Part of HuffPost News. Second, she is distressed when her mother leaves. A narrative feature based on the two subjects of Liz Garbus' 2003 documentary "Girlhood," young female inmates Shanae Watkins and Megan Stahl, is in the works. Like Us On Facebook | Follow Us On Twitter. http://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2003-nov-14-et-girlhood14-story.html, http://www.nytimes.com/2003/10/29/movies/film-review-documentary-illuminates-young-lives-crossroads-redemption.html, http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/girlhood-subjects-get-narrative-feature-829762, http://sites.google.com/view/ehdwjwbxfu/linkedlist-member-modification-c, thesis statements about the xname sequence. She portrays this by her apprehensive response that she gives to her parent. With discussions of girls in Virginia Woolf, Simone de Beauvoir, Alice Walker, and Sapphire, I show how these influential feminist authors demonstrate an intense yet anxious preoccupation specifically with girlhood subjectivity as its own identity category, and with girlhood sexuality as a site for devising textuality. Copyright Disclaimer under section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for fair use for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, education and research.This Documentary/Film \"Girlhood\" is not for any personal financial profit or gain to TheeSymphony'sCulture Channel, but instead only for educational purposes and cultural research. If the movie suggests that a strong mother-daughter bond is the key to a successful rehabilitation, it is too intelligent to belabor that notion. References Megan gets out earlier, but never stays in one place very long. However, it is also noteworthy that Megan is two years older than Shanae. Often it's not enough. Unlike Megan, who ends up bitter, Shanae has a positive outlook that things will become better. . ~ (Source: Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide). Shanae, after much perseverance, overcoming her appalling behaviours and graduate from high school. Impact of Trauma But Garbus way of humanizing, in some instances, obfuscates the complexity of struggle, survival and the bad from the girls girlhood. The third is her reluctance to become close with others. Girlhood juvenile delinquents, Shanae Megan, Waxter Juvenile Facility Maryland. But in [Garbus] attempt to give their lives a shape that the girls themselves seem to resist, this talented filmmaker has done both herself and them a disservice.. Even though there is an intense argument, after she tells her mother never to talk to her again, she has a nervous breakdown (Garbus, 2003). Its no wonder. Paperdue.com uses cookies to offer you the best service. Head of production Julie Gaither. [Need anessay writing service? Educates, Advocates, and Agitates for Gender Diversity and Inclusion in Hollywood and the Global Film Industry, In Her Voice: Women Directors Talk Directing, List of Databases for Women in the Film Industry, Celebrating 15 Years of Women and Hollywood, A Message to the Women and Hollywood Community, AFI DOCS and Provincetown Fests Will Open and Close with Women-Directed Pics, Hot Docs 2018 Women Directors: Meet Laura Bari Primas, Hot Docs 2018 Women Directors: Meet Alba Sotorra Commander Arian. Strength-Based Approaches Garbus, L. (Director). The girls tragic relationships with their mothers, their struggles with sexuality, their experiences with rape and sexual assault, drug use and poverty have shaped their lives in and out of jail. The most salient factor in Megan's reversal of fortune however was the tireless work that her mother did to ensure that her daughter became an upstanding individual. But its staff emerges as a caring if overstressed group of people who do what they can to steer the girls in their charge toward a productive life. We now have the best team of essay writers in the world. Shanae and Megans story has reached a large audience and even caught the attention of talk show host Oprah Winfrey, however, many are critical of its overambitious attempts and lack of direction. In one of the scenes, she even says that no one loves her. Scholarship about the film has focused on its negative representation of girls' friendships, sexuality, and desire for power. Once Shanae begins to face the reality of what she did, she is transferred to a group home and begins to flourish. You get a sense of just how complicated when Shanae finally cops to her guilt. The system essentially gives up on trying to control her and turns her loose to fend for herself. She angrily lashes out at the girl, but shows no remorse when she finds out that she died. As Oprah questioned Megan about her current situation and plans for the future, the teen grew visibly agitated. Megan also leaves Waxter. Open Document. Shanae and Megan are both magnetic characters, and their story is as relevant as it is inspiring. The films protagonists, Megan Jensen and Shanae Watkins. While Shanae, the victim of a horrendous violent crime herself as a child, has difficulty coming to grips with the murder she's committed, she's clearly an intelligent, charismatic, and, most importantly, motivated girl. As the documentary end, it is clear that Megan is afraid to trust others. Girlhood. associated with girlhood. At 14, she was hit by a stray bullet during a gunfight. airs Sundays at 9 p.m. I argue that The Craft's relevance to . Despite the locked doors and garish green paint daubing the hallways, the Waxter center doesnt look all that forbidding. data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAKAAAAB4CAYAAAB1ovlvAAAAAXNSR0IArs4c6QAAAw5JREFUeF7t181pWwEUhNFnF+MK1IjXrsJtWVu7HbsNa6VAICGb/EwYPCCOtrrci8774KG76 . The majority of her life, her mother was either on the streets giving into her drug addiction or incarcerated for prostitution charges. She gets her place to live. Electronic Inspiration LLC. Director Liz Garbus See production, box office & company info Search on Amazon search for Blu-ray and DVD Add to Watchlist Added by 1.8K users Girl Hood is a documentary film directed and produced by Liz Garbus that follows two teenage girls, Shanae and Megan, over the span of three years, from the time they are in the all-girls juvenile detention center at Thomas J.S Waxter Childrens Center in Laurel, Maryland, to when they are out in the real world. The most salient factor in Megan's reversal of fortune however was the tireless work that her mother did to ensure that her daughter became an upstanding individual. But it also made me wonder, why was Megan not looked after in essence like Shanae was? Filled with a new sense of hope and ambition, Megan got her life together, pursuing an education and focusing on her