It’s been a tumultuous time of late for women’s issues, particularly in the UK in the wake of the murder of Sarah Everard. The ‘Reclaim the Streets’ movement has been swiftly and unjustly halted by police, particularly in London, and the hashtag #NotAllMen has become a widespread and contentious topic amongst female rights activists and their opponents. Which is why Moxie arrived at exactly the right time and is a film that everyone needs to watch.
Vivian (Hadley Robinson) is an introverted, quiet high school student. When new student Lucy (Alycia Pascual-Pena) begins to speak out about the injustices she is facing as a woman at the school, particularly in relation to the football team and their objectification of women; Vivian is inspired by her former activist mother to create Moxie!, a zine with the goal of empowering women to collectively take a stand against those who oppress, or allow oppression of women at their school.
It’s always a dangerous idea for a white man like myself to tackle films with the kind of message Moxie has, because I am the problem in all this. By I, I specifically mean white men, who have all the power and privilege and use it to marginalise and attack anyone they can. So, what dare I say about a film that dares to challenge that status quo? I say Moxie is one of the most important films of the last few years and could be one of the most important of 2021, particularly in addressing social injustices that are present in our society right now.
The film is certainly not perfect, and I’m going to go more into that in just a moment, but I would say it’s essential viewing, particularly for young men and women who the film is aimed at.
Vivian (Hadley Robinson) is an introverted, quiet high school student. When new student Lucy (Alycia Pascual-Pena) begins to speak out about the injustices she is facing as a woman at the school, particularly in relation to the football team and their objectification of women; Vivian is inspired by her former activist mother to create Moxie!, a zine with the goal of empowering women to collectively take a stand against those who oppress, or allow oppression of women at their school.
It’s always a dangerous idea for a white man like myself to tackle films with the kind of message Moxie has, because I am the problem in all this. By I, I specifically mean white men, who have all the power and privilege and use it to marginalise and attack anyone they can. So, what dare I say about a film that dares to challenge that status quo? I say Moxie is one of the most important films of the last few years and could be one of the most important of 2021, particularly in addressing social injustices that are present in our society right now.
The film is certainly not perfect, and I’m going to go more into that in just a moment, but I would say it’s essential viewing, particularly for young men and women who the film is aimed at.
So, what works? Movie has a great message about taking action and instigating change. That if you don’t become the revolution then who will, take your fate into your own hands if you will. Vivian’s best friend, Claudia (Lauren Tsai), personifies the contrast in those who believe change should happen but do not take action on it. Claudia doesn’t like being viewed as some piece of meat, but she’ll continue to allow it to happen so long as it doesn’t bring attention to her and she does well in school. Her excuse for this is that her mother is an immigrant, so she needs to keep her head down out of respect for the risks she took in moving to the United States, this does and doesn’t work. It makes sense because that is a genuine fear that immigrants face, speaking out and then being shipped off back to where they came from. But the way Claudia reasons it doesn’t, she stops taking risks and fighting for her freedom out of respect for her mother who took risks and fought for her freedom (what?). But why is this a positive? Whilst her reasoning could have been explained a little better, it’s great to have characters in the story be afraid to speak out for various reasons. There are rape survivors, physically disabled people, and people from marginalised ethnicities who don’t want to speak up because they’re scared of drawing unwanted attention or receiving unfair punishments simply because of what they are.
The film also does a great job of humanising each of the main characters. Hadley Robinson is fantastic as Vivian and I truly connected with her throughout the film. I also loved Nico Hiraga’s character, Seth, who in a sea of toxic or unreliable men was someone who understood how important the equality Moxie! stood for is.
The film generally has a lot of heart and I often found myself cheering along with the triumphs made, or physically angry at the injustices being carried out. I also loved that the film managed to be so forward with its subject matter, but still carry an age rating low enough that families can sit down together and discuss the topics raised by the film. It should be used as a discussion piece, because although it does tackle some hard subjects, it never does so in a way that can be triggering or exploitative like many of these types of dramas do. It only seeks to include, not exclude when it could so easily have done so for shock value.
The film also does a great job of humanising each of the main characters. Hadley Robinson is fantastic as Vivian and I truly connected with her throughout the film. I also loved Nico Hiraga’s character, Seth, who in a sea of toxic or unreliable men was someone who understood how important the equality Moxie! stood for is.
The film generally has a lot of heart and I often found myself cheering along with the triumphs made, or physically angry at the injustices being carried out. I also loved that the film managed to be so forward with its subject matter, but still carry an age rating low enough that families can sit down together and discuss the topics raised by the film. It should be used as a discussion piece, because although it does tackle some hard subjects, it never does so in a way that can be triggering or exploitative like many of these types of dramas do. It only seeks to include, not exclude when it could so easily have done so for shock value.
But Moxie does fall short in some areas. Vivian’s low point doesn’t make an awful lot of sense. Despite having support from almost all of her female peers, and a growing percentage of her male ones too, she seems to believe that she is the only person who actually cares. It doesn’t make sense and she becomes incredibly bratty because of it. It also comes almost out of nowhere and disappears just as fast as it arrived. I also feel as though more could have been done with Josephine Langford’s character, Emma. She becomes very central to the story in the final few scenes but had almost no presence in the film prior to this point, despite being in a position that would make her important as the school’s cheer captain. I wanted to see her growth from silent survivor to empowered fighter given actual depth and not just a short speech.
The films villain, Mitchell (Patrick Schwarzenegger), also has an anticlimactic ending. I didn’t need to see much more, but at least a little clarification as to what repercussions he would face would have been nice.
Some may say that Moxie is tame because it doesn’t go for shock value in the same way that many of its contemporaries do. Some may also not like it because it isn’t as light-hearted as some of its other peers. Moxie exists in a strange middle ground where it doesn’t go too dark, but it doesn’t want to be seen as a comedy either (which I half expected as it’s directed by Amy Poehler).
But I had a great time with Moxie and I feel as though it’s message is more important now than it has ever been. The fact that women are still fighting to be treated equally to men is appalling, and I hope films like Moxie strike young men and women in the intended way to allow for true change to finally happen.
The films villain, Mitchell (Patrick Schwarzenegger), also has an anticlimactic ending. I didn’t need to see much more, but at least a little clarification as to what repercussions he would face would have been nice.
Some may say that Moxie is tame because it doesn’t go for shock value in the same way that many of its contemporaries do. Some may also not like it because it isn’t as light-hearted as some of its other peers. Moxie exists in a strange middle ground where it doesn’t go too dark, but it doesn’t want to be seen as a comedy either (which I half expected as it’s directed by Amy Poehler).
But I had a great time with Moxie and I feel as though it’s message is more important now than it has ever been. The fact that women are still fighting to be treated equally to men is appalling, and I hope films like Moxie strike young men and women in the intended way to allow for true change to finally happen.