(More Than) Grrrl Power! Girls Studies at UCF

I chose to review the movie Speak which was released in 2004. The movie was directed by Jessica Sharzer and is based on the novel written by Laurie Halse Anderson in 1999. The independent film stares Kristen Stewart, Steve Zahn, and Michael Angarano. It is a story about a high school freshman dealing with the traumatic experience of being raped. Within her school she is known as a snitch because she called 911 at a house party after she was raped. It was the end of eighth grade and she was sexually assaulted by an older high school boy though when the police arrived the rape was not reported. Many of the students who were still at the party got in trouble for underage drinking she began her ninth year being shunned by most of the school. The main characters name is Melinda or Mel for short. Throughout the movie she deals with her suffering by withdrawing and refusing to speak. She is alone and ignored by all of the people around her except a new student and an art teacher who ...

Andrea Roberts. WST 3020. Film Review I am doing a movie review on the film 10 Things I Hate About You (Touchstone, 1999), directed by Gill Unger and written by Karen Mc Cullah Lutz and Kirsten Smith , based loosely on William Shakespeare’s famous tale, The Taming of the Shrew . In this film, Julia Styles plays Katerina Stratford “Kat,” the protagonist, referred to in the movie as a “heinous bitch.” Here we can see Shakespeare’s shrew appropriated, and updated as a feisty young feminist who defies the stereotypes reinforced by her peers. We have two female voices (the writers of the film) complemented by the “male gaze” (Lipkin 2009) of the director. It makes for a charming story that is both funny and heart wrenching. The story follows Kat who eventually falls in love with tough guy, Patrick (played by Heath Ledger), her formidable, and unexpected love match—who initially pursues her with ulterior motives, but than realizes that she is...

I was stunned recently, having discovered Carly Fleischmann. This is not merely a story of female empowerment but human empowerment. It is incredible how technology can enable communication which would have been otherwise impossible. It's also very important not to judge a person based on how they appear. Being that Carly is a teenage girl I felt that you all would appreciate learning more about her. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1uPf5O-on0&feature=related

I chose to review The Princess and the Frog. I chose this particular movie because when it first came out and there was all this hoopla going around about how African American girls finally got a “black princess”, I didn’t want that fact to take away from me truly enjoying what they had done with the fairytale and pick out every misrepresentation of the African American girl from the images placed on the scene. I have to admit sometimes I just want to be entertained. I want to just look at something that has been put together theatrically and just enjoy it without clouding my perception on what the media and the public really think about African American girls. So much noise was being made about how great this picture was for the African American viewer and how we could now be depicted as princesses and live happily ever after as so many white princesses did for years. Or could we? When the tape rolled I was ready. I had already heard a few things about the movie from my cousin, ...

Completely edgy and riveting this film “The Itty Bitty Titty Committee” Directed by Jaime Babbit is a complete eye opener on the face of feminism that should be displayed out more. Taking place in Los Angeles, California “Ana” who is played by Melonie Diaz comes across the CIA whose meaning is Clits in Action after witnessing Sadie who’s played by Nicole Vicious tag across the front of a Plastic Surgeons office building where she works and inviting her along to go to one of their meetings. Ana who decides to go, and demonstrates how confused she is by their ideas and can truly show how confused women are in reality of how the media affects their daily lives without even being noticed of it. This small group of radical feminists who consists of other 3 members :Meat who’s the one behind all the artwork they display, Aggie who’s a transgender male and allowed in under the exception of having a clit, and finally Shula Smith who I think is the most radical of all 5 girls but speaks with c...

Like most girls my age growing up, I read "The Baby Sitters Club" book series. My grandparents bought me the books from garage sales. I even had the trivia board game. The series and this movie follows seven girls from all different backgrounds. You had Mallory (the bookworm), Mary Anne (the quiet girl), Dawn (the environmentalist), Stacey (the New Yorker girl who loved to shop), Claudia (the creative artist), Kristy (the tomboy), and Jessi (the dancer). These seven girls operate their own baby-sitting business in their small town of Stoneybrook. This series doesn't do a great job of playing up stereotypes. Dawn wears flowers in her hair and long, flowy skirts. She is also always seen munching on some all-natural healthy food. Stacey is the pretty girl from New York who loves to shop. Mallory is the bookworm with glasses and the need to dress like the stereotypical "nerd". Kristy is the tomboy who plays sports and wouldn't be caught dead in a dress...

When I finished watching this movie, and began to write my review, I stared at a blank screen for about an hour. All I could say after watching this movie was “wow.” This Lifetime movie, Shes Too Young, explains it all in the title. It’s the story of a 14-year-old girl named Hannah. Hannah is in high school and comes from a great family. She has a father and mother who love her so much and take pride in her for always telling the truth. She plays the cello and has always excelled in school, getting straight A’s and being the perfect child. But that all changed. She began hanging out with two of the school’s most popular girls. Dawn and Becca become bad influences on Hannah. They introduce her to Nick, their schools “stud,” the boy that everyone wants to be with. One thing leads to another and Hannah loses her virginity to Nick, at the age of 14. But when Hannah refuses to have a three-some with Nick and two others, she soon learns that he’s not the great guy she thought he was. As if t...

For my film review I watched the movie Thirteen. I choose it because I have never seen the movie before and I thought it would be interesting to watch and see what really goes on in some thirteen year old girls' lives. I was absolutely shocked after seeing the movie and I had know idea that girls this young were getting into some of the things they did. The main character in the movie Tracy was a regular thirteen year old in middle school just trying to fit in. She would watch the "popular hot girl" around school and decided she wanted to be friends with her. She started hanging out with the girl and everything went down hill after that. Tracy started stealing, drinking, smoking, doing drugs, and sexual acts. Her relationship with her mom became a disaster as she wouldn't listen to anything her mother said and talked very disrespectfully to her. It's really crazy how girls will act when they want to be with the popular kids. In this case it ruined Tracy and eventu...