Shanae, after much perseverance, overcoming her appalling behaviours and graduate from high school. What Shows Have Been Renewed or Canceled. Megan grew up without the love and support of her mother who was in prison for drugs and prostitution. Megan also leaves Waxter. Required fields are marked *. However, her mother is a struggling drug addict who is unable to offer the care and support that she required. AQA Psychology: AS and A-level Year 1. Strength-Based Approaches 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. In her commentary on the film, available on the DVD, Garbus admits to being struck by Shanaes intelligence and cutesiness (she was wearing pigtails at the time) and then shocked to discover that Shanae was locked up for murder! Megan on the other hand, has a more difficult time staying out of trouble and maintaining good grades. At 17, she was living in her own apartment in a druggie neighborhood. Documentary chronicling America's justice system. She got into a knife fight at 11 with her girlfriend and fatally stabbed her three times. 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. As the film progresses we see Shanae go from feeling very little remorse or even understanding of the consequences of her violent actions, to feeling real remorse and a sense of responsiblity. In my own opinion, considering that Megan has to do all this on her own, hers is the greater achievement. Girl Hood has been praised for its informative content and for raising awareness on a number of issues young people in detention centers face on a daily basis and how their lives lead to a life similar to their parents. Find help here.]. Antoinette does her best in extremely difficult circumstances. However, after the collective effort from her mother and rehabilitation officers, she becomes emotionally expressive. The relationship between staff and the young women at Waxter is for the most part warm and friendly. 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. The title Girlhood splits in two on the opening credits, with "girl" and "hood" on separate lines. Why is Shanae in the juvenile facility? Additionally, the film has also been criticized for ignoring the workers at Waxter. During this scene Megan whines that nobody loves her, she seems to be half joking but one has to wonder. Shanaes ability to feel remorse for her actions is seen as a key benchmark that needs to be achieved before she can leave Waxter. Copyright 2022 My Essay Writer. The films protagonists, Megan Jensen and Shanae Watkins. 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. The early life trauma that these girls experienced impacted . Abandoned by her mother, a heroin addict turned prostitute, Megan ran away from then different foster homes before being arrested on assault charges. Garbus, director of the acclaimed prison documentary, The Farm: Angola, USA, examines the disparate fates of these girls and their very different treatment at the hands of the juvenile justice system. 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. 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. 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. At Waxter, Megans need for attention and affection, her vulnerablity, are on display for everyone to see. murdering another girl after the two got into an argument. Over the years, Megan has run away from most of her foster homes in a desperate attempt to reunite with her mother. Megan admits to having a special relationship with a fellow inmate which seems to be of a romantic nature. As a child, her mother was absent. 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. Megan, the more unruly of the two is a little older than Shanae. Early in the film it is apparent that Shanae doesnt really feel remorseful for the murder of her friend. From there she enrolls in high school, where she places fourth in her class, and plans to attend a community college. Spirituality & Practice. "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. Her crime was that at 14 she cut up another girl with a box cutter in a dispute, and since shes been at the facility has gotten into some kind of trouble every day. Profile of Liz Garbus by the Center for Social Media, Movie Fire Craker Website (Liz Garbus Film Website), Your email address will not be published. Your email address will not be published. This time around, she focuses her attention on two young women in Waxter Juvenile Facility near Baltimore, Maryland. Thankfully, her parents point out that being dead is definitely WORSE than being in detention! The documentary, indeed, treats girlhood as its subject a phase of life distinct from womanhood, childhood or any other experience. recently followed up with Megan to see what had happened after the show. Garbus encountered the girls at the Waxter Juvenile Facility in Baltimore while making a television documentary about the boys incarcerated there. She specializes in academic writing, copywriting, business plans and resumes. 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. Our company is proud to host more than 80 of North Americas best essay writers. 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 Follows two female inmates - victims of horrific violence and tragedy - who are serving time in a Maryland juvenile detention center. Your email address will not be published. This film is not rated. The film then narrows its focus to concentrate on the lives of two teenagers, Shanae Owens and Megan Jensen, both incarcerated for assault at the Waxter Juvenile Facility in Baltimore. Furthermore, at the end of the documentary, she enrolls in a community college nearby. 