The domain that best explains Megans attachment issues is the ambivalent/resistant attachment. I dont think girls are really less aggressive than boys, nor do I think we should somehow pathologize aggressive and violent behaviour by girls but see it as a given among boys. Our company is proud to host more than 80 of North Americas best essay writers. http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/girlhood Often it's not enough. In the second segment, she runs away from foster homes to try to live with her mother. Filled with a new sense of hope and ambition, Megan got her life together, pursuing an education and focusing on her family. As you watch it, you wish the film would fill in more of each girl's background. ~ (Source: Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide). Is the Megan inside Waxter the same Megan outside Waxter? Megan was shuffled through 11 different foster homes, running away from all except one. Megan, 16, was also involved in a fight and was convicted of assault with a deadly weapon. What both girls crave is the stabilizing force of a caring and responsible mother. The documentary follows the plight of Megan and Shanae (Garbus, 2003). Brody, R., & Dwyer, D. (2016). 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). There was nothing in this film that led me to believe that society has a handle on the current youth crime situation, and that made me sadder than the plight of these two confused girls who were trying to grow up too fast and came up short. 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. Similarly, she seems to suffer from ambivalent attachment because she is always distressed when she is unable to receive affirmations from her mother. In contrast to Shanaes successes, when out of Waxter, Megan soon runs away from her foster home with no consequences (despite the fact that staying in foster care is a requirement of her patrol), couch surfs for a while and eventually gets her own place with her cousin. Open Document. 1103 Words. The film pivots from the girls to their relationships with their moms, as Garbus follows their development from girls into young ladies. Shanae 1. Abruptly, she halted the conversation. At one point, Megan states that she feels that she is an old woman trapped in a young womans body because she has so much to regret. That was 11 years ago. Then, everything changed when Megan got pregnant. Your email address will not be published. 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. Megan, after a failed escape attempt from Waxter, goes into another foster home. Garbus in her commentary points out that Shanae does not believe that the gang rape should be seen as some sort of excuse for her murdering her friend. Shanae, after much perseverance, overcoming her appalling behaviours and graduate from high school. Obviously, the director, Liz Garbus, wants to achieve in a documentary the power and. The documentary follows the plight of Megan and Shanae (Garbus, 2003). The family situation takes over as more important than the help they received through the criminal justice system. After watching the documentary, it is easy to see that Megans environment has contributed greatly to her childhood and ultimately her adult life. "Oprah: Where Are They Now?" When Megans mom got released from jail, she even lived there for awhile. I dont think its a right-wing conclusion to say that everyone needs family and that strong families raise strong, healthy, happy children who can grow up to be adults who can contribute positively to our society. She gave birth to a daughter and moved to North Carolina in an effort to start anew. Megan, the more unruly of the two is a little older than Shanae. New York: Psychology Press. 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. Unfortunately, this meant that she wasnt around to supervise Shanae. Girlhood Directed by Liz Garbus A riveting documentary about two young offenders serving time in a Baltimore juvenile facility and their struggles over a three-year period to forge a new life for themselves against formidable odds. 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. Documentary chronicling America's justice system. At first, Shanae shows no remorse over killing another human being, but gradually she takes a hard look at what she did and is sorry. She demonstrates that you can support and love your child while not making excuses for them. Documentary chronicling America's justice system. A wild, tough-talking girl of mixed race who has run away from 10 foster homes, she was incarcerated for attacking another foster child with a box cutter. The number of girls incarcerated for violent crimes is on the rise. "I just lost all respect for myself," she says. In the film's most compelling scenes Megan confronts Vernessa, who has been released from prison and who professes her love and determination to be an anchor for her daughter. Press ESC to cancel. I was just doing anything to kill myself, honestly," she says. 