The film, however, makes Shanae and Megans girlhoods into victory stories when, instead, they are something much more complex. Essay Sample Check Writing Quality. 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). 2023 BuzzFeed, Inc. All rights reserved. Identification Required fields are marked *, College Essay Examples | January 23, 2017, College Essay Examples | February 2, 2018. ABSTRACT The teen horror film The Craft (1996) has remained a cult classic with girl audiences for two decades. 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. Additionally, the film has been criticized for having the drama move the film along. But Garbus way of humanizing, in some instances, obfuscates the complexity of struggle, survival and the bad from the girls girlhood. See production, box office & company info. They both received open-ended sentences and their release depends on their current jail behavior. She gets her place to live. "I was really, really, really confused at the time," Megan says. 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. Even more disturbing is Megan's real acknowledgement of this abandonment. Subsequently, she was always looking for that support and without it had less incentive and means to create a change in her life. In the lower security facility interview, Shanae reveals that five men gang-raped her when she was young. Electronic Inspiration LLC. Begin typing your search term above and press enter to search. In the second segment, she runs away from foster homes to try to live with her mother. The film leaves us with a final mystery about human development. Issues such as child neglect, failure of the foster care system, alcoholism and drug abuse. Megan, however, never received such support from her mother, or from the rest of her family. Shanae had a substantially greater amount of support than Megan did. "I'm happy now.". While Shanae told her own story -- murdering another girl after the two got into an argument -- and shared remorse for her violent actions, Megan seemed much more guarded. Documentary chronicling America's justice system. Against all odds, they have become responsible citizens who give back to their communities.. Garbus encountered the girls at the Waxter Juvenile Facility in Baltimore while making a television documentary about the boys incarcerated there. Harrowing moment medics rush to save Jeremy Renner's life after he was crushed by 14,000lb snow plow - as actor is seen sprawled on the ground in a pool of his own blood and with 35 broken bones Wake up to the day's most important news. 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. How A Violent Teen Who Had Given Up On Life Turned It All Around. Megan Jensen had a difficult childhood. 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. From there she enrolls in high school, where she places fourth in her class, and plans to attend a community college. Is it maternal nurturing that makes the difference? The disrupted attachment led to a paradoxical relationship with the caregivers in Waxter (Shaffer & Kipp, 2010). That was 11 years ago. Copyright Disclaimer under section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for fair use for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, education and research.This Documentary/Film \"Girlhood\" is not for any personal financial profit or gain to TheeSymphony'sCulture Channel, but instead only for educational purposes and cultural research. 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 . Shanae, an African-American who has been at Waxter for two years when the film begins, was sent there after stabbing a girl to death in a knife fight. The field of Girlhood Studies continues to grow and perhaps offers guidance in understanding where Garbus erred. The primary objective of the film is an exploration into the social implications for the increase of crime committed by young women such as Shanae and Megan. Despite the locked doors and garish green paint daubing the hallways, the Waxter center doesnt look all that forbidding. The impulse to end on an up note, to turn complex and contradictory lives into palatable narratives, is one of the least-examined pitfalls in nonfiction filmmaking. Open Document. She Alba Sotorra is an independent filmmaker and producer based in Barcelona. Even though she has been through the trauma of murdering another girl, it seems like the rape ordeal was the first trauma that led to the myriad of deviant behavior (Garbus, 2003). From there she enrolls in high school, where she places fourth in her class, and plans to attend a community college. Abruptly, she halted the conversation. Megan, however, was virtually abandoned by her mother and received little support from the rest of the family. In the film Girlhood by Liz Garbus we are introduced to two young girl's named Megan and Shanae, who committed a crime and are getting help through a facility that helps young girls reflect on their actions. 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. "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.". This paper provides a social psychological review of Megan and Shanae from an ecological point of view as well as an attachment perspective. 