thirteen a response for lucy :)

I watched this film when i first moved to Annan the town i went to my second high school in. in my previous high school by the time of entering second year i had already been offered cocaine at lunch time and witnessed my friend being held back a year for lack of turning up to school due to her alcoholic mother and druggy sister, i don't actually no how she's doing now but all these things made thirteen a personal experience and some sort of therapy for me.

I think the thing that works for me about the film is its kind of like watching a version of my own life, and because the themes are universal it doesn't matter what your poison is, for me it was never drugs but the themes still work and are very recognizable for allot of teenage girls. It looks at obsessive relationships, the ones were you are like oh she's my sister best friends for life etc. I don't think that either girl is wrong to be honest, Evan Rachel Woods character welcomes with open arms the new life she went looking for, extremely naive but also just real, what you do when your thirteen and want to change. To your point Lucy about not knowing girls like this at that age, this is the exact age that people are most likely to have a problem getting over there changes physically and mentally as the body goes through these every seven years being 13/14 is the time as a teenager you would be making the biggest mental and physical changes. We see this in the film , even with the small roles of her other friends who stay on the 'right' path of school work and don't do drugs or have sex, you can see the pain they are going through at the loss of there friend. you could make a film about them and there problems however opposite they would be and it would still work. Simply because each would look at the theme which runs through every teenagers life of : acceptance, belonging and friendship.

I really enjoy watching this film and even though the new equilibrium at the end of the film is no better than the one at the start you can see that in herself she has learnt some uncomfortable truths and has made herself a stronger person by coming out the other end even if its screaming :)

i have allot of love for this film and the director ( even if she went on to make twilight )
and i agree totally that the actors performances - from the whole cast - were a very high standard.

peace xx