Rites of passage

I watched a movie yesterday, a documentary called "Don't You Forget About Me" It's about four Canadian filmmakers who are making a movie about the impact of John Hughes films on teens for generations and they decide to go to Chicago to try and interview him (he became a recluse in the 90's)

Several of the people interviewed in the movie (actors, directors, writers, regular movie going public) made a comment that watching John Hughes films is like a rite of passage for teens.
I do agree with that. For what it's worth I can recite the dialogue to The Breakfast Club and Sixteen Candles. (for the Breakfast Club I can recite the dialogue in both the original and edited for language versions)

Emily watched part of the Breakfast Club with me one time. Not all though, it was on the movie channel and therefore not edited for content. I did tell her though that one day she would be allowed to watch the whole movie, encouraged to in fact because it's just as relevant today as it was in the 80's. Teenagers haven't changed. And I have no doubt she will learn to appreciate the movie as much as so many of us have.

Which brings me to another rite of passage. Judy Blume. I have my old, ragged copy of "Are You There God? It's Me Margaret." Emily has just started reading it. I did warn her that it's a little dated, that Margaret has to use a belt to hold her maxi pad in place. But all the same, I remember so very well my love affair with Judy Blume books. I learned that I was normal because all the things I felt were the same things that Margaret felt. Admittedly I also learned a bit more than I bargained for. I remember the conversation with my mother, asking her what a hard on was after reading about it in "Then Again, Maybe I Won't"

I guess these rites of passage start early. I kind of like knowing though that there is this one thing we'll have in common as Emily gets older and, I fear, starts to pull away from me, the way teenaged girls do. It might be a silly bond but something to bond us none the less.