Follows two female inmates - victims of horrific violence and tragedy - who are serving time in a Maryland juvenile detention center. Girlhood Directed by Liz Garbus Documentary, Crime Not Rated 1h 22m By Stephen Holden Oct. 29, 2003 Liz Garbus's hard-headed documentary film ''Girlhood'' is prefaced with an unsettling. Sign in to rate and Watchlist for personalized recommendations. "I'm happy now.". Gender Roles In The Film Girlhood. One of the biggest criticisms that Garbus, It is typically more difficult for adults to change their patterns of behavior than it is for younger people. Scholarship about the film has focused on its negative representation of girls' friendships, sexuality, and desire for power. 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. http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/girlhood-subjects-get-narrative-feature-829762 teaching psychology courses. They focus upon the history of corrections, the history of juvenile corrections, and the history of the standards of juvenile corrections. But it also made me wonder, why was Megan not looked after in essence like Shanae was? Even more disturbing is Megan's real acknowledgement of this abandonment. The girls have traumatic experiences that affect their relationship with others. Garbus most recently directed What Happened, Miss Simone?, a Netflix doc about the life and music of Nina Simone. 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. On the other hand, Girl Hood creates an uncomfortable comparison between Shanae and Megan and their relationship with their mothers. Begin typing your search term above and press enter to search. However, after the collective effort from her mother and rehabilitation officers, she becomes emotionally expressive. Megan, the more unruly of the two is a little older than Shanae. Megan, 16, was also involved in a fight and was convicted of assault with a deadly weapon. But Vernessa quickly reverts to her old ways, and the scenes of Megan viciously berating her mother for her failures are painful to watch. 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. 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. Press ESC to cancel. These girls are the subjects of Liz Garbus' documentary, Girlhood. Privacy Policy. She gets her place to live. Photography Tony Hardmon. After her release, 19-year-old Megan appeared on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" alongside another troubled teen, Shanae. Then, everything changed when Megan got pregnant. Eighty percent of cases do not, Juvenile Detention Standards ''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. New York: Psychology Press. Girlhood. Assignment #2 In class we viewed documentary titled Girlhood, the film surrounded two teenage girls named Megan and Shanae. Therefore, any solution to the problem of juvenile detention will be proportionately beneficial to, new juvenile detention center, if given unlimited financial resources. Chineye died from her wounds, and Shanae was sent to a juvenile detention center that housed some of the most violent young offenders . 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. 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. 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. How A Violent Teen Who Had Given Up On Life Turned It All Around. All Rights Reserved. There are a couple of different things I would attempt to implement if I were the director of the Waxter Juvenile Facility to make the program more efficacious for juveniles sent there for reform. Confronted with her crime, Shanae is strangely detached and has little memory of the incident. Not surprisingly, by the end of the documentary she is living alone in Baltimore while Shanae was living with her family and doing well in high school while preparing to attend a junior college. Open Document. In the second segment, she runs away from foster homes to try to live with her mother. Shanae and Megan both experienced similar circumstances that yielded different outcomes. Shanaes development has been disrupted. At paperdue.com, we provide students the tools they need to streamline their studying, researching, and writing tasks. The subject of their research lies in the standards of juvenile detention centers and facilities. Furthermore, at the end of the documentary, she enrolls in a community college nearby. Megan, however, was virtually abandoned by her mother and received little support from the rest of the family. She is often well behaved, but she still shows bouts of mischief. 1103 Words. One perspective on the film Girl Hood is that it is a highly informative documentary film in which the director does a spectacular job revealing to the world the issues young women such as Megan and Shanae face on a daily basis. Shanae, however, simply had to acknowledge her culpability in the murder of a friend before being able to effect a significant change in the direction of her life. Cannily positioned in the U.S. as the distaff answer to Richard Linklater's Boyhood, Cline Sciamma's third feature (following Water Lilies and Tomboy) Girlhood doesn't follow its protagonist over the course of 12 years, or even over more than a year or so. 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). Like Us On Facebook | Follow Us On Twitter. Baltimore teens Shanae, left, and Megan are the subjects of Liz Garbus's documentary "Girlhood," now at the AFI Silver Theatre in Silver Spring."Girlhood," a documentary by Liz Garbus, right . 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). Often it's not enough. As to be expected, the revelations are often heartbreaking, at times infuriating, but because the film runs a total of 88 minutes theyre also manifestly unenlightening. 