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. Her anger keeps her going. Second, she is unable to regulate her emotions (Garbus, 2003). Strength-Based Approaches But not everyone has families like this. Feb 26th, 2022 Published. The difference between one girl supposedly climbing out of her bad situation and the other continuing in her dead-end path, is seen as a matter of good parenting and a child willing to change her bad ways. The girls have traumatic experiences that affect their relationship with others. Copyright 2022 My Essay Writer. In the documentary, she is always trying to contact either the mother or the grandmother. The length of her stay at Waxter will depend on whether she can acknowledge what she did and show appropriate remorse. She perseveres through challenges in life. Garbus followed Shanaes suggestion and was determined to include her in her film. Part of HuffPost News. He also states that although many of the girls leave Waxter and go on to live lives free of crime, others lives deteriorate when they get back home because of the dangers and tempations of life in their often crime-filled neighbourhoods (remember most of the inmates at Waxler are coming from Baltimore!). Once Shanae begins to face the reality of what she did, she is transferred to a group home and begins to flourish. Shanae was arrested for murder at the age of 12, after stabbing a friend to death. The DVD has an interesting commentary by Liz Barbus, whose filmogarphy is also provided. The early life trauma that these girls experienced impacted . 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. Spirituality & Practice. How is Megan Jensen from Girlhood doing I just saw the film and was really. 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. Even though her parent is giving her support, she was still scared of Shanae. With the help of her mother, Shanae can graduate from high school. A lot of this seems due in part to her mother Antoinettes support. This documentary really touched me and made me so much more grateful for my environment and support. Make sure to answer each of the questions as thoroughly as possible. By age 10, she had been committed to two psychiatric hospitals and diagnosed as manic-depressive. Megan, the other young offender continues to practise delinquent . Follows two female inmates - victims of horrific violence and tragedy - who are serving time in a Maryland juvenile detention center. 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. She got into a knife fight at 11 with her girlfriend and fatally stabbed her three times. At Waxter, Megans need for attention and affection, her vulnerablity, are on display for everyone to see. By what name was Girlhood (2003) officially released in Canada in English? When we meet Megan at Waxter it is clear that she is something of a troublemaker but probably more out of boredom than any malice (Garbus in her DVD commentary says that Megan is actually a very respectful young woman and that one of her main criticism of the Waxter Facility is that there is not really much structured activities for the inmates.). Girlhood Movie Analysis. These girls are the subjects of Liz Garbus' documentary, Girlhood. You are also agreeing to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. But Garbus way of humanizing, in some instances, obfuscates the complexity of struggle, survival and the bad from the girls girlhood. Shanae is 14 and has served two years at Waxter for the murder of her friend, a crime she committed when she as only 12 years old. Shanae is 14 and has served two years at Waxter for the murder of her friend, a crime she committed when she as only 12 years old. Shanae shows certain resilience characteristics that help her reform her life. In my own opinion, considering that Megan has to do all this on her own, hers is the greater achievement. 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. Required fields are marked *, College Essay Examples | October 19, 2018. Megan also shows that she has self-efficacy. The girls have traumatic experiences that affect their relationship with others. Challenging Attachment Impact of Trauma The girls the film follows for three years are Shanae and Megan, as the film begins in 1999. Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. Additionally, she still struggles after growing up, but she ensures that she never becomes an addict (Garbus, 2003). The title of the film is overly simple and, to an extent, revealing in its simplicity. Well, its also said to be on the increase here in Canada. Begin typing your search term above and press enter to search. 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. Once Shanae begins to face the reality of what she did, she is transferred to a group home and begins to flourish. Megan Jensen had a difficult childhood. Wake up to the day's most important news. 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. Unlike Megan, who ends up bitter, Shanae has a positive outlook that things will become better. She gets her place to live. How A Violent Teen Who Had Given Up On Life Turned It All Around. Required fields are marked *. 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, Fawcett said. This paradoxical relationship with her parent is evident (Brody & Dwyer, 2016). Garbus follows Shanae and Megan over a three-year period as they move through the juvenile system, struggle with mixed feelings toward their mothers, comment on the efforts of the staff to set them on the straight and narrow, and try to cope with the changes in their lives. We wont be able to verify your ticket today, but its great to know for the future. The Girlhood documentary highlights the plight of girls in juvenile centers with some psychological disorders. Shanae and Megan both experienced similar circumstances that yielded different outcomes. Even though her mother has a problem with drugs and prostitution, she is distressed when she does not receive visits or calls from her. T he 'Girlhood' documentary highlights the plight of girls in juvenile centers with some psychological disorders. Step-by-step explanation. airs Sundays at 9 p.m. Girlhood was shown at the 2003 Tribeca Film Festival and at the South by Southwest Film Festival, where it won the Audience Award. Shanae also does well in school finishing fourth in her class. Sometimes, it is members of our own families that expose our children to drugs and alcohol, something I have often seen growing up in my own neighbourhood. Second, she is distressed when her mother leaves. This comment is echoed by Mr. Godsey, a staff at the facility, who states in the film that although the girls dont like structure they need it because they havent had it at home. Question: In the documentary "Girlhood, " the two main characters Shanae and Megan had two very different reintegration experiences after being placed in a detention center. This film is not rated. 