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Review: The Diary of a Teenage Girl (2015) ★★★★

<p class&equals;"p1"><span class&equals;"s1">Whenever a film addresses sex in a way that is neither prudish nor sensationalized&comma; it should be lauded as something of a victory&period; This is a rather sad state of affairs&comma; that what should be a pervasive sentiment is still shunned as fringe or taboo&period; It is pathetic that we&comma; as a society&comma; still recoil when confronted with unconventional sex&comma; or any form of sexuality that is deemed improper for public consumption&semi; and yet&comma; that is precisely where we are&comma; and where we will probably remain for the foreseeable future&period; Nonetheless&comma; there are still those few films that attempt to shake us from the bonds of our priggishness&comma; and launch us into the 21st century &lpar;or where the 21st century should be&rpar;&period; Marielle Heller’s <em>The Diary of a Teenage Girl<&sol;em> is&comma; by and large&comma; such a film&period; <&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p class&equals;"p1"><span class&equals;"s1">Based on the graphic novel of the same name by Phoebe Gloeckner&comma; the film follows Minnie &lpar;Bel Powley&rpar;&comma; a 15-year-old girl discovering the complexities of her own sexuality in the midst of the sexual and cultural revolution taking place in 1970’s San Francisco&period; Minnie sets her sights on her mother’s boyfriend&comma; Monroe &lpar;Alexander Skarsgard&rpar;&comma; who&comma; while initially reticent&comma; gives in to her advances&period; The two continue their extended tryst in secret&comma; with varying degrees of devotion to one another&period; <&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p class&equals;"p1"><span class&equals;"s1">Much of what sets <em>The Diary of a Teenage Girl<&sol;em> apart from other films in the coming-of-age genre is its relatively apathetic tone toward underage sex and adolescent female promiscuity&period; For the vast majority of the film&comma; Minnie’s decisions to take part in increasingly risky sexual behavior are merely treated as part of the act of growing up&period; It is not really promoting this kind of behavior&comma; and&comma; until the final sequences&comma; is not condemning it either&period; This kind of ambiguity is refreshing&comma; but somewhat disappointingly&comma; the film devolves into familiar territory&comma; even going so far as to blame Monroe for any and all wrongdoing&period; While one is inclined to argue that a 30-something man should know better than to have sex with an underage girl&comma; and should practice maturity and self-control&comma; it is difficult to assign all the blame on his character &lpar;as the film ultimately does&rpar;&comma; having watched as two people with sexual urges for one another engage in consensual sex&comma; primarily driven by Minnie’s advances&period;<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;<figure id&equals;"attachment&lowbar;1195" aria-describedby&equals;"caption-attachment-1195" style&equals;"width&colon; 850px" class&equals;"wp-caption aligncenter"><img class&equals;"wp-image-1195" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;philosophyinfilm&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2017&sol;12&sol;The-Diary-of-a-Teenage-Girl-review-300x145&period;jpg" alt&equals;"The Diary of a Teenager Girl couch" width&equals;"850" height&equals;"411" &sol;><figcaption id&equals;"caption-attachment-1195" class&equals;"wp-caption-text">At times&comma; Monroe and Minnie show genuine affection for one another&comma; but even at its best&comma; their relationship seems doomed to fail &lpar;The Diary of a Teenage Girl&comma; 2015&rpar;<&sol;figcaption><&sol;figure>&NewLine;<p class&equals;"p1"><span class&equals;"s1">This is a rather unpopular view&comma; backed up by laws and general social guidelines regarding sex&comma; but there is no denying the reality of burgeoning sexuality&period; We have all been teenagers at one time&period; We have all experienced sexual urges before society deemed us old enough to act on those urges&period; This glimpse into the inner desires of a teenager and an older man might even be considered dangerous by those with more traditional sensibilities&period; <&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p class&equals;"p1"><span class&equals;"s1">It seems the filmmakers were sensitive to this fact&comma; which is probably why Monroe is treated harshly in the final minutes&period; Whether or not you agree with the apparent turn