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 Waxter Juvenile Detention Center to the streets of Baltimore. Kennedy, R., and Garbus, L. (2003). 794 Words. It depends on several factors, including the age of the offender, the level of crime, and whether it is a first or repeat offense. The film is also said to be informative regarding the significance of the relationship between mothers and daughters. This presumption is damaging because ultimately Garbus makes uncomplicated subjects of the girls. Hood Girls will cover a considerably longer span of Watkins and Stahls lives than Girlhood did. An alternate perspective of Girl Hood is that it is a film that tries too hard to achieve an ending on a positive note. 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. Once Shanae begins to face the reality of what she did, she is transferred to a group home and begins to flourish. Shanae has been at Waxter longer than any other inmate and after two years shes itching to get out. All rights reserved. Waxter Childrens Center in Laurel, Md., some 20 miles from Baltimore. associated with girlhood. "I started using cocaine, I was strung out on drugs -- bad. Her mother was largely able to chart Shanae's problem for the duration of the movie, because she cared about her and wanted to see her do better. By age 10, she had been committed to two psychiatric hospitals and diagnosed as manic-depressive. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. She portrays this by her apprehensive response that she gives to her parent. Anyone can read what you share. The project, titled "Hood Girls," will be written and directed by Miriam Kruishoop ("Greencard Warriors") and produced by Atlantic Screen Productions. Shanae and Megan are both magnetic characters, and their story is as relevant as it is inspiring. "I just lost all respect for myself," she says. The domain that best explains Megans attachment issues is the ambivalent/resistant attachment. Im excited and honored that Atlantic Screen Productions embraced this extraordinary true tale and understands the urgency of making this film now. Documentary chronicling America's justice system. airs Sundays at 9 p.m. 5 Pages. Your email address will not be published. As for the staff of the Waxter, they were awesome. Its no wonder. Abandoned by her mother, a heroin addict turned prostitute, Megan ran away from then different foster homes before being arrested on assault charges. 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. We wont be able to verify your ticket today, but its great to know for the future. 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. In American history, the history of juvenile corrections begins in, And since those who are forced into detention are disproportionately African-American, the problems caused by the detention of juveniles is particularly acute in the African-American community. Documentary film is a powerful medium for psychology course instruction, providing examples of concepts, issues, and theoretical principles, embedded in the realworld human experience. As Oprah questioned Megan about her current situation and plans for the future, the teen grew visibly agitated. However, Garbus suggests that this is due to the lack of adequate recreational activities in Waxter (Garbus, 2003). What Parents Need to Know. Girl Hood was released in 2003 and since then has won many awards. (See also: her 2003 documentary Girlhood.) data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAKAAAAB4CAYAAAB1ovlvAAAAAXNSR0IArs4c6QAAAw5JREFUeF7t181pWwEUhNFnF+MK1IjXrsJtWVu7HbsNa6VAICGb/EwYPCCOtrrci8774KG76 . AQA Psychology: AS and A-level Year 1. I was just doing anything to kill myself, honestly," she says. But Garbus sidesteps this queasy unpleasantness either because it pains her or because it doesnt fit with the triumphant survivor story shes trying to tell. Its easy to see what attracted Garbus to Shanae and Megan and why, after spending three on-and-off years with them, she would want to hang a proverbial silver lining on their stories. This leads to her eventual rehabilitation from delinquency. Unlike Megan, who ends up bitter, Shanae has a positive outlook that things will become better. Even though her mother has a problem with drugs and prostitution, she is distressed when she does not receive visits or calls from her. . References The film will center on two prisoners serving time at Waxter, a Maryland juvenile detention center, after committing violent crimes. Here are 22 essential L.A. spots for every tourist, Column: We cant afford another writers strike. At the beginning of the documentary, Shanae and Megan are 14 and 16, serving time for murder and assault, respectively. As you watch it, you wish the film would fill in more of each girl's background. 