Welcome To The Dollhouse (1995)

One of the best ways I can think of to describe this movie is to say this is a possible precursor to the romance movies about the frumpy girl with low self-esteem and a 'bad self-image' who believes she's a loser. A story to set up how someone could come to be the mousey, frumpy secretary who loathes her life.  As the title suggests, the film comments on how the 'perfect family' or 'perfect life', such as the kind you might find in a child's dollhouse, is about as close to reality as a doll is to a human girl, and what the terror of trying to make that connection might be like.

The main character of this story is a girl named Dawn Weiner. She's in her first year of middle school, has no friends save one neighbourhood boy a year younger than her, and is savagely bullied at school. Her life is a daily torment. Her locker is tattooed with insults and profanity, she is ignored by almost everyone, except when they want to harass her, and the only person who is continually interested in her is a delinquent bully boy who threatens to rape her.

Her life at home is no better. She is a middle child and is perpetually overshadowed by her perfect, adorable younger sister and her smart and obedient older brother. Silenced in all arenas of her life, she starts quietly acting out; calling her sister some of the names she's called at school, making every interaction with her parents a confrontation, and even causing a small crisis with her sister's safety. All of these come to naught however and just leave Dawn feeling more frustrated and unwanted than ever before.

She tries to sooth the feelings of rejection most often by seeking some way to become socially relevant, which comes in the form of hero-worshiping one of the guys in her brother's garage band. Her brother is a nerd and he and his friends cannot play their instruments very well, but he bribes the most popular kid in school to play with them in exchange for helping him pass him computer science class. Dawn becomes intrigued with him when she finds out he's a bit of a playboy and tries to get close to him, interested in the attention he gives to girls. She even seeks out the bully who threatened to rape her, almost as if acknowledging that abusive attention is better than none at all. The movie ends on a very somber note, displaying Dawn accepting her discontent with hollow docility.

Dawn's struggle of feeling unwanted, unimportant, and bullied increases steadily throughout the film, but her reaction to her situation does not significantly alter as her treatment gets worse. It's almost as if she's come to the decision that they might be right and that any real fight would be a waste of time. No one would be on her side anyway. Everyone else around her seems to have a more secure position in life or a stronger goal or passion for themselves than she does, and she just seems to get left behind and trampled over as a result of not being able to stand up for herself. She can't seem to be as 'perfect' as her siblings, or as popular as the kids at school and is left grasping at straws as she realizes that she doesn't feel that she fits into any social category she knows of, and everyone around her doesn't seem to have the time to deal with her difference. Too timid to assert herself and her importance as an individual, she accepts the oppressive silencing of her individuality by her culture.

This movie is also a story about a gentle, caring girl who slowly changes as she faces the harsh reality that the world is not fair. From Dawn's interaction with others and from the way she carries herself in the beginning of the story, the viewer gets the impression that she's an innocent child that would err on the side of good rather than evil. Her daily harassment at school and invisibility at home slowly changes how she interacts with people however. She stops hanging out with who she usually hangs out with and starts being meaner to others, quietly. She starts seeking out a superficial existence of sexuality (again without much commitment as she has trouble affirming anything about herself) because being real has only brought her pain. She is given many chances to act, and seeks out various people and situations, but never commits herself to a definite course of action. She doesn't fit anywhere in her world. At home, her family is too busy with their own affairs to notice or care about her and at school there is no clique that suits her. The mean kids are too mean, the smart kids are too smart, the cool kids too cool. She's just left floating adrift, a bit of fluff passing from one space to another, never finding a place to settle and solidify.

After watching this, I had a minor onset of anxiety, and will probably not watch it again. We all have fears and insecurities about who we are and how we're perceived, but this girl's life is only rejection and abuse (not severe, but enough to be damaging). She's a quiet girl who doesn't react loudly to neglect, but instead just slowly wilts over time, which is almost a more terrifying prospect.

An uncomfortable film to watch.

Powerpuff Girls

This is a really great cartoon about test tube triplets with superpowers. The girls, Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup were born in a freak chemical experiment combining sugar, spice, everything nice, and an accidental dose of chemical x. The girls use their super powers to save their city, Townsville, from the numerous villains that try to rob the townsfolk, take over or just destroy the city. And each episode you can be sure that the day will be saved thanks to the Powerpuff Girls!!! In most episodes anyway.

