There was nothing in this film that led me to believe that society has a handle on the current youth crime situation, and that made me sadder than the plight of these two confused girls who were trying to grow up too fast and came up short. With the girls going nowhere at Waxter, they were given a new lease on life by changing facilities. Shanae even overcomes the death of her mom three months later from a heart attack and goes on to graduate from a public high school and enroll in a community college. 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. Similarly, she seems to suffer from ambivalent attachment because she is always distressed when she is unable to receive affirmations from her mother. 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. Once Shanae begins to face the reality of what she did, she is transferred to a group home and begins to flourish. 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. Shanae had to go to a lower security facility before her mother was convinced that she was rehabilitated. ~ (Source: Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide). Follows two female inmates - victims of horrific violence and tragedy - who are serving time in a Maryland juvenile detention center. At 14, she was hit by a stray bullet during a gunfight. ''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. Girlhood Movie Analysis. This led to a pregnancy at the age of 11 which her mother arranged for her to have terminated because it was feared that because of Shanaes heavy-drinking the baby would have fetal alcohol syndrome. At 17, she was living in her own apartment in a druggie neighborhood. The structure of Waxter allowed Megan to be a child, the streets provide no structure and force her to be more of an adult than most adults ever have to be. This presumption is damaging because ultimately Garbus makes uncomplicated subjects of the girls. Liz Garbus has made other films about life in prison, such as the Academy Award Winning The Farm: Angola. Shanae started drinking with her cousin. Life on the streets in a community where drugs are readily available offers her plenty of opportunities to repeat the same mistakes. I remember being struck at the end of the film that one of the staff at Waxter came to Shanaes home to congratulate her on graduating and see her off to the prom. 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. Having been abandoned by her mother, with whom she has a very complicated relationship, Megan is desperate for attention and affection. Abandoned by her mother, a heroin addict turned prostitute, Megan ran away from then different foster homes before being arrested on assault charges. Her cousin has to console her. She gets her place to live. 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. The other protagonist is Megan, a troublesome mixed race teen who has a tattoo going up her right arm and is always giggly thinking everything is not serious. As she grows up, she realizes that she cannot rely on anyone and starts to take better care or herself. Filled with a new sense of hope and ambition, Megan got her life together, pursuing an education and focusing on her family. 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. She stays briefly at another foster home before running away to live with friends and eventually by herself in the treacherous East Baltimore neighborhood where she got into trouble. 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. "Oprah: Where Are They Now?" Copyright Disclaimer under section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, t. Megan, after a failed escape attempt from Waxter, goes into another foster home. In an interview with NPR, the films director, Liz Garbus, admits that Girlhood was originally a documentary about incarcerated boys, but the girls stories were more interesting to her. I believe that you cant examine this increasing youth crime problem among girls without studying how the capitalist system effects social conditions. a. Shanae is in the juvenile facility for stabbing a friend to death in a fight. 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. 794 Words. Her father's locked up. Miriam has proven to have an incredibly strong voice when it comes to tackling tough, timely and complex stories that often take place in urban settings but resonate far and wide, Fawcett said. 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. What Shows Have Been Renewed or Canceled. At the opening of the film girlhood by Liz Garbus, viewers are informed that the rates of young girls being charged with violent crimes is on the increase in the United States. Megan on the other hand, has a more difficult time staying out of trouble and maintaining good grades. 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. How A Violent Teen Who Had Given Up On Life Turned It All Around Shaffer, D. R., & Kipp, K. (2010). Garbus remarks that the structure within Waxter allows the girls to actually be girls. From there she enrolls in high school, where she places fourth in her class, and plans to attend a community college. Additionally, she still struggles after growing up, but she ensures that she never becomes an addict (Garbus, 2003). So the question is to what degree do we all have to support children whose families cant? At one point she tells her parents that the girl she murdered actually has it easy because shes just dead whereas Shanae is suffering because she is in detention. 