Netflix has released an uplifting new film this week, a girl power Amy Poehler film called ‘Moxie’.
This high school teen drama is full of girl power, and explores various issues relating to harassment, feminism and the downplaying of sexism accusations in schools.
The movie focuses on Vivian (Hadley Robinson) and her time in high school. She is influenced by her rebellious mother (Amy Poehler) to call out sexism in her school and she gains confidence by becoming best friends with new girl Lucy (Alycia Pascual-Pena) who is one of those people who instantly calls out harassment from the boys in the school, particularly sexism from captain of the football team Mitchell (Patrick Schwarzenegger).
Throughout the film, there are prime examples of how sexism occurs regularly in many situations. An example of this is the fact a list went around labelling all the girls negatively and the school headteacher downplaying the seriousness of how the negative labels have a serious impact.
There are also parts which have elements taken from real life, for example in Moxie some of the girls drew hearts and stars in support of the girl power movement against harassment which is symbolic of the semi colon mark back from 2015 from when people did it as a message of hope to combat mental health.
Another thoughtful observation is the impact of schools forcing girls to cover up if they are wearing a tank top which is extremely sexist and relevant in American schools, but also in the UK. This is proven with strict dress codes especially for girls, which is a serious issue as girls should be allowed to wear a tank top with thin or thick straps if they want to, it’s a ridiculous rule.
One of the quotes I loved at the start is Vivian giving advice to Lucy to keep her head down to avoid harassment and she responded with saying “Why should I, I’m going to keep my head held high”. I just love that confidence.
Highlight moments of the film was seeing the girls in the film sticking together, from the first Moxie zine being released, to seeing Vivian, Lucy and Claudia (Lauren Tsai) getting along and attending the first official club meeting together. Another was watching Vivian and Seth’s (Nico Hiraga) relationship and character development blossom.
It’s quite evident that the film focuses deeply on issues such as mansplaining throughout and it could be argued that this is somewhat reflected in society. It’s one of those films that makes you sit back and think ‘wow this did happen quite a lot in school’, with some guys being extremely sexist to girls.
The only issue is some points of the movie were less interesting which led me to start losing concentration when watching the film, yet I like the fact I was able to be reeled back in and still understand exactly what was going on. The movie got increasingly better especially towards the end with tackling even more serious issues.
At first, I believed this was going to be a very cliché film, which in some ways it is, but actually in quite a refreshing way. So, if you’re looking for a new teen movie to indulge yourself into which has some typical high school drama mixed in with strong messages about sexism and girl power, then I strongly recommend this film.
Moxie is available to watch on Netflix.
Movie rating: 7.5/10
By Jack Proverbs
Feature image: LRMonline