The Growth Of Suicide
Teens and RestrictionsThis movie is basically a nightmare for the average teenager. We get to see some of the restrictions that the Lisbens' mother put on them. The main restriction that came across was the lack of letting the girls go out in cars. Another one being that they can't go to prom? Really? Well we get to see the stereotypical teenage rebellion whenever we look at Lux. Knowing her parents would disapprove she still decided to do things like: smoke cigarettes and weed along with drinking alcohol and sleeping/sneaking out with boys. This rebellious acts are just the normal things teenagers will try throughout this high school. Now things become even worse when the parents start to punish them. When Ms. Lisben decides to have all the girls stay home from school or when she Lux destroy all of her albums we see the despair and the pain she has to go through. Its actions like this where the things you enjoy doing, the people you enjoy seeing are no longer obtainable which leads to depression; a very deadly disability. We actually see it later in Lux's face when they boys break them out and go for a drive. Her face is seemingly blank, almost expressionless yet she still makes a sexual move towards one boy by slightly unbuckling his belt. She's making moves towards boys still but as we saw a few scenes earlier even when Lux got with a boy on her roof and they only lasted a few moments. I saw this as Lux losing more and more interest in boys, something she seemingly enjoyed.
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Suicide/ Reality Suicide is a concept that I can say I understand pretty well. This movie in particular had a lot to do with suicide but the line that stuck out to me about Cecelia's death was that the boys said:"This girl is someone who is out of touch with reality." Losing touch of whats real and whats not is a huge factor in suicide cases. In my junior year one of my friends ended his life by mixing drugs and alcohol. He typed up a goodbye post on Facebook earlier that day telling us about how he was sorry for all the things he did, how he wasn't a good boyfriend or son. Last year I was hospitalized because my doctor and mother were concerned for my safety. And they were right, I was in a mental point in my life where I felt responsible for all the negativity in the world. I felt it was my job to help make our world a better place and yet I felt unbelievably small and insignificant. Crazy thoughts like this added onto my already negative perspective of myself and thinking that I only caused pain for everyone else around me including my family and friends made me want to end the suffering. I couldn't move forward or see through a positive lens. I couldn't see a future for myself. Unlike these girls I have had a very free and loving parents however my mind was sick and distorted. However it was through that suffering that I came out stronger and more positive than ever. Suicide is very complicated issue for those who don't understand it, however those who have gone through that darkest point and come through will be stronger than ever. Reality is different for every person and if someone you know is possibly suicidal you don't try to talk them out of it. What brought me out of it was support and the love of all the people who stood by me, who were there for me and showed me they cared and needed me. That is what brought ME out it.
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Relationships Between Boys and GirlsThere is one quote that stuck out to me revolving around the distance of understanding between boys and girls. "They knew everything about us, but we can't fathom them." This is particularly relatable to my high school years where I considered myself someone who understood women but could never apply it. The boys in this movie are the narrators so we the story is based on all the facts that they have picked up on over the years of knowing these girls. I had a few girls that I truly enjoyed being around just because I could never guess what they would do next. I also had one female friend who I could always predict what she was going to do or say. Relationships in this movie portrayed as "flings" or unimportant feelings towards the other person. This was extremely evident in both Lux and Trip who in the movie were portrayed as the most attractive characters and because of this we see Trip abuse the attention of all girls except Lux in which he was left speechless and the confidence replaced with doubt and uncertainty. This different feeling is what Trip assumed was "real love". Lux does the same kind of thing, she needs the attention of boys and so we see several times how she abuses her knowledge of boys to seduce them. One particular scene was right in the beginning when she uses her foot to distract the boy across from her at the dinner table.
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