up is not easy. It never has been and it
never will be. There is no manual on how to do it successfully and there is nothing worse than feeling like you have no control over a situation or your moodswings! The Royal College of Psychiatrists (RCPSYCH) has backed me up with this "The teenage years can be an emotional assault course for all concerned. One of the reasons many of us find it so hard is because it is a time of rapid physical development and deep emotional changes. These are exciting, but can also be confusing and uncomfortable".
There are countless coming of age novels and films, however my favourite novel is ‘Looking for Alibrandi’ by Melina Marchetta and my favourite film is‘Pleasantville’, directed by Gary Ross. In ‘Looking For Alibrandi’ the story focuses on a young adolescent called Josephine Alibrandi experiencing her final year at St. Martha's school. Josie has to overcome racial divides, complicated family troubles and relationships with two very different boys. Throughout the year she eventually accepts her ethnic background and becomes a proud Italian-Australian. The reason this story speaks to me so much is because, despite the novel being set in a different era, all the issues are still present and my friends and I have collectively experienced all of them, and have worked through them together.Josie says in Looking for Alibrandi “Living is the challenge. Not dying. Dying is so easy. Sometimes it only takes ten seconds to die. But living? That can take you eighty years and you do something in that time”.
and time is running out! This goes to show that everyone feels growing pains! Every single person you have talked to, laughed or even walked
messages hidden in this movie, which is part of the reasons that it is one of my favourites; a predominent message being the civil rights movement being modelled in the town.
... and I'm not talking about your legs ?
Our fave accounts this month...
@perfectsayings @healthtips
@bestteenmovies @teenhelp
Are you experiencing growing pains...
P.S. Don't forget to have fun! You're only young once...
past today has or is experiencing them and they're a complete bitch! However we all move on and live through it as change may seem scary but it is essential for life to move forward.