''Girlhood, which was shot in 16 millimeter, is a bare-bones affair, as spare as the juvenile institution in which much of it was filmed. What Shows Have Been Renewed or Canceled. Be sure to answer all parts to each question. [ClickEssay Writerto order your essay]. The lack of a proper support system is evident because she does not achieve as much as Shanae who does not falter when her mother dies. The third is her reluctance to become close with others. Throughout the film, we are sympathetic to the challenges of Shanae and Megans girlhoods, but cannot substantively grasp, through the documentary, the unresolved nature of their status, as girls in a system that seeks to destroy not just girlhood, but life beyond girlhood too. Shanae had to go to a lower security facility before her mother was convinced that she was rehabilitated. Documentary chronicling America's justice system. "Oprah: Where Are They Now?" When she originally returned to Baltimore, Megan's life went downhill. Or do some simply have the psychological equipment to move on while others don't? Copyright 2006 - 2023 by CIStems, Inc., d.b.a. 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. This documentary really touched me and made me so much more grateful for my environment and support. The family situation takes over as more important than the help they received through the criminal justice system. Brody, R., & Dwyer, D. (2016). The majority of her life, her mother was either on the streets giving into her drug addiction or incarcerated for prostitution charges. In the movie, we were able to watch two female offenders in the juvenile justice system. The film then narrows its focus to concentrate on the lives of two teenagers, Shanae Owens and Megan Jensen, both incarcerated for assault at the Waxter Juvenile Facility in Baltimore. Shanae shows certain resilience characteristics that help her reform her life. Interviews. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. The 16-year-old Shanae was placed in the Florence Crittenton Group home and the slightly older Megan was rewarded for trying to run away by gaining her official freedom. Girlhood: The Theories Of Aggression And Violence | Studymode The disrupted attachment led to a paradoxical relationship with the caregivers in Waxter (Shaffer & Kipp, 2010). What factors do you think played a part in . As much of my work is with teenage girls in high school, this issue is both personally and professionally relevant to me, however, I often wonder if girls are really becoming more violent or if our society is just admitting something that has always gone on but we didnt know how to label because of our stereotypical image of girls and women as somehow less aggressive than men. Similarly, she seems to suffer from ambivalent attachment because she is always distressed when she is unable to receive affirmations from her mother. Shanae, on the other hand, received strong support and had to follow strict rules her 32-year-old diabetic mom insisted upon, so that when she was released to her home she had someone to lean on for support. MPAA rating: Unrated. We follow them over a period of about three years. Antoinette refuses to allow Shanae back home until she is convinced that her daughter has really changed and has gotten all the help that she needs. 5 Pages. "I just lost all respect for myself," she says. Girlhood (2003) - Plot Summary - IMDb Megan Terry, an Obie Award winner, a founding member of the Open Theater group and a prolific feminist playwright who wrote and directed a rock musical on the New York stage that . [Write my essay for me? Get help here.]. In the end, it seems the title Girlhood is both revealing and a misnomer: this film is about the liminal space of girlhoods colored by destabilizing events in their lives (and the larger systems and circumstances dictated by a society that easily discards the humanity of girls, people of color, queer people, differently abled people and poor people). Liz Garbus made The Farm: Angola, USA in 1998, a riveting documentary about six men in a Louisiana penitentiary; it was nominated for an Academy Award. Because of the serious nature of her crime Shanae has been locked up for over two years and is anxious to go home when the film begins, but showing no remorse for her crime and acting like an obnoxious brat. Her divorced mom moved to the suburbs to get her out of harms way but Shanae, though never arrested, still managed to find again the wrong friends and display bad conduct at home. By what name was Girlhood (2003) officially released in Canada in English? I think this is key to Shanaes eventual success. Treating the girls girlhoods as linear stories of overcoming erases the fullness, pain and challenge of all that comprises their girlhoods. As a child, her mother was absent. She receives more family support than Megan is, but she does not seem to reciprocate it at the beginning of the film. Strength-Based Approaches That was 11 years ago. We were introduced to Shanae, a young girl, convicted of murder. A child of the 1990s, I was a voracious reader of The Baby-Sitters Club book series by Ann M. Martin, which detailed the friendships of a group of young babysitters in Connecticut. In her commentary on the film, available on the DVD, Garbus admits to being struck by Shanaes intelligence and cutesiness (she was wearing pigtails at the time) and then shocked to discover that Shanae was locked up for murder! The film pivots from the girls to their relationships with their moms, as Garbus follows their development from girls into young ladies. 