“I had sex today. Holyshit!” are the first lines of Marielle Heller’s protagonist Minnie Goetze in “The Diary of a Teenage Girl” (2015). A deluge of excitement and bewilderment exudes from the 15 year old Minnie’s face as she says those words, walking through a resplendent sun-drenched 1970’s California Park, populated by hippies & nudists. “Diary…” is a different kind of ‘coming-of-age’ story on various fronts: it takes a very personal female perspective; there’s no judgmental or a moralizing take on the central, inappropriate affair; and it is dauntlessly frank about Minnie’s carnal desires (there’s a lot of nudity and sexual content, depicted in an un-Hollywood manner).
The 15 year old
Minnie (Bel Powley) confessing that she has just lost her virginity may not be
as disquieting since this was the era when there was a shift in the American
sexual attitudes. But, what makes Minnie’s sexual awakening problematic is that
her liaison happened with a much older Monroe (Alexander Skarsgard), Minnie’s
mother’s boyfriend. British film-maker
Andrea Arnold’s gritty feature “Fish Tank” (2009) depicts a similar kind of
encounter, although it gradually builds up to that encounter. In “Diary…” the
development is rapid and straightforward. In the opening sequences, Minnie is asked by her substance-abusing, irresponsible mother Charlotte
Goetze (Kristen Wiig) to go out with Monroe. He takes her to a bar. Minnie, who
has daydreams about Monroe, does an inappropriate thing, for which he says
something more inappropriate, and then she uses the f-word in a totally sexual
context.
Few days later, Minnie sits in her room, gazing at the dried
blood under her nails, and begins her audio journal, vividly explaining the
carnal education and the joy of losing virginity, made possible by Monroe.
Minnie has this mix of precociousness and child-like honesty, which makes audio
entries incendiary as well as authentically unfiltered. Minnie’s mother, more
or less, behaves like a teenager, by partying hard. When Charlotte is sober, she
talks about how she was ‘piece’ as a teenager. What is supposed to be a
one-time thing between Minnie and Monroe persists over a period of time.
However, this isn’t the kind of film where the director posits like a tiger,
waiting to pounce on viewers with bland moral messages. It rather investigates
on the teenager’s emotional standpoint. Minnie muses on sex as well as on love,
often wondering whether any one loves her, at least secretly.
Heller’s adapted script (the film is based on Heller’s favorite
graphic novel by Phoebe Gloeckner) avoids two easy modes with which story could
have been told: plaintive, melodramatic mode; and the finger-pointing mode.
Monroe, despite his despicable acts, is left with a psychological ambiguity.
Charlotte, despite all her irresponsible behavior, is textured with layers of
esteem. The perils of sexual awakening that Minnie witnesses aren’t portrayed
with a simple-minded moralization. Writer/director Heller observes and subtly
comments on Minnie’s hedonistic lifestyle, without concocting situations that
might pass an insipid message: ‘this is what you get for being slutty’. The
lack of dramatic weight in the narrative plus the recurrent counterculture
realism of the era may not satiate viewers expecting a goofy & sexy
coming-of-age comedy.
“Diary...” is, more
or less, a subtle character study of a girl who is often thinking about how
others see her and how she sees herself. Like many teenagers, she also thinks
that having sex officially gives her a grown-up identity. Minnie, not being a desired
nymphet, also plays a huge role in her seeking the physical and emotional
transformation through sex. This line of thought is subtly expressed, when
Minnie after losing her virginity asks Monroe to take a photo of herself. Minnie,
who has lacked love in her formative years, sees sex as a means to embark on a
transformative phase and so she places that Polaroid shot on her mirror,
thinking ‘this is the occasion from which I would be loved or desired’. The
narrative is also about how teenagers cope with their loneliness &
alienation through art. In fact, Minnie finds her true-self through art (art
kind of enlightens her journey). Eventually, this film is a story of sexual
abuse, where the protagonist is neither portrayed as a sex object or as a
victim. She is unapologetic about her affair and is also shown as capable of
manipulation & seduction.
Director Marielle
Heller, in her portrayal of Bay Area, conveys a historical authenticity to the
era. The retro music, the sexual & narcotic mores of the era, the comics’
tradition of Aline Kominsky, Crumb and the tumultuous trial of Patty Hearst are
all a credible simulation of the California 1970’s (and Minnie’s classroom
teacher is seen discussing Holden Caulfield of ‘Catcher in the Rye’).
Nevertheless, there is an honesty and urgency to the narrative, where the
characters’ different ‘hyped needs’ could be easily related with the
contemporary era. Although Heller’s direction is never judges the character
decisions, it offers apt commentaries through visuals. The way she frames
Monroe and Minnie (Powley seems diminutive next to Skarsgard) hints at the
incongruous nature of their relationship. At one point, the unrestrained
drunken party is abruptly cut and jumps forward to next morning, where Minnie
calmly gazes through the window. It subtly showcases the emotional downfall and
alienation of Minnie.
Despite all the directorial and writing elegance, the triumph
of “Diary…” is based on couple of elements: the way sex & nudity is handled
in the film; and Bel Powley’s powerful performance. The majority of nude scenes
in the film are pictured in a non-sexual manner, like the scene when Minnie
examines her natural body in the mirror. But still, the nudity and sexuality
here might make many of us uncomfortable. May be it is because female sexuality
is a little taboo subject in cinema or even the idea of teenage girls always
thinking about sex is deemed as a incendiary subject to deal with on-screen
(“Does anyone think about fucking as much as I do?” says Minnie). As Minnie has
sex with her classmate, he is evidently rattled, when she is intent on taking
an active role to ascertain her own sexual satisfaction. Powley, apart from
diffusing physicality to the character, also takes on a balanced approach to
bring out Minnie’s recklessness and exhilaration. She offers a kind of
performance that depicts the true meaning of ‘seamless transition’.
“The Diary of a Teenage Girl” (102 minutes) provides a rare,
teenage sexual awakening tale, addressed from a female perspective. The film’s candid depiction of female sexual
desires is surprisingly unburdened with moralistic overtones.
Trailer
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