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 . Garbus rigidity in framing the girls experiences does not allow for the expansiveness and complexity allowed by new theories of girlhood. Miriam Kruishoop (Greencard Warriors) has signed on to write and direct Hood Girls, a narrative feature based on the life stories of the two subjects of Liz Garbus 2003 documentary Girlhood. There are a number of reasons for why Shanae was able to turn her life around whereas Megan was not. Documentary chronicling America's justice system. Shanae, after much perseverance, overcoming her appalling behaviours and graduate from high school. Both girls are likable, smart young women struggling to overcome traumatic backgrounds. Age discrimination, How to have the best Sunday in L.A., according to Rainn Wilson, Review: Thoughtful whimsy animates Haruki Murakami adaptation Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman, An earthquake made Makoto Shinkai a disaster artist. Shaffer, D. R., & Kipp, K. (2010). The new documentary "Girlhood" isn't a horror movie, but there isn't another movie this year that chills the blood as quickly as the brief exchange caught on camera between a 15-year-old girl. "Oprah: Where Are They Now?" MPAA rating: Unrated. . Other aspects reveal themselves when she grows older. Strength-Based Approaches As she grows up, she realizes that she cannot rely on anyone and starts to take better care or herself. Just last week Waxter made headline news in Maryland after having been labeled by one childrens rights advocate as a house of horrors. At Waxter, girls like Shanae who have been sentenced for crimes, girls who would make mincemeat of the fillies in Thirteen, are placed alongside those who, as one news story put it, have not been found guilty of anything yet. Except, perhaps, being born poor and grievously disadvantaged. All the same, Marieme (Karidja Tour) goes through nearly as many shifts in appearance and identity as Boyhood's Mason. The Girlhood documentary highlights the plight of girls in juvenile centers with some psychological disorders. It isnt just difficult to do justice to Shanae and Megan in an average of 44 minutes apiece; as it turns out, its impossible. The first example is how wary she is of strangers (Eysenck, 2015). 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. Documentaries are also excellent tools for presenting complex Then, she brutally stabbed another girl with a box cutter and ended up in juvenile home for some of the most violent young offenders in the country. She Alba Sotorra is an independent filmmaker and producer based in Barcelona. Required fields are marked *. She does become bitter in her adult life, but she is self-efficient. Both Megan and Shenae's interactions with their 2 Running time: 1 hour, 28 minutes. 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 states alternately guarded and careless watch. But its staff emerges as a caring if overstressed group of people who do what they can to steer the girls in their charge toward a productive life. In this field, deadlines are super important. In this article, I honor the significance of girl culture by accounting for The Craft's appeal to girl audiences. After Megan and her mother have falling out and are no longer speaking, the film again shifts focus to Shanae, who has now just lost her mother to heart failure. Discussion Megan grew up without the love and support of her mother who was in prison for drugs and prostitution. Documentary Crime Documentary chronicling America's justice system. 2023, https://www.paperdue.com/essay/girlhood-juvenile-delinquents-shanae-megan-127185, Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative Megan, however, was virtually abandoned by her mother and received little support from the rest of the family. The documentary follows the plight of Megan and Shanae (Garbus, 2003). 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. See production, box office & company info. Issues such as child neglect, failure of the foster care system, alcoholism and drug abuse. Summary: The documentary filmGirlhoodfollows two girls whose actions result in their incarceration in the Waxter Juvenile Facility in Baltimore, Maryland. But Garbus way of humanizing, in some instances, obfuscates the complexity of struggle, survival and the bad from the girls girlhood. The system essentially gives up on trying to control her and turns her loose to fend for herself. Theres no denying the seduction and importance of a lot of this work, but sometimes it isnt enough to turn a camera on other peoples catastrophes. Garbus, L. (Director). That is not to say that traumatic experience, crime or drug abuse are good, but that in these stories they exist and persist, even when the girls triumph and go to prom or spend time with family. 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. 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 film then changes focus on Megan and her deteriorating relationship with her mother. 2 Working within the filmic fairy tale adaptation cycle that emerged between 2005 and 2015, this thesis investigates how girlhood is cinematically constructed through the lens of Megan gets out earlier, but never stays in one place very long. At 14, she was hit by a stray bullet during a gunfight. Girl Hood Winner of the audience award for documentary at 2003 SXSW Film Festival, Liz Garbus' "Girl Hood" is a grim but engrossing look at lives of two troubled teens who must convince . Hanna has won numerous writing awards. (2003). The disrupted attachment led to a paradoxical relationship with the caregivers in Waxter (Shaffer & Kipp, 2010). 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. 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. 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. In the documentary, we learn that she runs away from foster care eleven times, ten before Waxter and once more after leaving Waxter. She perseveres through challenges in life. 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. Subsequently, she was always looking for that support and without it had less incentive and means to create a change in her life. Follows two female inmates - victims of horrific violence and tragedy - who are serving time in a Maryland juvenile detention center. A narrative feature based on the two subjects of Liz Garbus' 2003 documentary "Girlhood," young female inmates Shanae Watkins and Megan Stahl, is in the works. Shanae was only 11 at the time and had tumbled into a numbed existence of drinking and drugs after being gang-raped by five boys. 