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Hello Cinephiles,
Today we’re talking about the 2020 film Stargirl.
Story
I fell like a dictionary of bad tropes gained sentience and wrote this movie. It at times tries too hard to be deep, quirky, and G rated edgy.
This is the kind of story that suburban people think happens in a small town.
If I were in my early teens I might have enjoyed this more but only because I didn’t understand the overdone and trite themes and naratives.
Score: 0
Characters
There’s a lot of tropes not many characters. The boring white guy who’s scared of being different, the manic pixie dreamgirl, the wise black mentor, the too busy to pay attention single mom, the ethnic best friend, the caring yet aloof teacher, the friend who’s pudgy and eats a lot, and the dead father.
There are tiny moments where the characters are permitted to not just play a bad caricature but it’s fleeting.
The actors do what they can with what they have but there’s just not enough in the script. The main white dude is creepy, stalkerish, and just plain boring. The MPDG is literally turned into a magic legend that saves the town. I spent the first 40 minutes wondering if he was going to kill her or if she was going to kill them.
Score: 0
Dialogue
The MPDG wins a speech competition by taking off her shoes and giving an impassioned speech about how our society only reacts because it’s so fast. It’s the kind of thing an Anti-vaxxer would write on Facebook after reading too much Shelley, Byron, and Wordsworth; while missing their points completely.
The rest of the movie’s dialogue alternates between awkward, false sounding, teen speak, and pseudo-spiritual bullshit.
Score: 0
Visuals and Music
Because nothing happens in this town and it’s all super boring, the entire movie, except for scenes with Stargirl and the ending, are brown filtered. It makes it visuals boring. Combined with an attempt at edgy documentary-style handheld filming, it makes the audience want to look away.
The music was cute and almost made me want to care.
Score: 0.5
Fun
As someone who enjoys musicals, dance movies, teen drama, and pseudo-mystical stories… this was so watered down and stereotyped that I wonder if it was written by a bot that had watched a thousand hours of teen dramas.
Score: 0
Overall
This is the kind of story and movie that is lauded by critics for it’s non-conformity because it’s cute and non-threatening. In 2020, we should be beyond this disturbingly white, cis, male and passively racist, homophobic, and sexist narratives aimed at children.
Final Score: 0.5 Star