By Megan Bianco
There has been considerable controversy surrounding Marielle Heller’s screen adaptation of Phoebe Gloeckner’s graphic novel “The Diary of a Teenage Girl” since its debut at Sundance at the beginning of the year. Much like “Blue is the Warmest Color” two years ago and “Fish Tank” six years earlier, Heller’s film portrays a 15-year-old girl who is unapologetically sexually active, physically and emotionally. Of course, we’ve seen this on film before with “Fast Times at Ridgemont High” (1982) and “American Pie” (1999), but the difference is that the girls in “Blue,” “Fish” and “Diary” are not only experimenting with classmates, but also adults.
Set in the Bay Area during 1976, high school student Minnie Goetze (Bel Powley) spends her study time doodling cute, but also inappropriate, drawings in her notebooks. She thinks she doesn’t need school as she plans to become a full-time artist like her favorite cartoonist. At the same time she’s also become really close with Monroe (Alexander Skarsgård), longtime boyfriend of her bohemian mom, Charlotte (Kristen Wiig). Soon Minnie realizes she’s curious about sex and drugs.
Christopher Meloni appears as Charlotte’s ex-husband and father of her second daughter, and Margarita Levieva plays a druggie Minnie is drawn to later in the film. Because the entire film is seen and told through the perspective of a teen, “The Diary of a Teenage Girl,” like previous teen movies, will likely be most appreciated and enjoyed by fellow teenagers. For adults, the film will be uncomfortable and awkward during some of the sex scenes. There are sequences early on in the film between Monroe and Minnie that are graphic with nudity and explicit dialogue, and the word of mouth on the content is causing some viewers not to want to see the film. On the other hand, some movie fans want to support female artists Powley, Heller and Gloeckner, who are responsible for a rather beautiful and honest feature, despite the icky-ness of the older man/young girl relationship.
Minnie is shown as a lot more blunt and open about herself than most teens you see in cinema. She accepts that she’s not conventionally pretty, not afraid to initiate intimacy between herself and Monroe or a boy at her school, and she’s not ashamed of liking to draw nudes. Powley, who was 22 at the time of filming and has quite a bit of nudity and sexual moments to work with in the film, succeeds at capturing the essence of an average teen in all her naivety and confusion. You fully believe in Minnie’s confidence, but at the same time it’s pretty obvious how young and impressionable she still is. Skarsgård is quite good as the handsome 35-year-old in Minnie’s and Charlotte’s lives, and he borders a fine line between charming and creepy, while Wiig and Meloni are memorable and amusing as the parental figures.
“The Diary of a Teenage Girl” is set in the past, but deals with issues and situations that are always relevant, and is one of the most impressive independent films of 2015, controversy or not.
Megan Bianco is a Southern California-based movie reviewer and content writer with a degree from California State University Northridge.
