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. When she originally returned to Baltimore, Megan's life went downhill. Hood Girls will cover a considerably longer span of Watkins and Stahls lives than Girlhood did. 4 Pages. She had many problems communicating with her foster parents, and she ran away ten times before she had even been arrested for aggravated assault. AFI DOCS, a documentary fest in the Laura Bari made her full-length debut with Antoine, a documentary about the imaginary life of a blind boy. By end fil It isnt just difficult to do justice to Shanae and Megan in an average of 44 minutes apiece; as it turns out, its impossible. Copyright 2023 . 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. Required fields are marked *. All Rights Reserved. Chineye died from her wounds, and Shanae was sent to a juvenile detention center that housed some of the most violent young offenders . 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. The documentary follows the plight of Megan and Shanae (Garbus, 2003). "I don't want to do this no more.". 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. Copyright 2022 My Essay Writer. 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 . Subsequently, she was always looking for that support and without it had less incentive and means to create a change in her life. The film follows them from 1999 through the year 2002. This may be a psychological scar due to her relationship with her mother. Girlhood. From there she enrolls in high school, where she places fourth in her class, and plans to attend a community college. The film opens with the title card, In the United States, during the last decade, the number of young girls committing violent crimes has more than doubled. In the documentary, we learn that she runs away from foster care eleven times, ten before Waxter and once more after leaving Waxter. ABSTRACT The teen horror film The Craft (1996) has remained a cult classic with girl audiences for two decades. Open Document. I argue that The Craft's relevance to . As you watch it, you wish the film would fill in more of each girl's background. Girlhood made its U.S. premiere at SXSW 2003, where it won the Audience Award for Documentary Feature. Garbus, L. (Director). The girls the film follows for three years are Shanae and Megan, as the film begins in 1999. She gets her place to live. 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. This paradoxical relationship with her parent is evident (Brody & Dwyer, 2016). At twelve years old Shanae was involved in a fight that ended with Shanae stabbing and killing a young girl. But it also made me wonder, why was Megan not looked after in essence like Shanae was? First, she has goals and aspirations. We wont be able to verify your ticket today, but its great to know for the future. We also met Megan, who, unlike Shanae, was not at the . I was just doing anything to kill myself, honestly," she says. 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. 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 . Copyright Disclaimer under section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, t. Footage of the two girls is then followed along with more title cards that give insight into the crimes they have committed. The field of Girlhood Studies continues to grow and perhaps offers guidance in understanding where Garbus erred. 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. Garbus rigidity in framing the girls experiences does not allow for the expansiveness and complexity allowed by new theories of girlhood. 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. murdering another girl after the two got into an argument. The documentary follows the plight of Megan and Shanae (Garbus, 2003). Shanae Owens is incarcerated after murdering a friend at age eleven and Megan Jensen for assault with a deadly weapon on a foster sibling. Like Us On Facebook | Follow Us On Twitter. That's when you really knew how much time and love were put in for the girls in this particular place. However, her mother is a struggling drug addict who is unable to offer the care and support that she required. In Garbus film, Shanae and Megans girlhood set up a dichotomy: girlhood is good, everything else threatening, extraneous and intrusive, instead of part of the story of girlhood itself. Through abbreviated, seamlessly edited scenes, the girls are observed lurching through the juvenile penal system by awkward fits and starts. 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. The first example is how wary she is of strangers (Eysenck, 2015). Girlhood tells the story of two young girls locked up in The Waxter Juvenile Facility in Baltimore because they committed violent crimes. Challenging Attachment 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. Editor Mary Manhardt. 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. Cannes, this is how its done: projects from female filmmakers are set to kick off and conclude both AFI DOCS and Provincetown International Film Festival. Privacy Policy, Download this Essay in word format (.docx), Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative, Juvenile Detention and Corrections Standards, New Juvenile Detention Center, if Given Unlimited, Girlhood Juvenile Delinquents Shanae Megan Waxter Juvenile Essay. 1103 Words. 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. Join our weekly newsletter to stay up-to-date on women centric, directed, and written films and news. Not Hollywood, not L.A., not the country, At 19, he won a local school board seat. Shanae has been at Waxter longer than any other inmate and after two years shes itching to get out. Despite the locked doors and garish green paint daubing the hallways, the Waxter center doesnt look all that forbidding. 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. Press ESC to cancel. As the documentary end, it is clear that Megan is afraid to trust others. AMCTheatres.com or AMC App New. At paperdue.com, we provide students the tools they need to streamline their studying, researching, and writing tasks. Second, Shanae develops a positive outlook. The documentary indicates the patterns in Shanae's and Megan's life histories that fit with offending. Kennedy, R., and Garbus, L. (2003). She's the sweetheart of the Waxter facility, even if. It seemed like there was more of an effort to know where Shanae was and more help was provided for her then for Megan. Summary: The documentary filmGirlhoodfollows two girls whose actions result in their incarceration in the Waxter Juvenile Facility in Baltimore, Maryland. Sign in to rate and Watchlist for personalized recommendations. "Oprah: Where Are They Now?" 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). Treating the girls girlhoods as linear stories of overcoming erases the fullness, pain and challenge of all that comprises their girlhoods. Filled with a new sense of hope and ambition, Megan got her life together, pursuing an education and focusing on her family. We were introduced to Shanae, a young girl, convicted of murder. 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. 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. Second, she is distressed when her mother leaves. 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. She angrily lashes out at the girl, but shows no remorse when she finds out that she died. 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. Sitting in the back of her mother and fathers car, Shanae -- one of the two teenage girls at the center of Liz Garbus arresting nonfiction film about young offenders -- declares that the schoolmate she stabbed to death a few years earlier has it easier. When Megan talks of her mother, it is apparent that Megan suffers from her neglect and lack of structure. Documentary chronicling America's justice system. Girlhood Movie Analysis. SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY: GIRLHOOD MOVIE REVIEW. Shanae was ten years old when she was gang-raped by five boys. Growing up, Megan had shuffled through 11 different foster homes, running away from all but one of them. Unfortunately, juvenile crime is becoming more and more of an issue here. The two attend classes, hang out (rarely with each other), argue with their adult keepers, pout and rage and confess their secrets to Garbus carefully unobtrusive camera. Shanae was arrested for murder at the age of 12, after stabbing a friend to death. Web.18 April. 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