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. Directed by Liz Garbus; director of photography, Tony Hardmon; edited by Mary Manhardt; music by Theodore Shapiro; produced by Ms. Garbus and Rory Kennedy; released by Wellspring. But not everyone has families like this. Excerpt from Essay : Girlhood juvenile delinquents, Shanae Megan, Waxter Juvenile Facility Maryland. Even though she has been through the trauma of murdering another girl, it seems like the rape ordeal was the first trauma that led to the myriad of deviant behavior (Garbus, 2003). As she grows up, she realizes that she cannot rely on anyone and starts to take better care or herself. Girlhood was shown at the 2003 Tribeca Film Festival and at the South by Southwest Film Festival, where it won the Audience Award. Shanae and Megan both experienced similar circumstances that yielded different outcomes. EDPY 303.005 Dr. Armstrong 08 May 2018 Girlhood (2003) Documentary Introduction: The topics presented in this paper include the effects of trauma on two young girls and their incarceration after committing violent assaults. Megan's mother was a drug-addled prostitute, and after being placed in, and escaping from, nearly a dozen foster homes, Megan committed a violent crime. Hanna has won numerous writing awards. We wont be able to verify your ticket today, but its great to know for the future. "Excuse me," she said. Second, Shanae develops a positive outlook. At 14, she was hit by a stray bullet during a gunfight. Oprah later told her she was the first person she had interviewed who had ever walked out on her. Having been abandoned by her mother, with whom she has a very complicated relationship, Megan is desperate for attention and affection. Megan, the more unruly of the two is a little older than Shanae. Even though her mother has a problem with drugs and prostitution, she is distressed when she does not receive visits or calls from her. As a left-wing filmmaker, she worried that this appeared to be some sort of right-wing Family Values advocate conclusion. (2003). The staff person made it clear that she wasnt there on official business. Her crime was that at 14 she cut up another girl with a box cutter in a dispute, and since shes been at the facility has gotten into some kind of trouble every day. Assignment #2 In class we viewed documentary titled Girlhood, the film surrounded two teenage girls named Megan and Shanae. Girlhood (2003) - Plot - IMDb An alternate perspective of Girl Hood is that it is a film that tries too hard to achieve an ending on a positive note. This presumption is damaging because ultimately Garbus makes uncomplicated subjects of the girls. Second, she is unable to regulate her emotions (Garbus, 2003). Both of the girls have been in the system for years, Megan has been in and out of juvenile detention centers and foster homes for years and is . In the lower security facility interview, Shanae reveals that five men gang-raped her when she was young. Abandoned by her mother, a heroin addict turned prostitute, Megan ran away from then different foster homes before being arrested on assault charges. The girls the film follows for three years are Shanae and Megan, as the film begins in 1999. Her cousin has to console her. By end fil There are a number of reasons for why Shanae was able to turn her life around whereas Megan was not. FILM REVIEW; A Documentary Illuminates Young Lives at the Crossroads of Redemption and Devastation, https://www.nytimes.com/2003/10/29/movies/film-review-documentary-illuminates-young-lives-crossroads-redemption.html. She has a total of two children and she has graduated from college. She was there as a member of the community and Shanae was a child of the community and therefore her child. Shanae was raped by five teenagers when she was eleven and then was arrested and convicted for stabbing a friend to death with a knife when she was twelve. Solved In the documentary "Girlhood, " the two | Chegg.com Shanae Owens and Megan Jensen in girlhood. In the documentary, she is always trying to contact either the mother or the grandmother. At one point, Megan states that she feels that she is an old woman trapped in a young womans body because she has so much to regret. The relationship between staff and the young women at Waxter is for the most part warm and friendly. Girlhood focuses on the life of two young juveniles, Shanae Owens and Megan Jensen both incarcerated for violent crimes. Documentary chronicling America's justice system. Garbus in her commentary points out that Shanae does not believe that the gang rape should be seen as some sort of excuse for her murdering her friend. Second, she is distressed when her mother leaves. The difference between one girl supposedly climbing out of her bad situation and the other continuing in her dead-end path, is seen as a matter of good parenting and a child willing to change her bad ways. SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY: 'GIRLHOOD' MOVIE REVIEW - Blog My Essay Writer 1103 Words. Girlhood Movie Analysis. Girlhood gives us a glimpse into the lives of two troubled young women who desperately try to forge a new life for themselves against formidable odds. Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. Documentary chronicling America's justice system. At the beginning of the documentary, Shanae and Megan are 14 and 16, serving time for murder and assault, respectively. ~ (Source: Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide). That Ms. Garbus was able to get so close to her likable subjects and allow us to see that they are not quite the monsters we might perceive from reading the newspapers about such bad girls, is what makes this film so special. Documentary Review: girlhood by Liz Garbus | The Woyingi Blog But Garbus way of humanizing, in some instances, obfuscates the complexity of struggle, survival and the bad from the girls girlhood. Garbus rigidity in framing the girls experiences does not allow for the expansiveness and complexity allowed by new theories of girlhood. In the film Girlhood by Liz Garbus we are introduced to two young girl's named Megan and Shanae, who committed a crime and are getting help through a facility that helps young girls reflect on their actions. http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/girlhood-subjects-get-narrative-feature-829762 Their stories are depicted in the 2003 documentary Girlhood. A riveting documentary about two young offenders serving time in a Baltimore juvenile facility and their struggles over a three-year period to forge a new life for themselves against formidable odds. girlhood documentary - Next Step Online Decent Essays. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Megan is doing great for herself Last night I watched a documentary called, GIRLHOOD based on two young girls in the Baltimore juvenile detention center, Waxter. Shanae also does well in school finishing fourth in her class. FILM; A Filmmaker Who Chooses to Live Behind Bars Even though she does not get the chance to further her education, she avoids returning to a life of crime (Garbus, 2003). Shanaes development has been disrupted. Both Megan and Shanae share similar viewpoints for example, they mention that their role model is . Girlhood | Film Review | Spirituality & Practice The girls have traumatic experiences that affect their relationship with others. http://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2003-nov-14-et-girlhood14-story.html All rights reserved. Her father's locked up. She has lived in foster homes most of her life, as her white mother Vernessa is a drug addict and a prostitute who served a long stretch in jail and is currently once again serving time in the Baltimore Detention Center. In contrast to Shanae, who has a great deal of family love and support, Megan only receives letters from her mother sporadically, and in one scene in the film desperately wants to call her grandmother to see if she is going to visit her. Our company is proud to host more than 80 of North Americas best essay writers. While Shanae told her own story -- murdering another girl after the two got into an argument -- and shared remorse for her violent actions, Megan seemed much more guarded. The extent of Garbus access to the girls while in detention is remarkable (she states that she eventually had keys to the inside of the Waxter facility because the staff got tired of her and her crews constant requests to get into different rooms). Garbus remarks that the structure within Waxter allows the girls to actually be girls. And now I'm doing this film about a little girl, and in many ways she's a precursor to Megan. The film leaves us with a final mystery about human development. Megan flounders around for a while and is eventually sent to another foster home, which doesn't work out. Revise AS Level Psychology. Open Document. What is more important is that both boys and girls develop a sense of agency in relation to their aggressive behaviour, and take responsiblity for the consequences of their violent actions. On the other hand, Girl Hood creates an uncomfortable comparison between Shanae and Megan and their relationship with their mothers. How A Violent Teen Who Had Given Up On Life Turned It All Around. Girlhood Essay | Bartleby Her emotional responses are not well adjusted. New York: Psychology Press. It is a sign of her resiliency that she manages to handle a tragedy that would have unsettled more wobbly teenagers. The film left me with mixed feelings about the girls who crave love but seem so self-absorbed that they show so little concern for anyone else not in their radar, as I questioned what kind of punishment should there be for girls who commit violent crimes. Most of these reasons were actually some of the primary themes in Liz Garbus' documentary Girlhood, which followes the lives of these young women for three years from the . Shanae is 14 and has served two years at Waxter for the murder of her friend, a crime she committed when she as only 12 years old. She is often well behaved, but she still shows bouts of mischief. In one of the scenes, she even says that no one loves her. Of the two only Shanae receives that nurturing, and it seems to make all the difference. Megan on the other hand, has a more difficult time staying out of trouble and maintaining good grades. FILM REVIEW; A Documentary Illuminates Young Lives