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. That roster includes ''The Farm: Angola, U.S.A,'' an acclaimed film about the largest maximum-security prison in the United States, and ''The Execution of Wanda Jean,'' a sympathetic portrait of the first black woman executed in America in the last 50 years. As you watch it, you wish the film would fill in more of each girl's background. We now have the best team of essay writers in the world. All Rights Reserved. Our company is proud to host more than 80 of North Americas best essay writers. In this field, deadlines are super important. The documentary follows the plight of Megan and Shanae (Garbus, 2003). Shanae was arrested for murder at the age of 12, after stabbing a friend to death. 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. 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. Other aspects reveal themselves when she grows older. As for the staff of the Waxter, they were awesome. This confused young girl ran away from ten foster homes and wound up attacking another . 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. 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. 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. Hood Girls will cover a considerably longer span of Watkins and Stahls lives than Girlhood did. The subject of their research lies in the standards of juvenile detention centers and facilities. The first example is how wary she is of strangers (Eysenck, 2015). 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. Confronted with her crime, Shanae is strangely detached and has little memory of the incident. 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. Her cousin has to console her. At paperdue.com, we provide students the tools they need to streamline their studying, researching, and writing tasks. ''Girlhood'' is the newest entry in Ms. Garbus's long list of socially concerned documentaries made for theaters and television. By what name was Girlhood (2003) officially released in Canada in English? 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. Megan had given up, and even ended up back in jail. With the help of her mother, Shanae can graduate from high school. 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 Directed by Liz Garbus; director of photography, Tony Hardmon; edited by Mary Manhardt; music by Theodore Shapiro; produced by Ms. Garbus and Rory Kennedy; released by Wellspring. Once Shanae begins to face the reality of what she did, she is transferred to a group home and begins to flourish. http://www.nytimes.com/2003/10/29/movies/film-review-documentary-illuminates-young-lives-crossroads-redemption.html Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. While taking the country, Following an investigations there were findings that certain violations were evident and specifically those relating to failure to protect confined juveniles from harm; failure to address incidences of youth violence due to inadequate supervision; failure to protect juveniles confined from participation in sexual activity; and excessive use of physical force, among other serious violations all clearly in violation of professional standards and conduct. Girlhood focuses on the life of two young juveniles, Shanae Owens and Megan Jensen both incarcerated for violent crimes. 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. 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. 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. At twelve years old Shanae was involved in a fight that ended with Shanae stabbing and killing a young girl. 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. Director Liz Garbus. associated with girlhood. These girls are the subjects of Liz Garbus' documentary, Girlhood. What Parents Need to Know. 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. At the Quad Cinema, 34 West 13th Street, Greenwich Village. Copyright 2022 My Essay Writer. Additionally, she still struggles after growing up, but she ensures that she never becomes an addict (Garbus, 2003). Follows two female inmates - victims of horrific violence and tragedy - who are serving time in a Maryland juvenile detention center. It is typically more difficult for adults to change their patterns of behavior than it is for younger people. Shanae had to go to a lower security facility before her mother was convinced that she was rehabilitated. In the beginning, Shanae is not remorseful for committing murder (Garbus, 2003). A Moxie Firecracker Production for TLC, released by Wellspring. Some boys are bailed out by their parents and in other cases they are released by the judge. Aired on 07/20/2014 | CC tv-pg In 2003, Oprah spoke to Megan, a teenage girl who had spent time in a juvenile detention facility for some of the country's most violent youths. Girlhood Movie Analysis. By continuing, you are agreeing to receive cookies. Megan gets out earlier, but never stays in one place very long. ''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. 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. Hanna has won numerous writing awards. http://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2003-nov-14-et-girlhood14-story.html, http://www.nytimes.com/2003/10/29/movies/film-review-documentary-illuminates-young-lives-crossroads-redemption.html, http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/girlhood-subjects-get-narrative-feature-829762, http://sites.google.com/view/ehdwjwbxfu/linkedlist-member-modification-c, thesis statements about the xname sequence. Of strangers ( Eysenck, 2015 ) places fourth in her life last week Waxter made headline news in after! 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