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. Paperdue.com uses cookies to offer you the best service. The film leaves us with a final mystery about human development. "I was really, really, really confused at the time," Megan says. Electronic Inspiration LLC. Girlhood made its U.S. premiere at SXSW 2003, where it won the Audience Award for Documentary Feature. 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, said Atlantic Screen Productions CEO Simon Fawcett. 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. Her mother was largely able to chart Shanae's problem for the duration of the movie, because she cared about her and wanted to see her do better. Girlhood was shown at the 2003 Tribeca Film Festival and at the South by Southwest Film Festival, where it won the Audience Award. This may be a psychological scar due to her relationship with her mother. Having been abandoned by her mother, with whom she has a very complicated relationship, Megan is desperate for attention and affection. Shanae had to go to a lower security facility before her mother was convinced that she was rehabilitated. With discussions of girls in Virginia Woolf, Simone de Beauvoir, Alice Walker, and Sapphire, I show how these influential feminist authors demonstrate an intense yet anxious preoccupation specifically with girlhood subjectivity as its own identity category, and with girlhood sexuality as a site for devising textuality. "Girlhood Juvenile Delinquents Shanae Megan Waxter Juvenile" (2013, November 14) Retrieved April 18, 2023, from https://www.paperdue.com/essay/girlhood-juvenile-delinquents-shanae-megan-127185, "Girlhood Juvenile Delinquents Shanae Megan Waxter Juvenile" 14 November 2013. This documentary follows these two bright but troubled young girls at the Waxter Juvenile Facility in Baltimore as they struggle their way toward redemption and understanding. At the Quad Cinema, 34 West 13th Street, Greenwich Village. Eysenck, M. (2015). We now have the best team of essay writers in the world. For example, once the girls are out of Waxter, we see Shanae is doing well in school and even goes to her prom. So she held his hand, Review: Beau Is Afraid is quite an odyssey, but not necessarily an oughta-see. "I am halfway through my Associates in Arts degree. The girls crimes obviously color their experiences of girlhood, but they are humanized by Garbus editorial choices through camera angles, the stories we hear, the presentation of various sympathetic or irresponsible adults that accessorize and control the girls lives. Girlhood isnt about an abstraction like the wrongs of the state penal system -- indeed there is very little about how Waxter works (or doesnt) day to day -- its about two very real and complicated kids, each of whom could fill up hours of screen time. The documentary, indeed, treats girlhood as its subject a phase of life distinct from womanhood, childhood or any other experience. 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. Garbus encountered the girls at the Waxter Juvenile Facility in Baltimore while making a television documentary about the boys incarcerated there. Second, she is distressed when her mother leaves. This film is not rated. A narrative feature based on the two subjects of Liz Garbus 2003 documentary Girlhood, young female inmates Shanae Watkins and Megan Stahl, is in the works. However, her mother is a struggling drug addict who is unable to offer the care and support that she required. The new documentary Girlhood isnt a horror movie, but there isnt another movie this year that chills the blood as quickly as the brief exchange caught on camera between a 15-year-old girl and her parents. From there she enrolls in high school, where she places fourth in her class, and plans to attend a community college. Megan was shuffled through 11 different foster homes, running away from all except one. She responded by drinking and drugging, and then at age 12, graduated to murder. Additionally, the film has also been criticized for ignoring the workers at Waxter. Copyright 2022 My Essay Writer. Educates, Advocates, and Agitates for Gender Diversity and Inclusion in Hollywood and the Global Film Industry, In Her Voice: Women Directors Talk Directing, List of Databases for Women in the Film Industry, Celebrating 15 Years of Women and Hollywood, A Message to the Women and Hollywood Community, AFI DOCS and Provincetown Fests Will Open and Close with Women-Directed Pics, Hot Docs 2018 Women Directors: Meet Laura Bari Primas, Hot Docs 2018 Women Directors: Meet Alba Sotorra Commander Arian. Shanae and Megans girlhoods contain all that which other parts of life contain, and to think of Garbus idea of girlhood as winning at the end of the film is short-sighted and perhaps fails to move forward with Girlhood Studies attention to complexity and fullness (including pain) of this part of life for her subjects. Find help here.]. Your email address will not be published. Some are held while they are waiting for a bed in a treatment center. Abruptly, she halted the conversation. The length of her stay at Waxter will depend on whether she can acknowledge what she did and show appropriate remorse. Our managing editor an award-winning journalist has spent the past 7 years refining our roster. 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 . ABSTRACT The teen horror film The Craft (1996) has remained a cult classic with girl audiences for two decades. When Ms. Hill choked on her tears for Shanae leaving - it was heartfelt. 4 Pages. Impact of Trauma
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