at the Crossroads of A wild, tough-talking girl of mixed race who has run away from 10 foster homes, she was incarcerated for attacking another foster child with a box cutter. To think that one out of two might have straightened out her life, is not saying that the system works. Megan also shows that she has self-efficacy. Megan grew up without the love and support of her mother who was in prison for drugs and prostitution. In contrast to Shanaes successes, when out of Waxter, Megan soon runs away from her foster home with no consequences (despite the fact that staying in foster care is a requirement of her patrol), couch surfs for a while and eventually gets her own place with her cousin. But the reality is that Shanae, because of the support of her family, is able to overcome the trauma of her childhood and the impact of her crime and graduate from high school and go on to community college whereas Megan, without really any family support, is only able to struggle, her greatest achievement being that she doesnt return to crime or become a hardcore drug addict. Copyright 2022 My Essay Writer. This paradoxical relationship with her parent is evident (Brody & Dwyer, 2016). Megan, we are told, has been in 11 foster houses by the age of 16. But one is left wondering how this silly girl took it upon herself to attack another young woman with a box cutter (the main reason why she is locked up). When we meet Megan at Waxter it is clear that she is something of a troublemaker but probably more out of boredom than any malice (Garbus in her DVD commentary says that Megan is actually a very respectful young woman and that one of her main criticism of the Waxter Facility is that there is not really much structured activities for the inmates.). They both received open-ended sentences and their release depends on their current jail behavior. ''Girlhood,'' which follows Shanae and Megan over three years beginning in 1999, doesn't pretend that a place like Waxter can hope to do the job by itself. However, her mother is a struggling drug addict who is unable to offer the care and support that she required. She is also silly and childish which is what you expect for a girl her age. As Oprah questioned Megan about her current situation and plans for the future, the teen grew visibly agitated. The film, however, makes Shanae and Megans girlhoods into victory stories when, instead, they are something much more complex. 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 8 User reviews Shanae was ten years old when she was gang-raped by five boys. This paper provides a social psychological review of Megan and Shanae from an ecological point of view as well as an attachment perspective. At Waxter, Megans need for attention and affection, her vulnerablity, are on display for everyone to see. Liz Garbus has made other films about life in prison, such as the Academy Award Winning The Farm: Angola. GIRLHOOD - Dennis Schwartz Reviews Everything is "for the children"; however, this is powerful evidence to the contrary. While Shanae sublimates her anger and hurt and moves on with life, for Megan everything is right on the surface. Dennis Schwartz: Ozus World Movie Reviews, Copyright 2023 - Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews. Girlhood (Dir: Liz Garbus, 2003) | Feminist Films in the Swarthmore In my own opinion, considering that Megan has to do all this on her own, hers is the greater achievement. We now have the best team of essay writers in the world. She angrily lashes out at the girl, but shows no remorse when she finds out that she died. Running time: 88 minutes. The film will center on two prisoners serving. She tries to reach out to her mother multiple times despite being disappointed numerous times. Girlhood Directed by Liz Garbus A riveting documentary about two young offenders serving time in a Baltimore juvenile facility and their struggles over a three-year period to forge a new life for themselves against formidable odds. Garbus, L. (Director). It is during Shanaes interview to get into the lower security facility that we learn that she was also gang raped by five men. Shanae's reentry into society was easy, and she does not seem to be struggling in any way. Often it's not enough. She's Got Moxie: Liz Garbus on "Girlhood" and Lives - IndieWire Lock 'em up and keep them off the streets is the familiar cry. Girl Hood was released in 2003 and since then has won many awards. My Essay Writerwas started by an award-winning journalist who saw the need from students to have someone take care of their annoying assignments for them. But if the viewer pays close attention to the film and Liz Garbus commentary we learn that Shanaes mother was a single parent working two jobs trying to support Shanae and move her family out of the projects. REVIEW: GIRLHOOD Documentary On Netflix - WordPress.com A lot of this seems due in part to her mother Antoinettes support. Eysenck, M. (2015). Over the years, Megan has run away from most of her foster homes in a desperate attempt to reunite with her mother. By what name was Girlhood (2003) officially released in Canada in English? Megan Terry, Feminist Playwright and Rock Musical Innovator, Dies at 90 Make sure to answer each of the questions as thoroughly as possible. What was particularly sad was the uninspired rehabilitation measures tried by the staff at Waxter, as the girls received little help that was useful and seemed to be going buggy in an atmosphere where the staff might have been decent but were certainly clueless on how to treat the girls. Shot on digital video and Super 8 film over the course of three years, "Girlhood" provides a partial account of what happened to Shanae and Megan under the state's alternately guarded and. The film is told from the girls subjective viewpoint and plays as a coming of age story. 