By Danielle Reid
It feels like all coming-of-age movies are centred around surviving the last year of high school and finally graduating. The main characters say heartfelt goodbyes to friends they’ve known for years, the shy wallflower works up the courage to finally ask their crush to prom or the class nobodies hatch a plan to throw one last rager before going off to college. Things work out or they don’t, they graduate and the credits roll. But what happens next?
If you’re anything like me, movies aren’t just a form of entertainment, they’re something to turn to when beginning new life chapters. They get us excited, give us something to relate to and have the power to make us feel less alone. Here are 5 must-watch university movies and shows to guide you through your first year of university and get you pumped for campus life.
Felicity (1998-2002) – Series
If you liked the fall-time, cozy-academic vibe of Gilmore Girls, allow me to recommend to you, Felicity. Felicity Porter is a bashful, introverted girl graduating from high school. After her crush signs her yearbook with a heartfelt, “wish we got to know each other better” farewell, Felicity makes the impulsive decision to follow him across the country to the University of New York.
While I surely wouldn’t recommend following in her footsteps, what follows is four years of Felicity learning how to follow her dreams, deal with relationship struggles and make meaningful life-long friendships. Each episode is narrated by Felicity in the form of weekly tape-recorded messages to her friend back home, updating her on what’s going on in her life. Aside from cute resident advisors and frustrating love triangles, the show touches on some pretty heavy but important topics like unplanned pregnancy, sexual assault and study drugs. Pair it all with the moody backdrop of New York City and you’ve got yourself a glimpse of uni life in downtown Toronto—sort of.
A Different World (1987-1993) – Series
When I was leaving high school, my mom introduced me to A Different World, and it quickly became one of my favourites. The series follows a group of students from Hillman College, a Historically Black University, as they deal with the everyday struggles of uni life. There’s an episode for nearly everything you’ll encounter as you embark on your university journey, like juggling responsibilities during finals or being stuck on campus for the holidays. There’s a special treat for anyone out there who loves a good enemies to lovers trope and the pairings are unpredictable yet perfectly matched.
The cast of this show not only provides positive black representation on screen, but it is also full of a diverse range of lovable and eccentric characters you’ll quickly identify with. The show addresses issues of race and class, starting university as a mature student and student activism. It’s also full of some pretty incredible late-80s early-90s fashion if you’re looking to reinvent your wardrobe too.
Good Will Hunting (1997) – Movie
This classic drama centres around the rough-around-the-edges, Will Hunting (a young Matt Damon, who also co-wrote the movie with Ben Affleck). He works nights as a janitor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) but it turns out he also as a genius-level IQ. After anonymously solving an impossible math equation left on the blackboard of a classroom one night, it’s discovered that he is capable of more than even some of the school’s professors. After being arrested for a gang fight, an agreement is made that Will can avoid jail time by studying under the instruction of one of the university’s professors. It’s also mandated that he visit a psychologist at the university (Robin Williams) who helps him to realize his full potential and for the first time imagine a future beyond his life in the mean streets of South Boston.
A movie that is heartwarming as it is inspiring, Good Will Hunting teaches us a lesson on resilience, second chances and the realization that we are not our circumstances.
The Sex Lives of College Girls (2021-Present) – Series
This comedy-drama series follows 4 freshman roommates from different economic, racial and social backgrounds as they navigate their first brush with adulthood and evolving sex lives.
Once you start the show, you’ll definitely feel like one of the roommates yourself, so here’s what you need to know: Kimberly is a small-town girl from a poor family working to get herself through school. Bela is a spunky, sex-positive Indian-American girl determined to become a comedy writer and be accepted by the notoriously misogynistic campus comedy paper. Leighton is a preppy legacy who’s discovering her lesbian identity and trying to live up to her mother’s expectations. Finally, we have Whitney, daughter of a prominent US senator and soccer star who is also having a secret affair with her coach (again—would NOT recommend!)
Master (2022) – Movie
For those who love a psychological thriller, there’s Master. Gail Bishop, a Black woman, is appointed as the headmaster of an elite University that students believe is cursed by a ghost. At the same time, freshman Jasmine Moore moves into her new dorm which is rumoured to be especially haunted by a deceased student from years before. Not only is the school creepy and rampant with the paranormal, but they also experience racist attacks and micro-aggressions from both staff and students. The two women’s stories run parallel to one another as they try to uncover the truth about the sinister presence lurking on the campus. While it’s definitely not your typical feel-good campus story, this horror/mystery hybrid will surely get you in a spooky-university mood as we usher in the colder months.
As a treat, grab a group of your fellow froshies and head over to a residence common room or book a study room with a TV in the Student Learning Centre to watch one of these movies or shows.
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