family. The mystery of the young woman's disappearance haunts her single, middle-aged, working-class mother, Mari Gilbert (Amy Ryan), for the duration of Lost Girls intentionally bleak, downbeat, if. The primary objective of the film is an exploration into the social implications for the increase of crime committed by young women such as Shanae and Megan. New York: Psychology Press. As to be expected, the revelations are often heartbreaking, at times infuriating, but because the film runs a total of 88 minutes theyre also manifestly unenlightening. However, her mother is a struggling drug addict who is unable to offer the care and support that she required. Girlhood tells the story of two young girls locked up in The Waxter Juvenile Facility in Baltimore because they committed violent crimes. Furthermore, at the end of the documentary, she enrolls in a community college nearby. On the other hand, Girl Hood creates an uncomfortable comparison between Shanae and Megan and their relationship with their mothers. She gave birth to a daughter and moved to North Carolina in an effort to start anew. Shanae, however, simply had to acknowledge her culpability in the murder of a friend before being able to effect a significant change in the direction of her life. Or do some simply have the psychological equipment to move on while others don't? Mary Celeste Kearney writes that in approaching girlhood, sociological research, interestingly, often focused on female juvenile delinquency. In recent years, however, Girlhood Studies has grown to include and account for multiple narratives of girlhood, and actively attempts not to make girlhood inferior to womanhood, or take it less seriously. First, she has goals and aspirations. His first civics lesson? After all, Shanae explains, at least the dead girl is in heaven. At the Quad Cinema, 34 West 13th Street, Greenwich Village. At the beginning of the documentary, Shanae and Megan are 14 and 16, serving time for murder and assault, respectively. Copyright 2022 My Essay Writer. Revise AS Level Psychology. Documentary chronicling America's justice system. Just last week Waxter made headline news in Maryland after having been labeled by one childrens rights advocate as a house of horrors. At Waxter, girls like Shanae who have been sentenced for crimes, girls who would make mincemeat of the fillies in Thirteen, are placed alongside those who, as one news story put it, have not been found guilty of anything yet. Except, perhaps, being born poor and grievously disadvantaged. Megan Jensen had a difficult childhood. Follows two female inmates - victims of horrific violence and tragedy - who are serving time in a Maryland juvenile detention center. "I just lost all respect for myself," she says. After watching the documentary, it is easy to see that Megans environment has contributed greatly to her childhood and ultimately her adult life. The documentary follows the plight of Megan and Shanae (Garbus, 2003). The subject of their research lies in the standards of juvenile detention centers and facilities. Parents need to know that the French movie Girlhood is a bleak but affecting look at life in the housing projects outside Paris, where young people have few options and little chance to improve their lives. That is not to say that traumatic experience, crime or drug abuse are good, but that in these stories they exist and persist, even when the girls triumph and go to prom or spend time with family. Garbus most recently directed What Happened, Miss Simone?, a Netflix doc about the life and music of Nina Simone. That roster includes ''The Farm: Angola, U.S.A,'' an acclaimed film about the largest maximum-security prison in the United States, and ''The Execution of Wanda Jean,'' a sympathetic portrait of the first black woman executed in America in the last 50 years. Megan, a pretty girl with a devilish gleam in her eye, tries to get by on charm, but she doesn't have Shanae's focus. When Ms. Hill choked on her tears for Shanae leaving - it was heartfelt. The history of American documentary cinema is rife with well-intentioned filmmakers like Garbus who have trained their cameras on the abject, the neglected and the powerless. 2 Working within the filmic fairy tale adaptation cycle that emerged between 2005 and 2015, this thesis investigates how girlhood is cinematically constructed through the lens of This leads to her eventual rehabilitation from delinquency. Girl Hood has been praised for its informative content and for raising awareness on a number of issues young people in detention centers face on a daily basis and how their lives lead to a life similar to their parents. Girlhood[Motion Picture]. "I decided to change some of my ways because I didn't want the system raising my child," she says. She perseveres through challenges in life. Girlhood isnt about an abstraction like the wrongs of the state penal system -- indeed there is very little about how Waxter works (or doesnt) day to day -- its about two very real and complicated kids, each of whom could fill up hours of screen time. Unfortunately, juvenile crime is becoming more and more of an issue here. Eysenck, M. (2015). The girls the film follows for three years are Shanae and Megan, as the film begins in 1999. Additionally, the film has also been criticized for ignoring the workers at Waxter. Abandoned by her mother, a heroin addict turned prostitute, Megan ran away from then different foster homes before being arrested on assault charges. murdering another girl after the two got into an argument. Is it maternal nurturing that makes the difference? http://www.nytimes.com/2003/10/29/movies/film-review-documentary-illuminates-young-lives-crossroads-redemption.html Then, she got up and walked off set. Some are held while they are waiting for a bed in a treatment center. (2003). Genre:. In class we watched the video Girlhood. The pair form a strong friendship and, under the guidance and treatment of a dedicated psychotherapist, endeavor to change their lives and strive for a brighter future. Discussion While taking the country, Following an investigations there were findings that certain violations were evident and specifically those relating to failure to protect confined juveniles from harm; failure to address incidences of youth violence due to inadequate supervision; failure to protect juveniles confined from participation in sexual activity; and excessive use of physical force, among other serious violations all clearly in violation of professional standards and conduct. Much perseverance, overcoming her appalling behaviours and graduate from high school, as the documentary follows plight... 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