4 Pages. recently followed up with Megan to see what had happened after the show. Nevertheless, this is a worthwhile close-up look at two of the troublesome girls who are representative of the problems society faces. In the documentary Girlhood, Liz Garbus follows two young women who have encountered numerous misfortunes in the past that led them to implement their violent offences. Inside, she is desperately frightened of becoming just like her. Megan's mother was a drug-addled prostitute, and after being placed in, and escaping from, nearly a dozen foster homes, Megan committed a violent crime. Girlhood Movie Analysis - 1103 Words | Bartleby She had lived in an environment that was full of disruption. Megan Jensen had a difficult childhood. ''GIRLHOOD,'' a new documentary, is a poignant and often distressing look at the lives of two teenage girls, inmates at the Thomas J. S. Waxter Children's Center for juvenile detention near Baltimore. Her future appears shaky. Then, she got up and walked off set. We have already learned that starting at the age of 10, Shanae began drinking alcohol heavily, was running away from home and having unprotected sex. Girlhood (2003) - IMDb Liz Garbus, who was nominated for an Academy Award in 1999 for The Farm: Angola, USA, shoots in her latest an unflinching cinema verite documentary about two teenager girls who committed violent crimes and are now incarcerated at Marylands Waxter Juvenile Facility. "Oprah: Where Are They Now?" Open Document. ESSAY WRITING SERVICE SAMPLE: LANGUAGE ACQUISITION, ESSAY WRITING SAMPLE: CORNING INC. COMPANY PROFILE CASE STUDY, RESEARCH PAPER ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY: THE ISRAEL-PALESTINE CONFLICT, How realism, a theory of International Relations, can apply to Foreign Policy, SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY: GIRLHOOD MOVIE REVIEW. Question: In the documentary "Girlhood, " the two main characters Shanae and Megan had two very different reintegration experiences after being placed in a detention center. The field of Girlhood Studies continues to grow and perhaps offers guidance in understanding where Garbus erred. Follows two female inmates - victims of horrific violence and tragedy - who are serving time in a Maryland juvenile detention center. Shanae, an African-American who has been at Waxter for two years when the film begins, was sent there after stabbing a girl to death in a knife fight. Early in the film it is apparent that Shanae doesnt really feel remorseful for the murder of her friend. she has come a long way from this documentry i love and am so proud of my sistrr. Thankfully, her parents point out that being dead is definitely WORSE than being in detention! No matter how optimistic I am, when I am reaching out to young women, I need to understand different backgrounds. Your email address will not be published. Megan grew up without the love and support of her mother who was in prison for drugs and prostitution. These girls are the subjects of Liz Garbus' documentary, Girlhood. http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/girlhood In Garbus film, Shanae and Megans girlhood set up a dichotomy: girlhood is good, everything else threatening, extraneous and intrusive, instead of part of the story of girlhood itself. Having been abandoned by her mother, with whom she has a very complicated relationship, Megan is desperate for attention and affection. Megan admits that when she leaves Waxter she will only be going back to another foster home. I dont think girls are really less aggressive than boys, nor do I think we should somehow pathologize aggressive and violent behaviour by girls but see it as a given among boys. The film is also said to be informative regarding the significance of the relationship between mothers and daughters. She specializes in academic writing, copywriting, business plans and resumes. After her release, 19-year-old Megan appeared on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" alongside another troubled teen, Shanae. Just check our reviews! This film is not rated. As the documentary end, it is clear that Megan is afraid to trust others. "I was really, really, really confused at the time," Megan says. ''Girlhood'' is the newest entry in Ms. Garbus's long list of socially concerned documentaries made for theaters and television. Film Review by Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat "I started using cocaine, I was strung out on drugs -- bad. This is the latest feature-length non-fiction film from documentarian Liz Garbus, who has spotlighted imprisonment in 2002's "The Execution of Wanda June" and the 1998 Oscar-nominee "The Farm: Angola USA." As with those two films, "Girlhood" looks at the incarceration of violent-crime offenders.

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