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 In Garbus version of their lives, these experiences do not bring them down. They emerge triumphant; their girlhood, we end up hoping, will be salvaged. LA Times reviewer Manohla Dargis notes, Garbus obsession with levity ultimately triumphs, leaving us with an unfinished picture: [T]o turn complex and contradictory lives into palatable narratives, is one of the least-examined pitfalls in nonfiction filmmaking. Part of HuffPost News. In class we watched the video Girlhood. The Girlhood documentary highlights the plight of girls in juvenile centers with some psychological disorders. MPAA rating: Unrated. The length of her stay at Waxter will depend on whether she can acknowledge what she did and show appropriate remorse. Follows two female inmates - victims of horrific violence and tragedy - who are serving time in a Maryland juvenile detention center. Megan, the more unruly of the two is a little older than Shanae. Furthermore, at the end of the documentary, she enrolls in a community college nearby. As a left-wing filmmaker, she worried that this appeared to be some sort of right-wing Family Values advocate conclusion. New York: Psychology Press. Well, its also said to be on the increase here in Canada. Hanna has won numerous writing awards. Both girls are likable, smart young women struggling to overcome traumatic backgrounds. When she grows older, it is clear that she is still affected by the feeling of neglect and she believes nobody is looking out for her interest (Garbus, 2003). Today, the Baltimore native is living in North Carolina and acknowledges that she wasn't in a good place during her "Oprah Show" appearance. Wake up to the day's most important news. Follows two female inmates - victims of horrific violence and tragedy - who are serving time in a Maryland juvenile detention center.Documentary chronicling America's justice system. The title Girlhood splits in two on the opening credits, with "girl" and "hood" on separate lines. she has come a long way from this documentry i love and am so proud of my sistrr. What happened to Megan Jensen from the girlhood documentary? With its drab green walls and sparse furnishings, Waxter is no country club. Oprah later told her she was the first person she had interviewed who had ever walked out on her. This film is not rated. As the film progresses we see Shanae go from feeling very little remorse or even understanding of the consequences of her violent actions, to feeling real remorse and a sense of responsiblity. . Garbus follows Shanae and Megan over a three-year period as they move through the juvenile system, struggle with mixed feelings toward their mothers, comment on the efforts of the staff to set them on the straight and narrow, and try to cope with the changes in their lives. The relationship between staff and the young girls is also essential to how the girls grow and move forward with their lives. We follow them over a period of about three years. This documentary does look at the intersections of various identities and even struggles, but it fails to count them as essential facets of girlhood for Shanae and Megan. By entering your email and clicking Sign Up, you're agreeing to let us send you customized marketing messages about us and our advertising partners. "I didn't know how to love anybody or to depend on people because I never had anyone stable enough in my life to actually show me that kind of love and compassion.". Just check our reviews! ''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. But Megan seemed like a lost cause as her pleas for love go unanswered and her unchanged bad behavior goes unchecked, as she gets into a verbal spat with mom and splits. Girlhood (2003) - Plot - IMDb In the film's most compelling scenes Megan confronts Vernessa, who has been released from prison and who professes her love and determination to be an anchor for her daughter. These girls are the subjects of Liz Garbus' documentary, Girlhood. Shanae was ten years old when she was gang-raped by five boys. "I was really, really, really confused at the time," Megan says. Running time: 88 minutes. The film then changes focus on Megan and her deteriorating relationship with her mother. Challenging Attachment Garbus encountered the girls at the Waxter Juvenile Facility in Baltimore while making a television documentary about the boys incarcerated there. http://articles.latimes.com/2003/nov/14/entertainment/et-girlhood14, http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1514431. I have three lovely kids," she says. Follows two female inmates - victims of horrific violence and tragedy - who are serving time in a Maryland juvenile detention center.Documentary chronicling America's justice system. As the documentary end, it is clear that Megan is afraid to trust others. AMCTheatres.com or AMC App New. Shanae, after much perseverance, overcoming her appalling behaviours and graduate from high school. 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.). 5 Pages. Profile of Liz Garbus by the Center for Social Media, Movie Fire Craker Website (Liz Garbus Film Website), Your email address will not be published. Girlhood (Dir: Liz Garbus, 2003) | Feminist Films in the Swarthmore She got into a knife fight at 11 with her girlfriend and fatally stabbed her three times. Everything is "for the children"; however, this is powerful evidence to the contrary. Confronted with her crime, Shanae is strangely detached and has little memory of the incident. 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. 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. What both girls crave is the stabilizing force of a caring and responsible mother. No matter how optimistic I am, when I am reaching out to young women, I need to understand different backgrounds. 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. Then, she got up and walked off set. Girlhood (2003) - Plot Summary - IMDb http://sites.google.com/view/ehdwjwbxfu/linkedlist-member-modification-c, Your email address will not be published. The documentary Girlhood follows the lives of two girls, Shanae and Megan, from 1999-2002, during and shortly after their release from Waxter Juvenile Facility in Maryland. In the movie, we were able to watch two female offenders in the juvenile justice system. We now have the best team of essay writers in the world. 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. These girls are the subjects of Liz Garbus' documentary, Girlhood. FILM; A Filmmaker Who Chooses to Live Behind Bars I didnt see any reason to be as guardedly optimistic as Ms. Garbus seemed to be about stemming this problem through good parenting and realizing that teens are smarter than we think, and sometimes they have no choice but to figure things out by themselves. The girls the film follows for three years are Shanae and Megan, as the film begins in 1999. Megan, the other young offender continues to practise delinquent . The relationship between staff and the young women at Waxter is for the most part warm and friendly. Why is Shanae in the juvenile facility? ''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. 