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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 13, 2019)
Page 14 February 13, 2019 A Hunger for More Films Like This lescence. But I happen to believe is kind, earnest, and relentlessly that radical honesty is a much-ne- aimed toward good behavior. But As I mentioned, the film never glected tool with the potential to to her mortification, she is voted received a U.S. release; though awaken empathy and compassion. “most quiet” in her eighth grade well-received by Canadian crit- We would do well to remember class and feels acutely her so- ics, it was described in “Variety” after its Toronto Film Festival run as “grandiose” and “overstuffed.” When I think of the number of convoluted battle films I have seen garner accolades, I read these as signs that we have not learned to appreciate the quality of storytell- ing at work in “Hochelaga: Land of Souls.” We have not learned to wonder about all the stories lodged in any particular spot on American soil. This film, which employed 300 indigenous people to play the Iroquois and Algonquin characters and extras, helped me to visualize and to wonder about the ancestors all around us. It deserves a much broader viewing. “Eighth Grade” (fourth on my list of the best films of 2018) photo CreDit : a24 p iCtures is that exceedingly rare film that Elsie Fisher conveys the anxiety and insecurity of adolescence in dares to depict adolescence hon- “Eighth Grade.” estly--unlike the fashionable, air- brushed depictions we generally that all of us have moments like cial isolation--exacerbated by the see where kids are portrayed by these in our rear view mirrors if endless hours she spends trolling and liking other people’s snapchat art-directed young adults, perpetu- we are brave enough to look. Burnham, barely out of adoles- posts and consuming enhanced ating standards of beauty and cool that no actual adolescent could cence himself, has coaxed very images of celebrities, cartoons, hope to live up to. Even more re- natural performances out of all the and strangers, whose hashtags alistic depictions tend to be played adolescents in the film, which in- and emojis and hit totals confirm for broad laughs rather than for cludes a lot of teenage boys--but the awesomeness of their lives. real insight--yet here writer-di- he has said that his own struggles Kayla posts her own hashtags and rector Bo Burnham, assisted by with anxiety led to this film’s fo- an astoundingly natural lead per- cus on an eighth-grade girl. There formance from 14-year-old Elsie is something so epic about what Fisher, manages to walk a line be- happens to girls at this age; it is tween humor and pathos that feels as though all the weight of impos- achingly, horribly familiar--and sible expectations of beauty and almost too painful to bear at times. assured-but-not-too-threatening This is adolescence as we want to competence crash down on them. There are patterns to how girls forget it and mostly do. Conveying truth at this level deal with the pressure--cutting, takes commitment, and Burnham eating disorders, mean-girl be- and his relentlessly real lead ac- haviors--but they share a quality tress demonstrate a level of com- of intensity that is uniquely the mitment that may disarm you. province of the adolescent girl. I can barely stand to look at my For them--I remember It well--the eighth grade school picture; I stakes feel stratospheric. As her devoted but (to her) end- can’t imagine living life in the same world as a feature-length lessly irritating father can plainly film depicting me in all the awk- see, Kayla, the girl at the heart of ward, shame-filled agony of ado- this film, is a wonderful kid. She C ontinueD from p age 3 C LASSIFIED /B IDS PART TIME – ASSISTANT PROGRAM AND EVENT ASSISTANT The Oregon State Bar is looking for someone to provide part-time The Oregon State Bar is looking administrative support. for someone to provide for the Please visit http://www.osbar. preparation, coordination, and org/osbcenter/openings.html execution of continuing legal for job details for the Member education event logistics and administrative duties. Services Assistant. Equal Opportunity Employer Please visit http://www.osbar. org/osbcenter/openings.html for job details. Equal Opportunity Employer doctored images, and dispenses affirming advice on her own You- Tube channel about such topics as “how to be yourself.” Although she brightly addresses her audi- ence as “guys” and encourages them not to “care what other peo- ple think about you,” there isn’t much sign that anyone is listen- ing--and it is mostly advice she wishes she knew how to follow. In the hyper-dramatic world of the internet, Kayla misses that the dis- tance between her own reality and what she posts is likely mirrored by the posts that she finds so con- vincing from everyone else. In contrast to Kayla’s internet world, Burnham (who himself attained actual fame via his own YouTube channel a decade ahead of Kayla) offers a touchingly re- alistic picture of Kayla’s actual world. She is a perfectly lovely kid, but in that awkward, lurching way so common to adolescents. She is never sure what to do with her changing body, makes tragic yet hopeful fashion choices, ex- periments with makeup (via in- structional videos on YouTube, naturally) to distract from skin in the throes of hormonal adjustment. Much of her exasperation at life gets leveled at her dad, who does at good as any parent at balancing giving her room and attempting to engage--yet some of the fun- niest scenes of the film involve her reacting with irritation to his simplest attempts to connect. Any adult who has attempted to parent or even to befriend an adolescent will recognize this territory well. Some of what I appreciated most about the film also involves what is hardest to watch--Kayla’s inter- actions with adolescent boys. She so clearly feels herself in an infe- rior position, and offers things she shouldn’t and doesn’t even want, taking the cues the culture gives her--and the boys, too, taking those cues, move for things they don’t necessarily want either. Without naming any of these dynamics, Burnham demonstrates how the lies we tell ourselves about love and sex and what makes a person desirable lay traps for both boys and girls. The only comfort here is that, for all her anxiety and inse- curity, Kayla has a way of righting herself, though certainly without ever fully appreciating the dangers she has avoided. The film spends enough time with Kayla to earn some moments at the end confirming that she will be okay. Although her darkest mo- ments feel like agony to her, we also know she is going to be okay. And in a way that may just be (barely) believable, she does too. Darleen Ortega is a judge on the Oregon Court of Appeals and the first woman of color to serve in that capacity. Her movie review column Opinionated Judge ap- pears regularly in The Portland Observer. Find her movie blog at opinionatedjudge.blogspot.com. 24hr/toll free 844-246-6760 / 216-252-0871
