Very Young Girls (DVD)

Schisgall, David (2007).  Very young girls [motion picture]. New York: Showtime.  

Summary:  Very Young Girls exposes the realities of commercial sexual exploitation and sex trafficking that happens right here in American neighborhoods.  This documentary interviews about a dozen young women aged 12 -21 who have been victims of sexual exploitation and then criminalized. Their tragic stories challenge general public perceptions of prostitution as a choice between consenting adults.  The film shows that the average age of a prostitute is 13 years old and the children, most of whom are already under the care of social services or the justice system, enter the sex industry by being lured or kidnapped or sold and then raped by pimps often twice their age.  The documentary follows the counseling work and advocacy done by GEMS, Girls Education and Mentoring Services of New York. 

Additional comments:  Viewers of this documentary will never again dress up for a "Pimps and Hoes" party and will be so moved to talk anyone from knowingly glamorizing an industry that enslaves young girls.  One of the most poignant moments of the film was the acceptance speech by Rachel Lloyd, the founder and Executive Director of GEMS, of the Reebok Human Rights Award. She scolded the Academy Awards for the performance of "It's hard out here for a pimp", which glamorizes prostitution and the debasement and violence against women.  This film will profoundly move young adults and force them to question the lyrics of hip hop and other projections by the media.

The Outsiders (DVD)

Coppola, Francis Ford (1983). The Outsiders.  United States: Zoetrope Studios.

Summary:  Ponyboy and Johnny are sensitive and kind teens growing up in the 50's, but they are also "greasers" with long hair, unhappy home lives, and few opportunities in the small town in which they live on the wrong side while the privileged "soc" have all the advantages.  Life takes a turn for the worse when Johnny kills a "soc" who was attacking Ponyboy, and the two boys decide to run away to the countryside to escape the law.

Additional Comments:  Based on the classic novel by S. E. Hinton, Francis Ford Coppola's 1983 film features an all-star cast in their youth, including Patrick Swayze, C. Thomas Howell, Ralph Macchio, Matt Dillon, Rob Lowe, Diane Lane, Emilio Estevez, and Tom Cruise. Though the dialogue may strike teens as a bit sappy and outdated today (and particularly the tacky opening song!), the "us vs. them" theme is timeless and as true today as ever.   The ultimate tragedy speaks to the senselessness of violence 

Go ask Alice

Anonymous (1971).  Go ask Alice. New York: Simon Pulse. 

Summary: Based on the diary of a 15-year-old girl who becomes increasingly dependent on marijuana and LSD, runs away from home, tries to break her addiction, suffers a nervous breakdown, and eventually dies from an overdose.  Originally published in 1971 and briefly set in San Francisco, Go Ask Alice provides insight into the 1960's counter-culture movement as well as showing one person's emotional struggle with drug addiction.

Additional comments:  Go Ask Alice is written in a diary format form the point of view of a melodramatic and depressed teen-aged girl. The reader is taken on a psychological journey through the girl's internal conflicts between what she wants to do versus what she ultimately can't resist doing. Though seemingly realistic in the beginning, the book takes on a didantic tone midway through as lack of self-control brings on ill consequences and eventually her self-destruction.