Thoughts on a Film: Towelhead

Yesterday night when I realised I had some free time (not actually free - I just couldn't be bothered to do work lol) to relax, I was scouring through tumblr and came across a meme/film still with words along the lines of (this isn't completely accurate the script was better):

Girl (Jasira): My daddy says you can't come over.
Boy (Thomas): Why?
J: Because you're black.
T: What? You're being serious? Who cares what your daddy says!
J: I have to! He's my daddy. 
[T hangs up phone]
 -A different scene-
J: I can't believe Thomas is mad at me! I'm just obeying my father.
Friend (can't remember her name oops): I would be mad if I were him.
J: Why? It's not my fault!
F: If you do what a racist tells you to, that makes you racist too.

So, instantly, I was intrigued. Because, not only were the love interests an inter-racial couple, they were also an inter-racial couple of colour (and the film was dealing with racism among POC)! Which you never see in movies. Like, never. Especially not in teen coming-of-age slightly indie movies. So this was so exciting.

Thankfully, the whole movie (the near 2 glorious hours of it), in pretty good quality as well, was on Dailymotion so I could watch it for free and online, in bed *happy face* (also sorry not sorry for the illegal streaming thing 'cos of practicality issues and also 'cos I'm a broke student).

I really liked this film because it dealt with so many important relevant issues, especially to teenage girls, while not obviously berating those who may have done wrong. For instance, Jasira's father sometimes beat her up. Or got really angry. Or just had really unfair and hypocritical rules. And obviously, that's wrong and really can fuck up a child. But the film also showed how he could be a good father and that the whole issue of a familial relationship is more complex than labelling people as bad or good. She still loved him. He was still her father after all. Everyone makes mistakes. Okay, it sounds like I'm justifying his actions, but I'm not - a lot of what he did or said was very contradictory to my own personal beliefs and made me feel actually quite angry.

An example being, how her father was totally holding up double-standards against her just because she was a girl. Like, seriously, hitting your kid for not changing out of "over-revealing" PJs in the morning? Or not letting her wear tampons because they're supposedly only for the use of married women? And also, obviously, the whole racism thing - not letting Jasira see Thomas solely on the basis that he's black. However, then again, the film does show that the father is simply ignorant or very set in his beliefs and that with some communication and grappling with different ideas, people can get along. The viewer can understand where he comes from when he states that "he didn't make the world how it is" implying that because black people aren't always as respected as others, it'll be potentially damaging for Jasira to date one. I mean, the viewer gets it. He's only a concerned father at the end of the day, no matter how outdated his views are.

Then, Jasira's relationship with her adult neighbour was also, in my opinion, quite a good reflection of the reality of non-consensual sexual activity and grooming. You could see how, assumedly because of her young hormonally charged body, she found him quite attractive and she even enjoyed the attention he gave her. However, at the same time, the viewer understands that she's simply too young and what he does for her and gives to her is inherently wrong. Because, at the time, while it may have felt tolerable, the after-effects are what challenges the mental stability of a person. And we feel some sympathy for the guy, we really do. Because the film, very cleverly, shows him not to be some uber-creep like the guy in The Lovely Bones, but a normal father, an attractive man even - a person who most people would never suspect to be some gross paedophile. It's not because of this, I think, that helps us feel sympathy, I think it's more the fact that he clearly seems not to mean much harm; he doesn't seem malicious or even that scary. So the genius is that, though it seems that it wasn't extreme abuse, it was still abuse and still solicited his arrest. And also, I like how Jasira wasn't portrayed as a really sad victim. She owns her sexuality. She still wants to have sex with Thomas even though she'd been sexually abused because she felt safe with him and felt good with him. I thought that was a nice touch (I mean obviously it's okay to feel scarred emotionally and not want to be touched but I feel like that is sometimes an over-used trope they use in movies to add an extra layer of drama).

Also, I loved the way she totally owned her sexuality and was experimenting with her body. She was masturbating and having orgasms by herself and she was a girl, a young teenage girl! WOW! I've never seen that ever. Especially not with a POC (Lebanese in film, Indian/Mexican in real life) main character! Wow!

The references to race and the way racism was approached in this film, was refreshing because it showed how potentially meaningless and shallow comments could still cause an inflammatory reaction and an overlying feeling of derogation and inferiority in the victim. It was particularly poignant for me, as I've had to deal with such comments myself, especially when I was a kid. I thought the way Jasira's dad worked really hard to make himself seem as patriotic as possible and as far away from the "towelhead" stereotype as he could, was pretty hilarious but also demonstrated how POC are constantly undermined and the sustained feeling that we need to justify ourselves and assimilate in fear of accidentally subjecting ourselves to stereotypes and negative tropes.

Generally, I thought the film was really well made. The colour scheme was pretty nice, with good shots (almost Wes Anderson style though others will most likely disagree) and amazing music (I think it was banghra West Asian Mid-Eastern style and the way it was timed was so perfect not to mention we never get to hear non-Western music in media unless it's meant to be ironic or stereotypical). The fashion was a highlight for me. Every outfit of Jasira's and even Thomas' were beautiful. They were simple but colourful and stylish and sleek and chic - and totally reflected the best of the 80s'/90s' fashion eras. Yes. Total outfit-inspo.

But anyway, I thoroughly recommend a watch if you're looking for a coming-of-age drama that's a little bit different to what everyone's used to. It's refreshing and it shouldn't be bold, but it really is. 11/10 +gold star! :)