This show is so exaggerated it's almost a satire of the superhero genre. That's not to say the show doesn't take itself seriously, because it does. It's a legitimate show in its own right with original characters and problems (as much as that's possible), but there's also a sense that they play up every theme in the show. The characters personify their personality traits in an almost hyperbolic way. A good example of this is the way Mojo Jojo talks. He doesn't just speak, he states something, and then restates it, either explaining it or using more expressive words, which is an example of his personality. The up-tight genius that pays too much attention to detail, to the point where he over does it. The characters are all subtly well-thought out in this manner.

The show itself is pretty clever. Sure, when you look at it to looks so childish and cheery (almost falsely so), and on some level it is, but there's another level of the show to be appreciated if you look for it. For example, the show plays around with different animation and film styles, paying homage to some of the styles that have come before. There's actually a whole episode shot like a silent film, one shot with the old west in mind, etc.

Also, this show has one of the most terrifying villains I've ever seen, Him. Him is an amazing villain, probably the scariest super-villain in your father's eyes as he's a cross-dresser. Looking back I can't believe I didn't question it when I was younger... In addition to Him, Mojo Jojo has to be one of my favourite villains of all time. He's like Wlie E Coyote, but with a voice. Diabolical, intricate, genius plans executed energetically, that always backfire. One of my favourite episodes shows us the life of Mojo, and he's like a crotchety old man who just wants to eat breakfast, read the paper, and kill him some Powerpuffs- 'Just Another Manic Mojo' is the episode's title. But really, they're all gems.

If you're a fan of cartoons you'll like this one, and if you like superheroes you'll like this too. Fun for all ages, this is a great show.

Thumbelina (1994)

The story of Thumbelina was originally a fairy tale by Hans Christian Anderson. It's the story of a thumb- sized girl and her adventures in life and love. The film begins with an old woman. The woman is lonely and has always wanted a child of her own, and one day a fairy grants her wish and gives her a small seed. The old woman plants the seed and kisses it when it's ready to bloom, and inside she finds a tiny girl no bigger than her thumb, whom she then calls Thumbelina. Thumbelina is quite contented with her life on the old woman's farm. She tries to help out with chores, but only seems to her herself into scrapes whenever she tries to help. She loves her mother though and is happy. One night, Thumbelina is singing to herself in her room when, as chance would have it, the prince of the fairies flies by her bedroom window and is enchanted by her voice. He takes her for a ride on his pet bumblebee and they sing and fall in love. He then returns her to her room with the promise of returning. On that romantic ride through the meadow, a frog over hears Thumbelina singing and thinks to herself that this small girl would make a great addition to their travelling show and would make her son a good wife. So she kidnaps her that very night while Thumbelina slept, before the prince could come back to marry her. When Thumbelina awakes and discovers what the frogs have planned for her she runs away from them and tries to make her way back home, but being so small she can't see above the grass. The frog whom she escaped from is hot on her tail so quickly makes her way through the company of various bugs and birds and rodents who both try to help her and try to capture her. In the end the swallow, who also is the narrator of the story, helps her find her way to the vale of the fairies, where she hopes to find her prince.  They end up getting married  and Thumbelina grows a pair of wings to match her prince's and they all live happily ever after.

I liked this movie a lot when I was a kid. I'd sing the songs with my cousin when we watched the movie together, though apparently according to Wikipedia the 'marry the mole' song won the worst original song award. I remember feeling kind of awkward that all of these creepy guys wanted to marry Thumbelina and I guess that sort of took away from the movie a bit for me, but overall the memories are pleasant. Thumbelina isn't a strong character by any means, she sort of just gets tossed around by fate and always needs rescuing. The prince also isn't any knight in shining armour. He acts as a boy would, shirking responsibilities and spouting idealism without having anything to back it up. The villains are also kind of one-dimensional in their drive to get Thumbelina. Besides being struck by her voice, which isn't enough to make someone fall in love, there isn't really anything substantial in their desire to marry her. Besides a few character flaws however, this really is a sweet film. The songs are catchy, I like the animation, and the story is adventurous with a kiss at the end, short, sweet, and nostalgic.