Sunday, February 5, 2012

PARIAH

A fabulous film about a teenager searching for her own unique place and identity.  A black teen, lesbian and intelligent, does not color in anyone's lines and with the help of a teacher (AP English), a loyal friend and her father chooses her own trajectory.  That's the point.  She makes a choice based on what feels right to her.  This girl's intelligence gives her  opportunity and access to a larger life.  She's smart and does well in school and accepts that about herself.  While her mother is unable to accept her daughter's sexual orientation the writer/director portrays this woman as totally constrained by her own expectations of herself as a mother.  There is no room in her psyche for a gay daughter.  I don't believe she's evil just rigidly limited in her point of view.  I'm sure many people will find this mother intolerable.  There is always room for growth I say.

This movie was shot in all my old hoods of Brooklyn:  Park Slope, Brooklyn Heights and Cobble Hill.  Magnet H.S. on Court Street across from my beloved Cobble Hill Cinema.  Nice to be reminded.

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