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. Like Us On Facebook | Follow Us On Twitter. 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. 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. This confused young girl ran away from ten foster homes and wound up attacking another girl with a box-cutter. I think this is key to Shanaes eventual success. Shanae was ten years old when she was gang-raped by five boys. Assignment #2 In class we viewed documentary titled Girlhood, the film surrounded two teenage girls named Megan and Shanae. 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. Challenging Attachment The project, titled "Hood Girls," will be written and directed by Miriam Kruishoop ("Greencard Warriors") and produced by Atlantic Screen Productions. Follows two female inmates - victims of horrific violence and tragedy - who are serving time in a Maryland juvenile detention center. She is briefly reunited with her mother but cannot forgive her for not being there when she needed her most. she has come a long way from this documentry i love and am so proud of my sistrr. Often it's not enough. When she originally returned to Baltimore, Megan's life went downhill. "I was really, really, really confused at the time," Megan says. See production, box office & company info. From there she enrolls in high school, where she places fourth in her class, and plans to attend a community college. She had many problems communicating with her foster parents, and she ran away ten times before she had even been arrested for aggravated assault. Antoinette refuses to allow Shanae back home until she is convinced that her daughter has really changed and has gotten all the help that she needs. Garbus rigidity in framing the girls experiences does not allow for the expansiveness and complexity allowed by new theories of girlhood. 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. 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. 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. Dennis Schwartz: Ozus World Movie Reviews, Copyright 2023 - Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews. 5 Pages. By Kate Durbin 07/14/2021. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Megan is doing great for herself 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. The title of the film is overly simple and, to an extent, revealing in its simplicity. We were introduced to Shanae, a young girl, convicted of murder. Second, Shanae develops a positive outlook. ''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. Shanae was reintegrated well by her . Megan, we are told, has been in 11 foster houses by the age of 16. 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. Shanae moves into a lower security halfway house because her mother does not feel ready to take her back home. The girls crimes obviously color their experiences of girlhood, but they are humanized by Garbus editorial choices through camera angles, the stories we hear, the presentation of various sympathetic or irresponsible adults that accessorize and control the girls lives. 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. Volatile, articulate and desperately needy, Megan seethes with bitterness at having been abandoned by her mother, Vernessa, a heroin addict and prostitute, who has spent many years in prison. At 14, she was hit by a stray bullet during a gunfight. She gave birth to a daughter and moved to North Carolina in an effort to start anew. 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. As she grows up, she realizes that she cannot rely on anyone and starts to take better care or herself. [Need anessay writing service? Essay Sample Check Writing Quality. 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. ''Girlhood'' is the newest entry in Ms. Garbus's long list of socially concerned documentaries made for theaters and television. 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!). 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. The film pivots from the girls to their relationships with their moms, as Garbus follows their development from girls into young ladies. Megan Jensen is doing very well in life. And now I'm doing this film about a little girl, and in many ways she's a precursor to Megan. Once Shanae begins to face the reality of what she did, she is transferred to a group home and begins to flourish. The field of Girlhood Studies continues to grow and perhaps offers guidance in understanding where Garbus erred. The domain that best explains Megans attachment issues is the ambivalent/resistant attachment. She does become bitter in her adult life, but she is self-efficient. Follows two female inmates - victims of horrific violence and tragedy - who are serving time in a Maryland juvenile detention center. AMCTheatres.com or AMC App New. Girlhood gives us a glimpse into the lives of two troubled young women who desperately try to forge a new life for themselves against formidable odds. Documentary chronicling America's justice system. By age 10, she had been committed to two psychiatric hospitals and diagnosed as manic-depressive. "I'm happy now.".

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