I really, in general, don't like the coming of age genre as a whole. It's not the idea of telling a story where a child is forced to look adulthood in the face that bothers me...it's the idea that with this comes with an often perverse loss of innocence. For example, I recently watched [i]Malena[/i] and was grossly disappointed with the idea that the only difference between a child and an adult was sexual discovery, as opposed to the clear message of [i]Where the Wild Things Are[/i], where coming of age entails a true gaining of maturity and introspection. In conclusion, this is why I don't like [i]A Christmas Story[/i]. Loss of innocence.