I was so looking forward to this, having thoroughly enjoyed the play a few years ago.
Having been a teenage girl in Scotland in the 90s, I felt excited to see some of my generation's perspective on coming of age during that time represented on film.
It seems the 3 middle-aged male writers charged with adapting the novel and play (also male written) for film consulted no teenage girls in Scotland on how they think, talk, or speak!!
For the record, teenage Scottish girls swear and talk about sex, but we never ran around talking about wanting to shag and be shagged by random and multiple blokes!!
No, really!!
Not in the 90s, and not now!! Not at the age of 15-16 that these girls seem to be. Not in our 20s either, or at any other point in time! And I'm saying that as a very liberal woman who worked in sex education with teenagers in the late 90s and early 00s!!
Talk about male gaze, and some borderline dodgy wishful thinking on behalf of the writing team!
We had to turn it off after half an hour as this constant stream of 'I want shagged' claims throughout the group of girls (sincere or otherwise), was really getting on our tits! It undermined the credulity of all the characters and emerging plot lines (well-played by a great group of young Scottish actors I should say - no complaints over the performances from what we saw).
What a wasted opportunity to shine a light on girls and women, on Scotland, and on that place in time through the medium of film.
If you're going to put on a production about girls and women, try involving some in the writing and production!!
Having been a teenage girl in Scotland in the 90s, I felt excited to see some of my generation's perspective on coming of age during that time represented on film.
It seems the 3 middle-aged male writers charged with adapting the novel and play (also male written) for film consulted no teenage girls in Scotland on how they think, talk, or speak!!
For the record, teenage Scottish girls swear and talk about sex, but we never ran around talking about wanting to shag and be shagged by random and multiple blokes!!
No, really!!
Not in the 90s, and not now!! Not at the age of 15-16 that these girls seem to be. Not in our 20s either, or at any other point in time! And I'm saying that as a very liberal woman who worked in sex education with teenagers in the late 90s and early 00s!!
Talk about male gaze, and some borderline dodgy wishful thinking on behalf of the writing team!
We had to turn it off after half an hour as this constant stream of 'I want shagged' claims throughout the group of girls (sincere or otherwise), was really getting on our tits! It undermined the credulity of all the characters and emerging plot lines (well-played by a great group of young Scottish actors I should say - no complaints over the performances from what we saw).
What a wasted opportunity to shine a light on girls and women, on Scotland, and on that place in time through the medium of film.
If you're going to put on a production about girls and women, try involving some in the writing and production!!