Diary of a Teenage Girl (The)
- Director: Marielle Heller
- Writer: Phoebe Gloeckner; Marielle Heller
- Producer: Miranda Bailey; Debbie Brubaker
CGiii Comment
Oooh this sits uncomfortably upon a throne of thorns...a comedy/drama about paedophilia!
Consensual, sexual child abuse...between a 15 year old girl and her could-be step-father.
Seemingly, this is based on a true story...well, call the authorities, this man deserves to be punished (as does the mother...knowing it and not reporting it).
Flower-it-up, call it a sexual awakening...it's still abuse.
Basically, this is a film about sexualising young people...still children, in the eyes of the law. Now we've got that off our chest...
Minnie is a precocious girl...in every unpleasant way imaginable. The kind of child that would make you not want to be a parent. Played well by Bel Powley...she does irritating, aggravating perfectly.
And that's the problem with the film, apart from the over-looked child abuse...she's horrible. Her mother is horrible. Her lesbian lover is horrible. Her sister is...need we go on?!?
Yes...Alexander Skarsgard as the reprehensible could-be step-father...not only horrible but, seriously, miscast. Ooooh those scenes when he plays 'vulnerable' - no, they just didn't work.
Everything about this film is pretty good, apart from the characters and storyline. It's imaginative, it's creative...it's hugely unenjoyable for most...(parents).
Rebellious, pill-popping, sexually experimental plain girls will love it...for they are about to find out the extreme power they have between their legs. Now, isn't that about the most vile statement you've ever read...well, that kinda sums up this film.
Trailer...
The(ir) Blurb...
A teen artist living in 1970s San Francisco enters into an affair with her mother's boyfriend.
The Diary of a Teenage Girl follows the sexual awakening of 15-year-old Minnie in 1970s San Francisco, whose sexual fluidity is portrayed as just another part of coming to understand herself, her desires, and what love really means. While at a Rocky Horror Picture Show screening, she meets Tabatha, a charismatic but troubled 20-something with a drug addiction. Minnie is infatuated with her and the two begin a relationship of sorts, partying and getting high. This leads to a sex scene that would have likely been played for voyeuristic appeal in any other film. Though the relationship does not ultimately work out, Tabatha’s being female has nothing to do with the breakup and, indeed, never even occurs to Minnie as an issue.
WHAT?!?!?! Of course it was an issue...!
She dabbled, got bored and decided she prefered to be [consentingly] abused by an older man...this film is stacked to tipping point with issues!
GLAAD you missed the issue!
Cast & Characters
Bel Powley as Minnie;
Willie as Domino the Cat;
Kristen Wiig as Charlotte;
Abby Wait as Gretel;
Alexander Skarsgard as Monroe;
Miranda Bailey as Andrea;
Carson D. Mell as Michael Cocaine;
John Parsons as Burt;
Madeleine Waters as Kimmie;
Austin Lyon as Ricky Wasserman;
Quinn Nagle as Chuck;
Davy Clements as Arnie;
Charles Lewis III as Cool English Teacher;
David Fine as Old Hippie;
Susannah Schulman as Aline Kominsky