This confused young girl ran away from ten foster homes and wound up attacking another . Times guidelines: Adult language, some drug use, strong emotional content. The girls have traumatic experiences that affect their relationship with others. 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. In one of the scenes, she even says that no one loves her. 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. 794 Words. Anyone can read what you share. Garbus, L. (Director). "I don't want to do this no more.". 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. New York: Psychology Press. (Watkins stabbed a girl to death in a street fight.) Third, Shanae becomes emotionally expressive. 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. Some are held while they are waiting for a bed in a treatment center. The system essentially gives up on trying to control her and turns her loose to fend for herself. Even more disturbing is Megan's real acknowledgement of this abandonment. This is the latest feature-length non-fiction film from documentarian Liz Garbus, who has spotlighted imprisonment in 2002's "The Execution of Wanda June" and the 1998 Oscar-nominee "The Farm: Angola USA." As with those two films, "Girlhood" looks at the incarceration of violent-crime offenders. We wont be able to verify your ticket today, but its great to know for the future. One of the biggest criticisms that Garbus. Megan Jensen had a difficult childhood. 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. One characteristic of resilience that Megan portrays is her perseverance. When Megan talks of her mother, it is apparent that Megan suffers from her neglect and lack of structure. Mary Celeste Kearney writes that in approaching girlhood, sociological research, interestingly, often focused on female juvenile delinquency. In recent years, however, Girlhood Studies has grown to include and account for multiple narratives of girlhood, and actively attempts not to make girlhood inferior to womanhood, or take it less seriously. 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. Second, she is distressed when her mother leaves. In the movie, we were able to watch two female offenders in the juvenile justice system. In the beginning, Shanae is not remorseful for committing murder (Garbus, 2003). At the beginning of the documentary, Shanae and Megan are 14 and 16, serving time for murder and assault, respectively. Required fields are marked *, College Essay Examples | January 23, 2017, College Essay Examples | February 2, 2018. She's the sweetheart of the Waxter facility, even if. Newsletters are sent on Fridays at noon EST. Shanae was ten years old when she was gang-raped by five boys. Her emotional responses are not well adjusted. [Write my essay for me? Get help here.]. I thought the movie was captivating, it drew me into the two girls' lives and everything they went through. Having been abandoned by her mother, with whom she has a very complicated relationship, Megan is desperate for attention and affection. 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. And at 12, she had become a killer. Girlhood focuses on the life of two young juveniles, Shanae Owens and Megan Jensen both incarcerated for violent crimes. 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. . ''Girlhood,'' which follows Shanae and Megan over three years beginning in 1999, doesn't pretend that a place like Waxter can hope to do the job by itself. Abruptly, she halted the conversation. The lack of a proper support system is evident because she does not achieve as much as Shanae who does not falter when her mother dies. This leads to her eventual rehabilitation from delinquency. Girls like Shanae and the films other principal subject, Megan, a disarmingly appealing teenager who, bounced from one foster home to another (11 total), landed in Waxter after slicing open another girl with a box cutter. The Girlhood documentary highlights the plight of girls in juvenile centers with some psychological disorders. 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 may be a psychological scar due to her relationship with her mother. She gets her place to live. Producers Liz Garbus, Rory Kennedy. As Oprah questioned Megan about her current situation and plans for the future, the teen grew visibly agitated. Additionally, the film has been criticized for having the drama move the film along. *Not Affiliated, Sponsored or Endorsed by any University. As for the staff of the Waxter, they were awesome. She does become bitter in her adult life, but she is self-efficient. 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. While Shanae sublimates her anger and hurt and moves on with life, for Megan everything is right on the surface. Brody, R., & Dwyer, D. (2016). Megan grew up without the love and support of her mother who was in prison for drugs and prostitution. 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. 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. In class we watched the video Girlhood. Even though she does not get the chance to further her education, she avoids returning to a life of crime (Garbus, 2003). Megan, however, was virtually abandoned by her mother and received little support from the rest of the family. Shanae was arrested for murder at the age of 12, after stabbing a friend to death. But Garbus way of humanizing, in some instances, obfuscates the complexity of struggle, survival and the bad from the girls girlhood. airs Sundays at 9 p.m. Some boys are bailed out by their parents and in other cases they are released by the judge. A story of mothers and daughters, crimes and consequences, and strength in the face of unimaginable adversity, girlhood is a testament to the faith and struggles of two girls just trying to grow up. For example, once the girls are out of Waxter, we see Shanae is doing well in school and even goes to her prom. The film leaves us with a final mystery about human development. "I decided to change some of my ways because I didn't want the system raising my child," she says. The most salient factor in Megan's reversal of fortune however was the tireless work that her mother did to ensure that her daughter became an upstanding individual. Your email address will not be published. 