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. She had lived in an environment that was full of disruption. This is where politics comes in and things get ugly. Her emotional responses are not well adjusted. The film leaves us with a final mystery about human development. Antoinette does her best in extremely difficult circumstances. Other aspects reveal themselves when she grows older. 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 state's alternately guarded and. 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. But one is left wondering how this silly girl took it upon herself to attack another young woman with a box cutter (the main reason why she is locked up). 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 8 User reviews In this field, deadlines are super important. At 17, she was living in her own apartment in a druggie neighborhood. As Oprah questioned Megan about her current situation and plans for the future, the teen grew visibly agitated. Your email address will not be published. ''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. You watch Megan go from being a silly little girl at Waxter to being a bitter, angry and hard woman so quickly that you cant help but be reminded of Mr. Godseys point about these girls needing structure. Having been abandoned by her mother, with whom she has a very complicated relationship, Megan is desperate for attention and affection. 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. Megan Jensen is doing very well in life. Shanaes ability to feel remorse for her actions is seen as a key benchmark that needs to be achieved before she can leave Waxter. "I decided to change some of my ways because I didn't want the system raising my child," she says. ET on OWN. The protagonists are Shanae Owens and Megan Jensen. New York: Psychology Press. She is a very smart girl who rejoices when given a chance to move on to another facility and then return home to her father and mother. But the reality is that Shanae, because of the support of her family, is able to overcome the trauma of her childhood and the impact of her crime and graduate from high school and go on to community college whereas Megan, without really any family support, is only able to struggle, her greatest achievement being that she doesnt return to crime or become a hardcore drug addict. At the beginning of the documentary, Shanae and Megan are 14 and 16, serving time for murder and assault, respectively. The film, however, makes Shanae and Megans girlhoods into victory stories when, instead, they are something much more complex. ''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. By end fil There are a number of reasons for why Shanae was able to turn her life around whereas Megan was not. I wasn't alone. So the question is to what degree do we all have to support children whose families cant? ''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. The extent of Garbus access to the girls while in detention is remarkable (she states that she eventually had keys to the inside of the Waxter facility because the staff got tired of her and her crews constant requests to get into different rooms). In the beginning, Shanae is not remorseful for committing murder (Garbus, 2003). An alternate perspective of Girl Hood is that it is a film that tries too hard to achieve an ending on a positive note. As a child, her mother was absent. Megan on the other hand, has a more difficult time staying out of trouble and maintaining good grades. Lock 'em up and keep them off the streets is the familiar cry. In the documentary, we learn that she runs away from foster care eleven times, ten before Waxter and once more after leaving Waxter. Before starting the film girlhood, she actually meant to do a film about young men in juvenile detention centres because from her work on the film Angola, she was intrigued and disturbed by how many of the inmates there said they had learned the tricks of their trade from their experiences in juvenile detention. Early in the film it is apparent that Shanae doesn't really feel remorseful for the murder of her friend. Find help here.]. Like Us On Facebook | Follow Us On Twitter. Additionally, the film has been criticized for having the drama move the film along. The title Girlhood splits in two on the opening credits, with "girl" and "hood" on separate lines. Girlhood misses some of the nuance of the girlhoods that it seeks to document in a few ways. 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 adolescent years as she hung out with the wrong friends. Megan admits to having a special relationship with a fellow inmate which seems to be of a romantic nature. 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. 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. Garbus, L. (Director). But if the viewer pays close attention to the film and Liz Garbus commentary we learn that Shanaes mother was a single parent working two jobs trying to support Shanae and move her family out of the projects. Garbus encountered the girls at the Waxter Juvenile Facility in Baltimore while making a television documentary about the boys incarcerated there. I have three lovely kids," she says. