Riverdale and The Dreaded Coming of Age Story
by GalaxyCollector

It was harder than I imagined to narrow down a topic for Riverdale, of which I am very familiar. It was hard because of how many issues and topics it covers with each episode. But when it came down to it, I knew there was only one thing I could write about and that's Riverdale's core.

When the first trailer for Riverdale was released, my daughter was actually the one to show it to me. She was excited to have found her own fandom, especially since I'd never heard of it. Her mother, the woman constantly on Tumblr and Wattpad, the one who writes her own stories about her favorite shows had never heard of Riverdale. Sure, I'd read the comics growing up, but this was set up to be very different. Or so I thought.

She watched me closely as I soaked it in. I even remember rolling my eyes at certain scene clips, knowing I couldn't possibly enjoy it. I saw it for what it was: a coming of age story. I saw no merit in watching that as an adult. I had already 'come of age', so what was the point?

It didn't help that my favorite show, The Vampire Diaries, was going off the air as Riverdale was emerging. I had sworn off those 'kid' stories and I was determined not to get involved. Another fandom was too much. I had enough on my plate. I was writing shows myself. There was nothing to be learned from watching Riverdale. Right? Right.

On June 16, 2018 (and yes, I remember the day), my daughter wandered into the living room where I was typing away furiously. Writing can be very lonely and I like to do mine with a thousand other things going on, so me being in the middle of the house wasn't uncommon. What was, though, was my teenage daughter wanting to be around me.

She often rolls her eyes when my pounding away on the keyboard gets too loud. She pops in her headphones and is done with it, but in my house we have a very simple rule for TV. If I haven't seen it, you have to watch the first couple episodes with me. If it's not too gory and doesn't have a ton of sexualized content, you're good. Binge away, my children. So, she sat down on the couch and pulled up Netflix without a word.

Then I heard her say, "Hey, mom. Can I watch Riverdale?"

I replied, without even looking up, "Sure, you know the rules."

She pushed play and I tried to type a little bit quieter so she could actually hear. I kept looking up every once in a while to check out the general premise and theme. It's Archie Comics with a twist. That I knew. But then something happened. I was asking her questions, fawning over Luke Perry and Skeet Ulrich, and we were coming up with theories as each episode drew to a close.

It wasn't even the end of "Chapter Two: A Touch of Evil" before I had tucked my laptop away and was fully engrossed in this new show. Screw what I said before! I was in way over my head. It helped that the adults in the show are guys (and gals) I lusted over heavily in my own teens. It gives me something to squeal about too.

Then I realized I was having fun and my daughter was talking about subjects she's never willingly given info on before. We discussed the differences between my young adulthood and hers. The issues she faces are similar, but with a whole new, dark twist given the advent of social media. She deals with more and more often.

This coming of age story showed me things I'd never thought to even ask about. I convinced myself there was nothing new to learn about the world my daughter is growing up in because it can't possibly be that different, but the list of ways in which it's the same is much shorter than I anticipated.

Sure, the situations Riverdale teens deal with are extreme. I mean, hopefully, my daughter never has to deal with her mob boss of a father. But I know if she does, Riverdale and Veronica Lodge have shown her how to handle herself. Sure, she'll never be investigating a murder. But if she finds herself without a trustworthy adult to confide in, Betty Cooper & Jughead Jones tell her it's okay to forge your own path and make them listen to you. My baby, who definitely isn't a baby anymore, has Riverdale to show her the way when things get a little messy and life gets way hard. That's what stories are for, even the more far-fetched among them.

We old people have decided everything for far too long. It no longer makes sense for those who will have to deal with our consequences not to be invited to the table. Riverdale teaches the 'kids' that you may need to make your own table.

It won't be the last of its kind. Coming of age stories aren't going anywhere, despite what some people will tell you. They can't because it's how we learn to navigate tough situations and people. It hasn't been so long ago that we were tuning in to watch a much younger Luke Perry deal with his friends and his home life. And the kicker here, folks, is that it's okay to like them. It doesn't matter how old you are.

Granted, we may not have needed the fancy technology and special effects to tell our stories, but we still craved the validation they provided. There were people in this world dealing with the same things we were. That kind of story doesn't disappear into the night and it's not a fad. Our teenagers will always need to know someone gets it, gets them. Because their parents don't and how can they?

I may not have grown up in her world, but I'm still her mom. And if she'll occasionally let me in by watching Riverdale together every Thursday, I'll take it. She'll be just fine with a whole new Scooby gang at the helm.

Is anyone else brave enough to watch their favorite shows with their parents?

P r o f i l e   S p o t l i g h t:

WattRiverdale
The ambassador-managed fandom profile created especially as a hub for fans of the hit TV series, Riverdale, and all that it entails. Discover contests and join Riverdale discussions.