against his character&comma; it does seem to negate much of the nonjudgemental tone of the first half of the film&comma; and the sexual liberation of the times&period; And to be fair&comma; there is no denying that Monroe is kind of a creep&comma; who uses an immature girl’s repressed sexuality and confusion to his own ends&semi; but in the end&comma; the film treats Minnie as the undisputed moral superior&comma; looking down on Monroe’s perversion and callous disregard for both Minnie and her mother&comma; Charlotte &lpar;Kristen Wiig&rpar;&comma; which comes across as a grossly naive conclusion to come to&comma; based on the preceding events in the film&period; The ending arguably negates the undertones of liberation in an attempt to absolve the protagonist of all responsibility regarding her sexual experimentation with a much older man&period;<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p class&equals;"p1"><span class&equals;"s1">Disappointing tonal shifts aside&comma; <em>The Diary of a Teenage Girl<&sol;em> captures the atmosphere of liberation in 1970’s San Francisco&period; Minnie&comma; as an aspiring cartoonist&comma; draws images of herself and the people around her&comma; which frequently come to life in exceptionally well-crafted animated sequences&period; The style of the cartoons is reminiscent of <em>Fritz the Cat<&sol;em> &lpar;1972&rpar;&comma; among other cartoons and comics of the era&period; These surreal sequences transport the viewer to an earlier time&comma; when expanding one’s mind&comma; through sex or drugs or even art&comma; was of the utmost importance&period;<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;<figure id&equals;"attachment&lowbar;1196" aria-describedby&equals;"caption-attachment-1196" style&equals;"width&colon; 850px" class&equals;"wp-caption aligncenter"><img class&equals;"wp-image-1196" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;philosophyinfilm&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2017&sol;12&sol;860978-300x126&period;jpg" alt&equals;"Diary of a Teenage Girl cartoon giant" width&equals;"850" height&equals;"357" &sol;><figcaption id&equals;"caption-attachment-1196" class&equals;"wp-caption-text">The animators are dedicated to recreating a visual style that is highly reminiscent of the 70&&num;8217&semi;s &lpar;The Diary of a Teenage Girl&comma; 2015&rpar;<&sol;figcaption><&sol;figure>&NewLine;<p class&equals;"p1"><span class&equals;"s1">While the tone is generally comedic&comma; it never ventures into the ridiculous&period; Minnie’s struggle to come to terms with her ravenous sexuality is treated with the utmost deference&comma; and much of what is humorous in the film simply arises from the daily blunders of teenage life&comma; from disappointing friends to the embarrassment of living with a free-spirited parent&period; While the story leans more on the dramatic aspects of Minnie’s life&comma; the mental gymnastics and emotional extremes that teenagers are so known for are as funny as they are sincere for Minnie&period;<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p class&equals;"p1"><span class&equals;"s1">Ultimately&comma; this is a fantastic film&comma; oozing with nostalgia for the 1970’s&period; Although generally indifferent in its view of the sexual revolution and its real-life&comma; day-to-day consequences&comma; the film undoes much of the moral ambiguity that make it so emblematic of the era in which it is set&period; Despite this shortcoming&comma; <em>The Diary of a Teenage Girl<&sol;em> is a truly remarkable and altogether unique coming-of-age story&period;<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p class&equals;"p1"><span class&equals;"s1">Rating&colon; <&sol;span><span class&equals;"s2">&starf;&starf;&starf;&starf;<&sol;span><span class&equals;"s1"> out of 5<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>If you&&num;8217&semi;d like to watch <span class&equals;"s1"><em>The Diary of a Teenage Girl<&sol;em> &comma; it is currently available to rent or purchase <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;amazon&period;com&sol;gp&sol;product&sol;B019HR51KA&sol;ref&equals;as&lowbar;li&lowbar;qf&lowbar;sp&lowbar;asin&lowbar;il&lowbar;tl&quest;ie&equals;UTF8&amp&semi;tag&equals;mjones34880c-20&amp&semi;camp&equals;1789&amp&semi;creative&equals;9325&amp&semi;linkCode&equals;as2&amp&semi;creativeASIN&equals;B019HR51KA&amp&semi;linkId&equals;965eba7f3d0998c404304b63a96e4ecd">via Amazon here<&sol;a>&period;<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;

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