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. 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. 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. Shanae, after much perseverance, overcoming her appalling behaviours and graduate from high school. The third is her reluctance to become close with others. Megan also leaves Waxter. Shanae was ten years old when she was gang-raped by five boys. The film, however, makes Shanae and Megans girlhoods into victory stories when, instead, they are something much more complex. These girls are the subjects of Liz Garbus' documentary, Girlhood. 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. Follows two female inmates - victims of horrific violence and tragedy - who are serving time in a Maryland juvenile detention center. They focus upon the history of corrections, the history of juvenile corrections, and the history of the standards of juvenile corrections. girlhood documentary "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 Children's Center in Laurel, Maryland, to when they are out in the real world. Hood Girls will cover a considerably longer span of Watkins and Stahls lives than Girlhood did. What both girls crave is the stabilizing force of a caring and responsible mother. 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. This paper provides a social psychological review of Megan and Shanae from an ecological point of view as well as an attachment perspective. Megan, however, was virtually abandoned by her mother and received little support from the rest of the family. Begin typing your search term above and press enter to search. It seemed like there was more of an effort to know where Shanae was and more help was provided for her then for Megan. 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 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). 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. Theres no suggestion that the teenager feels any true remorse, only that shes learned how to deploy the same hollow psychological platitudes as her jailers. 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. Co-producer, sound Amy Goodman. The relationship between staff and the young girls is also essential to how the girls grow and move forward with their lives. 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. It isnt just difficult to do justice to Shanae and Megan in an average of 44 minutes apiece; as it turns out, its impossible. This may be a psychological scar due to her relationship with her mother. A Moxie Firecracker Production for TLC, released by Wellspring. The subject of their research lies in the standards of juvenile detention centers and facilities. Innumerable advancements and innovations have profoundly contributed to the betterment of the lives of the human race in the twenty first century. 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. After graduating from the Comosun College's journalism program, she went on to work at community newspapers throughout Atlantic Canada, before embarking on her freelancing journey. But Garbus way of humanizing, in some instances, obfuscates the complexity of struggle, survival and the bad from the girls girlhood. 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. Megan, the more unruly of the two is a little older than Shanae. associated with girlhood. By end fil 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. Today, the Baltimore native is living in North Carolina and acknowledges that she wasn't in a good place during her "Oprah Show" appearance. [Write my essay for me? Get help here.]. However, Garbus suggests that this is due to the lack of adequate recreational activities in Waxter (Garbus, 2003). The film is intense and very blunt but it also does a great job of showing the human side of these two young people over a three year span of time. The girls the film follows for three years are Shanae and Megan, as the film begins in 1999. Documentary Crime Documentary chronicling America's justice system. For instance, Antoinette is a single mother who worked in two jobs so that she could support Shanae. Megan, the more unruly of the two is a little older than Shanae. Girlhood made its U.S. premiere at SXSW 2003, where it won the Audience Award for Documentary Feature. "I don't want to do this no more.". 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. She perseveres through challenges in life. Third, Shanae becomes emotionally expressive. 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. ''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. The length of her stay at Waxter will depend on whether she can acknowledge what she did and show appropriate remorse. 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 fatally stabbed the girl in the neck with a kitchen knife. 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. teaching psychology courses. Some boys are bailed out by their parents and in other cases they are released by the judge. Garbus, L. (Director). In 1997 on a Baltimore street, Shanae got into a fight with 13-year-old Chineye Mills, allegedly over a boy. Electronic Inspiration LLC. New York: Cengage Learning. Kennedy, R., and Garbus, L. (2003). Instead it resembles one of those depressingly familiar, underfunded and understaffed holding pens for social throwaways -- in other words, it looks as much like an inner-city high school as a correctional institution. See production, box office & company info. This confused young girl ran away from ten foster homes and wound up attacking another . This leads to her eventual rehabilitation from delinquency. 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 now have the best team of essay writers in the world. Press ESC to cancel. This fact, combined with the lack of familial support that Megan got, certainly contributed to her continuing to run away from foster homes. For example, the filmmaker emphasizes Shanaes growth since leaving Waxter. 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 . The juvenile justice system serves her well, because she's deeply involved in forging her own path. The girls have traumatic experiences that affect their relationship with others. Even though there is an intense argument, after she tells her mother never to talk to her again, she has a nervous breakdown (Garbus, 2003). 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. Copyright 2022 Women and Hollywood. Megan was shuffled through 11 different foster homes, running away from all except one. In the movie, we were able to watch two female offenders in the juvenile justice system. 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 . 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. Genre:. 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. SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY: GIRLHOOD MOVIE REVIEW. However, her mother is a struggling drug addict who is unable to offer the care and support that she required. My Essay Writerwas started by an award-winning journalist who saw the need from students to have someone take care of their annoying assignments for them. 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. 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. Your email address will not be published. http://articles.latimes.com/2003/nov/14/entertainment/et-girlhood14, http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1514431. Her emotional responses are not well adjusted. Here are 22 essential L.A. spots for every tourist, Column: We cant afford another writers strike. Sign in to rate and Watchlist for personalized recommendations. She receives more family support than Megan is, but she does not seem to reciprocate it at the beginning of the film. 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. Garbus encountered the girls at the Waxter Juvenile Facility in Baltimore while making a television documentary about the boys incarcerated there. Once Shanae begins to face the reality of what she did, she is transferred to a group home and begins to flourish. The films protagonists, Megan Jensen and Shanae Watkins. On the other hand, Girl Hood creates an uncomfortable comparison between Shanae and Megan and their relationship with their mothers. Shanae shows certain resilience characteristics that help her reform her life. Megan also shows that she has self-efficacy. The documentary follows the plight of Megan and Shanae (Garbus, 2003). At 14, she was hit by a stray bullet during a gunfight. Additionally, the film has also been criticized for ignoring the workers at Waxter. Discussion The title of the film is overly simple and, to an extent, revealing in its simplicity. Gender Roles In The Film Girlhood. The film then changes focus on Megan and her deteriorating relationship with her mother. How A Violent Teen Who Had Given Up On Life Turned It All Around. Oprah later told her she was the first person she had interviewed who had ever walked out on her. But in her attempt to give their lives a shape that the girls themselves seem to resist, this talented filmmaker has done both herself and them a disservice. 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. The documentary, indeed, treats girlhood as its subject a phase of life distinct from womanhood, childhood or any other experience. 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. 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 . Assignment #2 In class we viewed documentary titled Girlhood, the film surrounded two teenage girls named Megan and Shanae. 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. Other aspects reveal themselves when she grows older. 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. 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. Second, Shanae develops a positive outlook. The majority of her life, her mother was either on the streets giving into her drug addiction or incarcerated for prostitution charges. While Shanae sublimates her anger and hurt and moves on with life, for Megan everything is right on the surface. "Excuse me," she said. Wake up to the day's most important news. 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. T he 'Girlhood' documentary highlights the plight of girls in juvenile centers with some psychological disorders. Essay Sample Check Writing Quality.