I don't get the overwhelming praise for this movie and I'm curious if anyone agrees with me. Here's my review:
http://freshfromthetheatre.com/review-the-diary-of-a-teenage-girl/
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Good review. Where do you live, were you able to see the film in advance? Having not seen the film yet, I can't say if I think it's groundbreaking. On the topic of relatability though, I think the film Whatever from the late 90's is a good relatable film about teenage female sexuality. So is Little Darlings. There have definitely been other films out about this topic although not many that have come out for this generation.
shareNo absolutely not. I saw it today..and though the acting is fine..it seems like every 2 or 3 years a new hipster indie film comes out and its about the coming of age of one geeky (20 something) actor/actress playing a loner teen.
what Jordie?
There is nothing geeky about the actress and the character isn't a loner. Are you sure you watched the film?
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I saw the review in the paper and I don't see what's supposed to be so wonderful about a grown man preying on a teenage girl. I find it sick.
"Queens Conquer"
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I agree with your review totally. As a 21 year old woman I expected to at least halfway understand what Minnie could be feeling or going through, but didn't at all. My friend agreed "Is it just us? Were we supposed to be like that at 15?" but judging from your commentary it appears we're not alone. It's actually not very relatable at all, nor is it believable. And also in my opinion it's really not a healthy, celebratory exploration of female sexuality whatsoever, in fact quite the opposite. It is indeed presented in a generally perverse and disturbing way; Minnie is not experimenting with a man her own age and within his or her boundaries; her mother is emotionally distant and she has no real father figure, explaining her desperate desire for some form of love and affection; and in the film her sexual awakening appears to lead her into a whirlwind of drugs and debauchery as well. Thus giving the whole idea decidedly negative connotations.
Again, I agree that it was a good film on the whole, but I feel that the majority of reviewers are wrong in their deduction that female sexuality is presented positively, because I didn't get that from the film at all. The only statement the film made is that it even exists in the first place. In my opinion, the film Fish Tank is far superior; it tackles very similar themes but treats them and its subject with sensitivity, intelligence and subtlety, a quality that The Diary of a Teenage Girl seems to lack.
But the drugs and debauchery are not celebrated, and at the end of the film Minnie comes to a clear understanding (perhaps too clear) that she's been led astray, that she's confused lust for love, that the patronage, affection and validation she's so desperately sought through overcompensatory sex and inflated self-image have been false, and that real love and value come from within, things only you can grant yourself, and that healthy support systems are family and art, not drugs or relationships founded on ephemeral sexual pleasure. At the same time, the film doesn't shame or punish Minnie for her dissolute behavior, but recognizes it as a period of profound confusion that she must work through to come out a better person on the other side.
shareAbsolutely great reply. I spend far too much time on these boards defending films that others have misunderstood, and I'm always thrilled when someone does what I all-too-sadly perceive as my job ("OMG! Someone's wrong on the Internet!"), even better than I could have myself.
Prepare your minds for a new scale of physical, scientific values, gentlemen.share
That you did not find the film relatable is, of course, a comment about you and not the film (something that is always true and should be completely obvious). And a kind of a sad one, because it implies that you can only relate to stories that resemble your own, as opposed to relating to films on a deeper human level. I'm an older guy who has never known anyone like Minnie, and I had no trouble relating to her at all. I mean, she wants someone to love her, and she confuses love and sex. That's not exactly alien behavior.
That you found the film, which is completely based on actual events, unbelievable, is of course even more about you, and even sadder. Maybe at 21 you're too young to realize that other people can be startlingly different from you. That neither you nor anyone you know would ever do something, or behave in a certain fashion, may well be true ... it does not remotely follow that nobody would.
That you think this film had "very similar themes" to Fish Tank (a better film, but hardly "far superior") pretty much indicates that you didn't get it. I was initially as creeped out as anyone by Monroe's behavior, but it fairly quickly became apparent that his emotional age was 15. And in the end, it's clear that he was the one who ended up with more emotional damage from the relationship than her. It has a similar story line to Fish Tank, but thematically it's more or less its opposite.
