There are plenty of coming of age films these days, but not many of them are so brutally honest and nonjudgmental as Marielle Heller's Diary of a Teenage Girl. The story is centered around 15 yr old Minne Goetze, a aspiring cartoonist, who is longing for acceptance and attention. Minnie's desire to fulfil her budding sexuality comes to a fever pitch when she enters into a love affair with her mother's 35 yr old boyfriend, Monroe. A refreshing film dealing with female sexuality, Diary of a Teenage Girl doesn't shy away from exploring the romanticism young woman have with sex, showing in Minnie a young woman who views sex as a right of passage into adulthood. Minnie is a character who is a bit of a loner with low self esteem, and the love affair she enters into with Monroe makes her feel appreciated and desired, blissfully unaware of the danger in such a volatile relationship. Given the film's seventies setting and subject matter, Diary of a Teenage Girl is much darker film than its tone suggests, but thankfully it doesn't rely on quirkiness, with the filmmakers injecting the film with surrealist touches and honest humor that keeps the film uncomfortable but never unbearable. This is a film full of small moments that do a great job at capturing the psyche of a young woman's emerging sexuality and misplaced views, my favorite being how the film subtlely suggests that Minnie's poor self image stems from her mother, a caring but somewhat vapid woman who always encourages her daughter to dress sexier. Another interesting aspect of the film is how Diary of a Teenage Girl doesnt shy away from female sexuality, a refreshing concept that reminds the viewer female sexuality isnt a taboo, as women also have sex drives. In the end, this film works so well because of its nonjudgmental approach, offering a provocative portrait of a young woman's coming of age that reminds the viewer loving oneself and finding happiness from within oneself, not others, is the key to success both personally and in relationships.
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AuthorLove of all things cinema brought me here. Archives
June 2023
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