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. Furthermore, at the end of the documentary, she enrolls in a community college nearby. But Vernessa quickly reverts to her old ways, and the scenes of Megan viciously berating her mother for her failures are painful to watch. Garbus interest in and empathy for her subjects and, more importantly, the way in which she relays their girlhood, makes for an entertaining and emotional documentary, but perhaps an incomplete one. Even though her mother has a problem with drugs and prostitution, she is distressed when she does not receive visits or calls from her. Shanae has been at Waxter longer than any other inmate and after two years shes itching to get out. This film is not rated. 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. Shanae fatally stabbed the girl in the neck with a kitchen knife. A Moxie Firecracker Production for TLC, released by Wellspring. It first examines the main purpose, and location of the facility, and then turns to how the facility would deal with resident problems with socialization, education, and correctional components. This age difference is crucial because there is a mutability associated with Sign in to rate and Watchlist for personalized recommendations. 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. By end fil MPAA rating: Unrated. Liz Garbus's hard-headed documentary film ''Girlhood'' is prefaced with an unsettling statistic: in the last decade the number of violent assaults by under-age girls in this country has doubled. She perseveres through challenges in life. She Alba Sotorra is an independent filmmaker and producer based in Barcelona. From there she enrolls in high school, where she places fourth in her class, and plans to attend a community college. Follows two female inmates - victims of horrific violence and tragedy - who are serving time in a Maryland juvenile detention center. Juvenile Delinquency 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. The juvenile justice system serves her well, because she's deeply involved in forging her own path. The project, titled "Hood Girls," will be written and directed by Miriam Kruishoop ("Greencard Warriors") and produced by Atlantic Screen Productions. Unlike Megan, who ends up bitter, Shanae has a positive outlook that things will become better. The mystery of the young woman's disappearance haunts her single, middle-aged, working-class mother, Mari Gilbert (Amy Ryan), for the duration of Lost Girls intentionally bleak, downbeat, if. However, after the collective effort from her mother and rehabilitation officers, she becomes emotionally expressive. 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. Ecological Framework Although large chunks of time seem to pass by unrecorded, the pairs personalities emerge through numbingly familiar stories of sexual assault, abandonment and substance abuse. So she held his hand, Review: Beau Is Afraid is quite an odyssey, but not necessarily an oughta-see. On the other hand, Girl Hood creates an uncomfortable comparison between Shanae and Megan and their relationship with their mothers. 1103 Words. Megan was shuffled through 11 different foster homes, running away from all except one. ''GIRLHOOD,'' a new documentary, is a poignant and often distressing look at the lives of two teenage girls, inmates at the Thomas J. S. Waxter Children's Center for juvenile detention near Baltimore. Feb 26th, 2022 Published. 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. When Girlhood opens, Shanae (we never learn her last name) is serving time in the all-girls unit at the Thomas J.S. Through abbreviated, seamlessly edited scenes, the girls are observed lurching through the juvenile penal system by awkward fits and starts. We now have the best team of essay writers in the world. I have three lovely kids," she says. You are also agreeing to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Garbus explains that she encountered the contradictions of Shanae and Megans girlhoods early on; she mentions that she was struck by [Shanaes] little girl-ness, her innocence, but this was complicated by what she learned about the violence of her crime. That is to say, Garbus sees crime and girlhood as opposite experiences. Hood Girls will cover a considerably longer span of Watkins and Stahls lives than Girlhood did. 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. Finally, she becomes distraught when her relationship with her mother ends. Exclusively at Laemmles Music Hall, 9036 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills (310) 274-6869. Discussion The majority of her life, her mother was either on the streets giving into her drug addiction or incarcerated for prostitution charges. That's when you really knew how much time and love were put in for the girls in this particular place. The hard cases penned up here are girls whose youth, bright smiles and flashes of irritation at being kept under lock and key belie their grim, violent histories. The film, however, makes Shanae and Megans girlhoods into victory stories when, instead, they are something much more complex. Additionally, the film has also been criticized for ignoring the workers at Waxter. 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