Prepare your minds for a new scale of physical, scientific values, gentlemen.share
I think your misconception about the movie stems from this quote:
How come boys get stories that are funny, and jokey, and awkward, and real, but when it’s a girl’s story, it’s highly dramatic, filled with awful choices, over-the-top experimentation, basically anything negative about sex.
There actually are some like that. Like the film Mysterious Skin. Mainstream movies aren't going to be that heavy on teenage sexuality. They want to appeal to a larger crowd.As for movies that that deal with female sexuality in a comedic way. I'm guessing you never heard of Easy A.Juno,etc?
Religion is regarded by the common people as true, by the wise as false, and by rulers as useful.
I wouldn't put Mysterious Skin in the same genre as TDOATG.
shareYea,Mysterious Skin is darker but the whole older pervert sleeping with underage kid is the same. And they're both coming of age. You went on about there not being serious boys coming of age movies. When there have been plenty. The sexual comedies are for mass audience appeal because nobody wants to see the deep things. this movie isn't even that much of a serious drama but its still indie.
Religion is regarded by the common people as true, by the wise as false, and by rulers as useful.
Yes, I think this film is unusual, at least on an international level.
Primarily the film is about the sexual and emotional awakening of a young
woman during her teenage years.
Usually most coming of age-films are from a male point of view.
It´s almost always about a teen boy and his experience and the
girl is a sidekick to him, either present as a "slut" or a precocious, sarcastic,
asexual girl. The films, I can´t think of one right now, that has a girl as
main character are the same. The girl is not allowed to explore sexuality by
herself without judgement, if she does she is punished for it in the end
and has to either get into the line or vanish. Another common plot is about the
"slutty" friend who gets punished for her behaviour and the main character
"learns her lesson" that way.
This film tells the story without judgement, right or wrong,
that is up to the audience to figure out for themselves.
It´s also worth seeing for the great acting, the 70s style in San Fransisco and the
good award-winning cinematography by Brandon Trost.
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I haven't seen the movie yet, but you bring up some concerns of mine. I read that the lead actress said that this is finally a movie that tells the truth about female sexuality, compared to all those movies out there where the girls are princess virgins or asexual or sluts and, therefore, 2D. I think that your average teen girl is more likely to relate to some of those other characters than a girl who has sex with her mother's boyfriend. And maybe there's a reason why stories like this often don't get told. Maybe it's because it's extremely rare that a girl will have sex with her mother's boyfriend and actually be happy about it? I don't know. I don't want to say too much more because I haven't seen the movie yet.
I agree that it's important for characters to be multidimensional. And I want to say that girls who don't have sex can feel just as alienated these days as those who do. I just want to make sure that's understood. I know this for a fact. In school, I felt very alien because I didn't date and wasn't really interested in doing so. And my parents bugged me about it and forced me to take a guy to the prom. Some people think that it's the worst thing in the world to slut-shame yet have no problem with making fun of or belittling those who are at the opposite end of the spectrum.
And you make a great point. If anything, this movie only reinforces the idea that, when a teen girl has sex, it's some gross, taboo thing.
In reality, there are lots of girls who have sex in high school and it's not some big dramatic deal. There are also plenty of teens who don't have sex in high school. And I feel that the reality of the latter is just as underrepresented as the former, if not more so. When female characters are celibate in popular TV shows, they are often mocked for it. Just look at Quinn in Glee who was not able to be taken seriously as a person until she had sex with a jerk and got knocked up.
Both depictions of teen girls are real. Both deserve exposure, so long as it's done in a way that fleshes out the characters and doesn't just turn them into walking clichés. And while there are girls like Minnie out there whose stories deserve to get told, and while the movie may be a phenomenal telling of such a scenario, that doesn't make it "more true" than anything else teens go through.
"Let's not rehash the coroner's report. Let's talk emotions."