Peer advisors and RA’s will tell you that challenging courses, involvement in student groups, and time spent with friends are the keys to maturation and self-discovery at Washington University, but really, why not just watch some movies and complete the process vicariously? The period between high school and college is a difficult one in everybody’s life, but these “coming of age” movies will tell you all you need to know about growing up and finding yourself. From “Sixteen Candles” to “Rushmore,” coming of age films normally contain themes of young love, confusion, and rebellion, and more often than not they have great soundtracks. Coincidentally, these three films feature all those characteristics as well as gratuitous sex with older women. (I considered calling it “Sex With Older Women Rental Picks” but decided that probably wouldn’t fly). So pop in these videos and feel yourself gain experience and self-confidence without having to juggle all those extracurriculars or embark on a life-altering road trip.

Igby Goes Down (2002)
Starring: Kieran Culkin, Claire Daines, Susan Sarandon, Jeff Goldblum
Director: Burr Steers

In this witty, often saddening look at the life of an upper crust delinquent, Kieran Culkin (younger brother of McCauley) plays Igby Slocum, a high school dropout whose numerous family problems make Oedipus seem like Beaver Cleaver by comparison. His household is ruled by his ruthless socialite mother (Sarandon) and her henchman and obvious favorite, brother Oliver (Ryan Phillippe, who excels at this sort of “neo-fascist alpha male” role and nothing else). After a particularly brutal stint at military school, Igby escapes to New York City, where he meets college slacker Sookie (Daines) and a smack-addicted “artist” (Amanda Peet). If you can’t guess what happens next … well, it’s lots and lots of sex with older women, to be honest. I don’t think anybody doubted that one. But seriously, pick this one up; it’s “Catcher in the Rye” in the 21st century with cute teen actors playing the parts, with a breakthrough performance on Culkin’s part.

Y Tu Mam  Tambi‚n (2001)
Starring: Gael Garc¡a Bernal, Diego Luna, Maribel Verdu
Director: Alfonso Cuar¢n

Basically a teen sex comedy with finesse, “Y Tu Mam  Tambi‚n” (“And your mother too”) tells the story of Julio (Bernal) and Tenoch (Luna), two teenagers from different sides of the tracks growing up in unstable Mexico. The two spend most of the summer either loafing or drunkenly puking into street gutters until they meet the stunning Luisa (Verdu), the wife of Tenoch’s cousin. Hoping to impress the older woman, they dream up a fictional beach, La Boca de Cielo (Heaven’s Mouth), and are shocked when Luisa suggests they all go. The rest of the film details their exploits on the road in pursuit of a nonexistent beach. Julio and Tenoch explain to Luisa the rules for being a “charolastra,” or space cowboy (examples: no screwing another charolastra’s girlfriend, whack off as much as possible). In turn, Luisa teaches the horny teenagers tact and restraint but also opens up a new world of sexuality to them. The boys discover much about themselves and each other in the process. Equal parts “Porky’s” and “American Beauty,” “Y Tu Mam  Tambi‚n” pulls no punches in depicting the excitement and confusion of growing up.

The Graduate (1967)
Starring: Dustin Hoffman, Anne Bancroft, Katherine Ross
Director: Mike Nichols

This is it-the grandaddy of them all, the golden standard by which all subsequent coming of age movies are judged, the film that coined the much borrowed phrase, “Are you trying to seduce me, Mrs. Robinson?” and paved the way for MILF jokes. Featuring a young Dustin Hoffman as high school grad Benjamin Braddock, “The Graduate” follows Benjamin’s evolution from poolside slacker to seducer of older women to star-crossed lover. Infused with classic deadpan humor (“I’ve got one word for you: plastics!”) and a hip soundtrack by Simon and Garfunkel, Nichols’ offbeat masterpiece seems as fresh to us today as it did to our parents back in the 1960s. Shagging your girlfriend’s mom has never been this fun!

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