THE DIARY OF A TEENAGE GIRL: More Like This, Please

I’m not now, nor have I ever been, a teenage girl. I’m not even a teenager anymore, and chances are if you’re in the UK and tried to see The Diary of a Teenage Girl, you won’t be either. Thanks, BBFC. So with its target audience – and this movie is very much meant to be seen by teenage girls – stopped from seeing it, I went instead.

If you somehow missed out on the controversy around it, this is the plot: Minny (Bel Powley) is 15, enjoys sex, and has an affair with her mother’s (Kristen Wiig) boyfriend Monroe, a moustachioed Alexander Skarsgard. The film’s all about the highs, lows, and orgasms of being a young girl learning how to deal with, and more importantly, enjoy her new-found sexuality.

Very obviously, this film was not made for me. You might go so far as to say it wasn’t made for any male – there’s already a plethora of films, of all genres, which have young men shagging their way through their running time. Whereas films dealing with young women’s sexuality tend to tiptoe around it, or not even mention it all, Marielle Heller’s debut (based on the graphic novel by Phoebe Gloeckner) takes it for its focus. It’s a confident if slightly rough around the edges work, but it also has those two holy things every young director coming out of Sundance would kill for: originality and vision.

Girls and Sex. Who Knew?

Here’s the crazy thought most filmmakers have apparently been afraid of confronting until now: teenage girls like having sex. But to find out what they like, they have to have it. Whilst the film never endorses the totally mentally-scarring relationship between Minnie and Monroe’s relationship, it does show how pleasurable the act of sex can be. He’s a total scumbag, but he’s hot and f*cks like a stallion, which is enough for Minnie right now. The relationship is toxic, sexual pleasure isn’t.

It’s on us as viewers to see that Monroe is emotionally manipulating Minnie. We’re older, wiser, and further away from the emotional fallout than she is, so can see it for what it really is. Minnie’s never punished by the film for being in this relationship, nor is she punished for enjoying the sex that comes with. What is endorsed is the pleasure of sex, separate from the emotional attachment of the relationship. So let me just say this again: the relationship is bad, but the sex is good.

Saying that, not all the sex is good. The film doesn’t present an idealised, sanitised version of events because that’s what we expect from teenage girls. In one scene, Minnie and her gal pal Kimmie joke about sucking some guys off for $5. The boys pay them, the girls do the deed. The next scene is them talking about how bad it felt to do that. It pushes at the boundaries of what’s acceptable and enjoyable sexually, because how do you know what you like or what feels really good if you don’t experiment?

Even if the experiment is a failed one, at least you tried. And to see girls doing that is refreshing – they’re not passive participants in a guy’s sexual enjoyment, they’re just finding out what they themselves enjoy.

Art Therapy

Alongside Minnie’s sexual discoveries comes the equally as important realisation that she wants to be a comic book artist. This artistic longing plays out in moments of animation scattered throughout the film. They range from crude moments of sexual fantasy to conversations with imagined strangers. The animation shows the raw emotion Minnie feels at that moment, be it the joy of being in a relationship or the overwhelming misery of being broken up with.

It’s also an impressive vision of how those with artistic tendencies view the world around them. Everything is material, everything can be transformed into something the artist can use. That’s perhaps why Minnie keeps a record of her sexy times on a cassette player (her diary, if you will). It’s a solid record she might later turn into some kind of art. That way the tapes would be put to some use rather than just sitting under bed gathering dust.

It speaks to the lack of movies showing female sexuality that I’m struggling to place it in context. The majority of films with a teenage female lead which also use sex are high school movies, which this certainly isn’t. Whilst the sense of humour here might also be found in that masterpiece of teenage drama, Heathers, this one has a much more honest approach to the amount of sex going on. None of the girls are really punished for their sexual enjoyment either; Minnie doesn’t become the school slut nor is she run out of town for her ways. More like this, please.

Whilst everyone acts very well in the film, I’d like to take a moment to mention Kristen Wiig. What can’t she do? Her choices just get more and more interesting, as do the damaged women she veers towards playing. It’s easy to forget that she also starred in Bridesmaids, and after proving herself the funniest woman on Earth, took on all of these wonderful dramatic roles.

Also Bel Powley, a relative newcomer, had only starred in a few subpar British TV shows before this, where she almost certainly never blew a guy in a bathroom. So well done to her too. Do keep an eye on her – if this is her first choice for a film role, where she goes next will be intriguing.

Conclusion

I’m sure that a teenage girl seeing this will take much more from it than I did. That’s why it’s called The Diary of a Teenage Girl. Still, it’s good to know there are films and filmmakers focussed on showing teenage girls enjoying sex. Female sexuality isn’t something to be protected at all costs here, it’s something to be explored and enjoyed.

So what did you think of The Diary of a Teenage Girl? Let us know your thoughts!

(top image source: Sony Pictures Classics)