F***ing Amal / Ghost World

[Rii]

I happened to see these films in close proximity to one another recently, and I was struck by how similarly they resonated with me.

Let's get the basics out of they way: they're both atypical entries (not least of all because they're actually good films ) in the 'teen' genre. Second, they both concern the lives of two teenage girls: Enid (Thora Birch) and Rebecca (Scarlett Johansson) in Ghost World, and Agnes (Rebecka Liljeberg) and Elin (Alexandra Dahlström) in Fucking Amal.

Fortunately, things run a little deeper. In Ghost World, best friends Enid and Rebecca are iconoclasts; and the strain on their relationship when it becomes evident that Enid's iconoclasm runs far deeper than Rebecca's is a core focus of the film. Fucking Amal, by way of contrast, depicts the development of a romantic relationship between the introverted and socially isolated Agnes and the extroverted, socially 'in' cheerleader-type Elin, who is perhaps not quite as comfortable with herself and her place in the world as she first appears. In short, both films are about the struggle for personal identity within the pressures and strictures of broader social and cultural frameworks.

So what? This is hardly an uncommon theme, particularly amongst 'teen' films. What is it about Ghost World and Fucking Amal which marks them apart from so many other, vaguely similar films? There's the execution, superlative in its humour, tenderness, and nuance, of course, but something else too; and I have to thank Ebert for this observation, at least insofar as it relates to Fucking Amal: all of these people are on the same moral plane. These are not tales of the mean cheerleaders and the plucky, bookish heroine who overcomes them to roar 'I am woman!' or whatever. There's callous cruelty as only teenagers are capable of, but it's apportioned equally. Most distressing for the Disney model is a scene in Fucking Amal wherein another socially isolated student joins in the mockery of Agnes in order to curry favour with the 'in' crowd, something which will undoubtedly stir uncomfortable memories amongst many of those who were themselves bullied at school.

And with Ghost World, whilst the viewer is encouraged to sympathise with Enid, and laugh at her searing observations of mainstream society as only an outsider like her could make; we are nonetheless aware - and made to be aware - that she is not a truth-bearer, that Rebecca is not a traitor, that all of the people Enid encounters - however much they might immediately function within the tale as hindrances or even opponents for our protagonists - are nonetheless people struggling through life as best they can according to their natures, as deserving of happiness as our protagonists are.

Further, neither film overreaches: by the end the characters are fundamentally the same people they were in the beginning. Changes have been wrought and steps taken; but for the most part their promise lies in the future; a future which will certainly never eventuate onscreen. So what, then, has been achieved? Windows into humanity, I'd suggest: we've learned to understand these characters.

I wrote this up mostly so as to structure my own thoughts on the films in the process, but I'd love to hear from others.

One question that's been itching at the back of my mind: Elin is a flighty character. Her vivacity makes for compelling viewing (that and the fact that she's smoking hot; and I'm not normally one for blondes ) but she'd be a hell of a person to live with. But here's the thing: one of most obvious examples of Elin's flightiness in the film, much to her sister's exasperation, is her attitude towards Johan, and we know what's behind that. So is it that Elin is intrinsically a restless person (at least at this stage in her life) or is it rather that she's chafing at the moulds she's forced (or forced herself) into, such that if she were, in fact, willing and able to be 'true to herself' in all respects, that she wouldn't resemble nothing so much as a sparrow constantly looking for the next branch to leap to?

 

[byron lomax]

Re: Fucking Amal / Ghost World

I enjoyed reading your thoughts on these two films. I much, much preferred Fucking Amal (otherwise known as "Show Me Love") as i found the characters realistic and sympathetic, whereas I found Enid from GW to be overbearing and quite irritating at times. FA develops the relationship between two frustrated teenagers in a realistic way, even if the ending felt ever-so-slightly fairy tale-ish. GW is full of "quirky" personalities who irritate the hell out of me, especially in real life.

 

[Rii]

Re: Fucking Amal / Ghost World

I much, much preferred Fucking Amal (otherwise known as "Show Me Love") as i found the characters realistic and sympathetic, whereas I found Enid from GW to be overbearing and quite irritating at times. FA develops the relationship between two frustrated teenagers in a realistic way, even if the ending felt ever-so-slightly fairy tale-ish. GW is full of "quirky" personalities who irritate the hell out of me, especially in real life.

I hear where you're coming from: I had much the same problem with Little Miss Sunshine. I think Ghost World worked for me because it presented itself first and foremost as a comedy; a genre in which strongly archetypal characters are common and work well. So at first we get Enid's 'too cool for school' schtick which is played mostly for laughs ("I liked her better when she was an alcoholic crack-addict") and is entertaining enough of itself, and then as the film develops we begin to see the person underneath the facade, which is drama. At least, that's how it worked for me.

That's not to say that Fucking Amal isn't funny, because it is. But it never feels like a comedy; its humour is incidental and comes from the simple delight we take in observing the characters in the course of their lives:

[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-bQxbSZl6g[/yt]

As for the film's climax and ending, I thought it was handled beautifully. Resting everything on such a theatrical, pivotal moment could've come off as artificial, but the way it developed felt perfectly natural. I was a tad disappointed that the door didn't open on them kissing, but Elin's 'excuse us, we're going to go fuck now' more than made up for it.

And it would've been wrong to actually end on that triumphant note, as that would've left a distinct 'and they lived happily ever after' taste in the mouth that is otherwise at odds with the rest of the film. Similarly; as the relationship itself isn't really what's most important either for Agnes or especially Elin, ending on even a softer note relating to that wouldn't have felt right. But Elin's rambling monologue about chocolate milk? Brilliant.

 

[Top41]

Had to edit the thread title for profanity... I know it's the name of the movie, but the rules about keeping profanity out of thread titles are pretty strict. Sorry--and please carry on discussion.

 

[Rii]

^ No problem. I could've gone with the English title, but it's not nearly as interesting.

In any case I was just thinking that the art teacher in Ghost World is a good example of the shifting layers in the film that I referred to earlier. We think we have her nailed fairly early in the piece: the student's artwork (a twisted pair of coat-hangers) is good not because it's any good, but because it's ostensibly about something that she approves of: a woman's right to choose. Enid's barely concealed contempt and horror at the teacher's fawning over this ... thing ... whilst dismissing more accomplished works from other students as not really being 'about anything' echoes our own.

Yet later in the film, when Enid brings a caricature of a negro to class (I may be missing some of the subtleties here, not being American) in an attempt to reveal the teacher for the fraud that she is, the other students all echo the sentiments they think the teacher wants to hear ('ooh, it's horrible because it's racist') whilst for her part the teacher withholds judgement until Enid offers her rationale for the piece: that the lack of such images in contemporary society doesn't mean that racism is less prevalent; it's merely gone underground, where 'regular folk' can pretend it doesn't exist. And it turns out that the teacher likes the piece and even wants to show it at a local art exhibition.

So she may be a flake in placing so great an emphasis on the artist's intent, no matter how obscure, and seemingly none on the actual execution, but she's not a fraud: it's not a cap she wears when it suits her ('a woman's right to choose') and takes off when it doesn't, but rather simply who she is, and we can respect that. As Enid says of Seymour and his obsession with collecting records, that authenticity is 'the opposite of everything [she] hates.'