new "youth film'?

[Melek Ortabasi]

Hi all,

OK, not film, but if we're talking about sweetly bittersweet stories 
about youthful collectives (of sometimes a strange variety), then 
author Yoshimoto Banana springs to mind. (Sorry if someone mentioned 
her already). In the literary world, she seems to have been the first 
(though I'm not sure of this) to cash in on the idea that young 
people have their own kind of society -- one which isn't necessarily 
sexy and/or violent. Many of her characters make their own 
collectives/families out of "found people" (as opposed to "found 
objects"). There is also a strong aspect of non-sexual love, often 
between young men and women whom we might otherwise expect to develop 
a more conventional romantic relationship. _Kitchen_, _Tsugumi_, etc.

Just a thought.

Cheers,
Melek
-- 
Melek Ortabasi, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Department of Comparative Literature
Hamilton College
Clinton, NY