Feminism as a philosophy changes culture, shapes politics, promotes equality, protects women’s rights, our bodies, health and safety.
Feminism as a brand sells fashion, music and films.
Somewhere between these two truths is “Moxie”, Amy Poehler’s cinematic celebration of riot grrrls, cut motorcycle jackets and the incredible power of the ‘zine. Remember those? Probably not, if you were born after, I don’t know, 1985? (Children, “zines” are the old versions of blogs, the grandfather of Facebook, which is the obsolete version of the Instagram feed.)
But for women of a certain age, these do-it-yourself magazines were vital, a low- or no-cost entry to the secret rebellion and a place of belonging ignored by their classmates who adore sophisticated magazines. If you remember them – hell, if you made one – “Moxie” exists for you. The cast may be your daughter’s age, but make no mistake. It is a temple for a certain type of white feminist of the Third Wave of the 90s, whose main objective at the age of 16 was to “crush the patriarchy”, as Poehler’s mother character, Lisa, casually puts it.
Lisa says this while drinking a pint of her favorite flavor of Umqua ice cream and relaxing on her couch (feeling seen, fellow Xers?) While daughter Vivian (Hadley Robinson) struggles in search of a way to face the turmoil, without control sexism making your school life a living hell.
Of course, when Lisa was 16, she probably only had a very basic concept of what constitutes “patriarchy” and the actions needed to destroy it. This assumption is based on faded teenage memories, further informed by the fact that Lisa keeps these remnants of her past life in a vintage suitcase covered with stickers that Vivian unearths just in time to save her school.
Vivian’s heroism is also somewhat casual. At first, she and her introverted best friend, Claudia (Lauren Tsai), are struggling to figure out what to write for the writing part of their college applications. Claudia is totally at the top of her game; Vivian is not. But then an unpleasant ranking list assigning superlatives to all young women at school, an annual tradition, publishes on social media. Vivian is out of the ordinary with the title “Most obedient”. Other girls are not so lucky, as their names are associated with their body parts or their sexuality. A young woman is called a word with C.
The faculty’s reaction to all this is a shrug. Vivian responds by transforming scissors, markers and a glue stick into weapons and giving birth to her Moxie, a ‘zine that points out the most aggressive boys; also, patriarchy. She takes photocopies of pages and leaves them in the girls’ bathroom, for free, so she stumbles. The mystery of who is responsible for Moxie quickly grows a movement around him.
“Moxie” is one of those films that a person who lived and / or loves the period that Poehler and screenwriter Tamara Chestna refer to really wants to be extremely fantastic, especially at a time like this when we need an optimistic punch of energy. Unfortunately, he is so caught up in the fantasy of Generation X mothers of how they would like to be when they were the age of their teenage daughter or would like their teenage daughter to be that way they forget to develop their characters beyond the archetypes they represent.
The channels of the “Moxie” era are also defined and blessed by a series of films that show them at every step. “Clueless”, “Bring It On”, these are just a few films vibrating with feminist energy and memorable personalities that informed every powerful teen film that came in its wake.
A direct comparison with these films aimed at teenagers or “Mean Girls”, which receives a compliment in the script, does not favor the story.
Frustratingly, “Moxie” merely plays in turmoil, putting Vivian, Robinson’s shy, in the role of invisible heroine and only guaranteeing her an appearance of psychological reach. Wallflower’s status is useful as it allows her to witness the abuses suffered by the new student Lucy Hernandez (Alycia Pascual-Peña), an African-Latin woman who is immediately harassed by Mitchell Wilson, the presumptuous and handsome white poster boy for deserving the mediocrity played by Patrick Schwarzenegger.
Lucy is also one of several women of color who are neglected, neglected and threatened as Moxie moves from a ‘zine to a movement, several of whom are targeted while Vivian produces aggressive manifestos (ai) of the security of her anonymity.
Schwarzenegger is a perfect casting choice here, not just for his good looks, but for the sheer ease he spills on Wilson as he gently inflicts violence on Lucy and usually punches everyone, including teachers. Even the director (Marcia Gay Harden) is reluctant to do anything about Wilson’s sociopathic behavior, refusing to allow Lucy to use the word harassment when trying to report him. This is not only bizarre, but also almost unbelievable.
Of course, there are many established examples of high school and college administrators who look the other way when women present cases of sexual harassment or assault that does appear in this story. But Harden’s director’s unidimensionality is almost comical and, at the same time, nothing close to the level of funny because of her obstinate ability to make misogyny sound like satire. Ike Barinholtz’s poorly hired English teacher, Mr. Davies, does a little better, but the actor’s charm deserves credit for the character’s appeal, not the script.
None of the guys and girls in “Moxie” get much in terms of layers or nuances other than Vivian and her mother, in fact. Vivian’s passion, Seth Acosta (Nico Hiraga), is gentle, sweet, prosaic and forgettable. The little we see from Claudia’s mother borders on stereotype. Claudia is Vivian’s best friend, remember, but she is barely present long enough to give any impression of individuality.
Organize all these pages and you will have a banal, completely flat and harmless narrative that demonstrates all the ways society fails women, that takes a curious left turn towards the end and indicates that at least one of your villains will get what he deserves – and yet, it speaks enough of the joy of being a girl to make it bearable. “Moxie” wants to capture the spirit of the youth revolt, but, unfortunately, this is undoubtedly his mother’s film.
“Moxie” is currently streaming on Netflix.