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. Megan also leaves Waxter. Girlhood[Motion Picture]. "Oprah: Where Are They Now?" Essay Sample Check Writing Quality. This time around, she focuses her attention on two young women in Waxter Juvenile Facility near Baltimore, Maryland. A riveting documentary about two young offenders serving time in a Baltimore juvenile facility and their struggles over a three-year period to forge a new life for themselves against formidable odds. [Write my essay for me? Get help here.]. Liz Garbus has made other films about life in prison, such as the Academy Award Winning The Farm: Angola. Shanae even overcomes the death of her mom three months later from a heart attack and goes on to graduate from a public high school and enroll in a community college. Just check our reviews! This presumption is damaging because ultimately Garbus makes uncomplicated subjects of the girls. Abandoned by her mother, a heroin addict turned prostitute, Megan ran away from then different foster homes before being arrested on assault charges. Shanae had to go to a lower security facility before her mother was convinced that she was rehabilitated. Its no wonder. 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 . Anyone can read what you share. All rights reserved. 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. Of the two only Shanae receives that nurturing, and it seems to make all the difference. Furthermore, at the end of the documentary, she enrolls in a community college nearby. The staff person made it clear that she wasnt there on official business. 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. The relationship between staff and the young girls is also essential to how the girls grow and move forward with their lives. The third is her reluctance to become close with others. she has come a long way from this documentry i love and am so proud of my sistrr. Liz Garbus, who was nominated for an Academy Award in 1999 for The Farm: Angola, USA, shoots in her latest an unflinching cinema verite documentary about two teenager girls who committed violent crimes and are now incarcerated at Maryland's Waxter Juvenile Facility. http://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2003-nov-14-et-girlhood14-story.html Her divorced mom moved to the suburbs to get her out of harms way but Shanae, though never arrested, still managed to find again the wrong friends and display bad conduct at home. 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. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Megan is doing great for herself Follows two female inmates - victims of horrific violence and tragedy - who are serving time in a Maryland juvenile detention center. Girl Hood was released in 2003 and since then has won many awards. Shanae moves into a lower security halfway house because her mother does not feel ready to take her back home. It is also quite clear that the staff at Waxter have a special affection for her despite her antics. 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. That Ms. Garbus was able to get so close to her likable subjects and allow us to see that they are not quite the monsters we might perceive from reading the newspapers about such bad girls, is what makes this film so special. Shanaes development has been disrupted. "I am halfway through my Associates in Arts degree. Thankfully, her parents point out that being dead is definitely WORSE than being in detention! Liz Garbus made The Farm: Angola, USA in 1998, a riveting documentary about six men in a Louisiana penitentiary; it was nominated for an Academy Award. murdering another girl after the two got into an argument. She portrays this by her apprehensive response that she gives to her parent. Gender Roles In The Film Girlhood. Megan grew up without the love and support of her mother who was in prison for drugs and prostitution. Megan admits that when she leaves Waxter she will only be going back to another foster home. 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. The documentary, indeed, treats girlhood as its subject a phase of life distinct from womanhood, childhood or any other experience. The first example is how wary she is of strangers (Eysenck, 2015). No matter how optimistic I am, when I am reaching out to young women, I need to understand different backgrounds. 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. She was farmed out to live with a foster parent. At 14, she was hit by a stray bullet during a gunfight. Required fields are marked *. 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. The 16-year-old Shanae was placed in the Florence Crittenton Group home and the slightly older Megan was rewarded for trying to run away by gaining her official freedom. Footage of the two girls is then followed along with more title cards that give insight into the crimes they have committed. We can see for ourselves how much love they need and how dangerous it is to think that institutions alone can solve these societal problems. She is often well behaved, but she still shows bouts of mischief. Girlhood Worksheet Please complete this worksheet based on the film Girlhood. With the girls going nowhere at Waxter, they were given a new lease on life by changing facilities. The girls as well as their moms were open and seemed to not hold back their emotions for the camera, with Megan a virtual basket case of excitability and the childish Shanae changing for the better as she matures. 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. But Vernessa quickly reverts to her old ways, and the scenes of Megan viciously berating her mother for her failures are painful to watch. Second, Shanae develops a positive outlook. Interviews. However, her mother is a struggling drug addict who is unable to offer the care and support that she required.