Picture Credit - The Young Folks
“I raise up my voice- not so that I can shout, but so that those without a voice can be heard. ...We cannot all succeed when half of us are held back.”
- Malala Yousafzai
The most unconventional high-school drama of all time or at least of recent times that I have come across, ‘Moxie’ is a movie about young women standing up for themselves and the women around them and smashing the age old patriarchy at their school.
‘Moxie’ is the story about solidarity and how girls can go a long way and do amazing things once they learn to stand with each other instead of standing against each other. The movie is a must watch for all the young girls out there.
Introduction
Name of the Movie - Moxie
Name of the Writer - Jennifer Matthieu
Genre - Drama/ Comedy
Language - English
Synopsis- Spoiler Alert!
Inspired by her mother, sixteen year old Vivian (Hadley Robinson) decides to fight the prevalent patriarchy at her school. As is customary, the yearly list of School’s most…. comes out and Vivian is deeply upset by it.
She starts printing a magazine called “Moxie”, calling out the sexist behavior of the school students and staff. The magazine does not get as much recognition as Vivian had anticipated, discouraging her but does she give up? Read more to find out!
About the Author
Picture Credit- Domain
Jennifer Mathieu is an American writer famous for her children’s books. Some of her books include ‘Devoted’ and ‘The Truth About Alice’. She is a middle and High School English teacher in Texas.
She has won awards for her writing in the teen and children’s books genre. She is the winner of the Children’s Choice Book Award and the Teen Choice Debut Author Award. She lives in the Houston area with her husband and son.
About the Movie
Adapted from a novel written by Jennifer Matthieu of the same name, ‘Moxie’ is the story of sixteen year old Vivian, who decides to fight the age old patriarchy in her school Rockport High. Vivian makes friends with the new girl Lucy (Alycia Pascual Pena), who is an outspoken feminist and speaks her heart out.
When a derogatory list about girls is released in the school and the authorities decide to take no action against it, Vivian, inspired by her mom when she was young, decides to call out the sexist behaviour at her school by issuing a magazine name “Moxie”.
The magazine does not get much recognition at first but soon more and more people join in the movement, sharing their own stories and stand with each other and call out the sexist behaviour in the school. More and more people join the movement and Vivian keeps on publishing the magazine but anonymously.
Meanwhile Vivian and Seth (Nico Hiraga) start dating each other and he knows and supports Vivian’s cause. Vivian and team prepare Kiera (Sydney Park) for the athlete’s award but Mitchell ( Patrick Schwarzenegger ) wins the award, leaving the girls quite disheartened and angry.
Vivian finds a note from an anonymous girl who tells her about being raped a year ago by her own boyfriend. Vivian decides to have a march for the girl where she reveals that she had started Moxie.
Later Emma Cunnigham (Josephine Langford), the head cheerleader, reveals that she was the girl who had written the note and Mitchell, her boyfriend, was the one who raped her. All the students stand with Emma and the principal finally decides to take action against Mitchell.
Themes
The major theme involved in the movie is that of Feminism and smashing the age old patriarchy. When a classmate is rebuked for wearing a tank top that brought attention to her, the girls oppose and question the rules. They make it clear that having a body and grown breasts is not the girl’s fault.
When the male classmates like Mitchell bully the new girl Lucy, she stands up to him and tells Vivian that she won’t keep her head down and tolerate Mitchell’s BS.
Famous Quotes
“I hate that we are shoved aside. Dismissed. Nobody does anything. Nobody listens to us.”
“This dress-code thing may seem like whatever to you, it may seem like whatever to all of you. But I’d say it’s another way to control women. And if you’re doing nothing, then you’re part of the problem.”
“It is always the quiet ones you have to look out for.”
“It’s written by some rich guy about some rich guy and I guess we’re supposed to feel bad for him because he’s obsessed with the only girl he can’t have.
The Bottom Line
‘Moxie’ is a movie that some of us might fail to take seriously but we have to understand that it has the target audience of teenagers in school and therefore it might seem a little childish to some of us. Despite it all, the movie has an important message to convey and it does so beautifully.
Also what I personally liked about the movie was how it steers away from the general stereotypical high school rom-coms where the girl falls for the handsome douche-bag and he changes himself for her or how girls are always meant to compete against each other and be mean to one another.
Moxie is a feel good, happy movie and I recommend watching it.
My ratings for the movie - 4 on 5
Watch the movie on Netflix or get the book from Amazon at - Moxie
Written By - Sakshi Singh
.jpeg)
0 Comments