1103 Words. Or do some simply have the psychological equipment to move on while others don't? Megan is 16 and is in Waxter for Assault with a deadly weapon. Shanaes development has been disrupted. This difference in their experiences seems to be related to their familial relationships. She gave birth to a daughter and moved to North Carolina in an effort to start anew. "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 Children's Center in Laurel, Maryland, to when they are out in the real world. 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). Both Megan and Shanae share similar viewpoints for example, they mention that their role model is . Shanae was arrested for murder at the age of 12, after stabbing a friend to death. 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. The film will center on two prisoners serving. [Need anessay writing service? Even though she does not get the chance to further her education, she avoids returning to a life of crime (Garbus, 2003). Press ESC to cancel. 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 . Shanae is a plump black girl who mentions she lost her virginity in the Baltimore projects when she was 10, was raped by 5 boys at 11, and did drugs in her adolescent years as she hung out with the wrong friends. Gender Roles In The Film Girlhood - 623 Words | Bartleby Shanaes ability to feel remorse for her actions is seen as a key benchmark that needs to be achieved before she can leave Waxter. 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. 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. The first example is how wary she is of strangers (Eysenck, 2015). At Waxter, Megans need for attention and affection, her vulnerablity, are on display for everyone to see. In the beginning, Shanae is not remorseful for committing murder (Garbus, 2003). recently followed up with Megan to see what had happened after the show. Volatile, articulate and desperately needy, Megan seethes with bitterness at having been abandoned by her mother, Vernessa, a heroin addict and prostitute, who has spent many years in prison. Megan grew up without the love and support of her mother who was in prison for drugs and prostitution. Both girls ended up in the Waxter Juvenile Facility, home to Maryland's most violent offenders.Academy Award nominated director Liz Garbus follows Shanae and Megan for the next three years, as they try to make a life for themselves both inside and outside of Baltimore's juvenile justice system. This time around, she focuses her attention on two young women in Waxter Juvenile Facility near Baltimore, Maryland. The juvenile justice system serves her well, because she's deeply involved in forging her own path. Antoinette does her best in extremely difficult circumstances. "I decided to change some of my ways because I didn't want the system raising my child," she says. 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, " the two main characters Shanae 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. Before starting the film girlhood, she actually meant to do a film about young men in juvenile detention centres because from her work on the film Angola, she was intrigued and disturbed by how many of the inmates there said they had learned the tricks of their trade from their experiences in juvenile detention. Copyright 2022 My Essay Writer. Because the film does not incorporate the juvenile system that fails Megan and others like her, the focus of the film becomes on the distinction between mothers who neglect their children and mothers who do not. Finally, she becomes distraught when her relationship with her mother ends. And now I'm doing this film about a little girl, and in many ways she's a precursor to Megan. Garbus followed Shanaes suggestion and was determined to include her in her film. Impact of Trauma Megan Terry, Feminist Playwright and Rock Musical Innovator, Dies at 90 Megan also shows that she has self-efficacy. By Kate Durbin 07/14/2021. Solved In the documentary "Girlhood, " the two | Chegg.com Megan is not malicious, and her mischief is probably a cry for attention. Megan Jensen had a difficult childhood. 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 future appears shaky. The early life trauma that these girls experienced impacted . The project, titled "Hood Girls," will be written and directed by Miriam Kruishoop ("Greencard Warriors") and produced by Atlantic Screen Productions. The third is her reluctance to become close with others. http://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2003-nov-14-et-girlhood14-story.html The girls have traumatic experiences that affect their relationship with others. See production, box office & company info. Shanae also does well in school finishing fourth in her class. We were introduced to Shanae, a young girl, convicted of murder. "I don't want to do this no more.". An Ijaw Story: JOURNEY TO THE PRESENCE OF WOYINGI, Africas 100 Best Books of the 20th Century, African Regional Links: Central/Middle Africa, Literature from the Black African Diaspora, Documentary Review: girlhood by Liz Garbus, Countries: Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Black Canadians of Afro-Caribbean Descent. Humanizing those who have committed crimes especially children is a good thing to do, and certainly expands the viewers capacity to embrace complicated narratives and emotions. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/girlhood He also states that although many of the girls leave Waxter and go on to live lives free of crime, others lives deteriorate when they get back home because of the dangers and tempations of life in their often crime-filled neighbourhoods (remember most of the inmates at Waxler are coming from Baltimore!). By end fil There are a number of reasons for why Shanae was able to turn her life around whereas Megan was not. Girlhood Worksheet Please complete this worksheet based on the film Girlhood. 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. The protagonists are Shanae Owens and Megan Jensen. By what name was Girlhood (2003) officially released in Canada in English? Megan is 16 and is in Waxter for Assault with a deadly weapon. 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. A story of mothers and daughters, crimes and consequences, and strength in the face of unimaginable adversity, girlhood is a testament to the faith and struggles of two girls just trying to grow up. You'll get a detailed solution from a subject matter expert that helps you learn core concepts. 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.
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