Towelhead

There was controversy surrounding this movie long before it ever came out because of the title. After watching it I was surprised the controversy did not come from what actually happens in the movie. When the movie started there were 9 people in the theater, by the time it was over I was the only one left. People just cannot handle this kind of subject matter. The title, though, is actually pretty fitting for the story being told.

Jasira(Summer Bishil) is a 13 year old girl experiencing her sexual awakening. While babysitting a neighbor boy, she catches the neighbor looking through dirty magazines; she is fascinated by them. One day while looking through one, she starts rocking back and forth and rubbing her legs and it gives her an orgasm. Soon, she is giving herself orgasms in class, at lunch and anywhere else she can get away with it. Jasira, a Lebanese girl, comes from a very strict household. Her father has turned to Christianity and loathes anything non American, but he is not willing to teach Jasira anything, just slap her around when she does something wrong, or wears something inappropriate. This leads to her turning to her neighbor, Travis(Aaron Eckhart). Travis is a father and a husband and unnervingly attracted to Jasira. He doesn't come off lecherous at first, but he is sexually drawn to the young girl. He lets Jasira take some of his magazines home with her and is looking to take advantage of her naivete in the ways of sex. One night he crosses the line, but Jasira doesn't know what to do with it. Instead she turns to a classmate to fulfill her sexual desires. However, she is still drawn to her elder Neighbor. She puts herself in the position to be alone with him, asking him out to dinner and things like that. Soon another neighbor, Melina(Toni Collette) catches on to what is going on and sees Jasira needs a mother figure. She also sees Jasira needs guidance in the ways of sexuality so she buys her a book. All hell starts to break loose when her father finds the magazines and it leads to quite a climatic final half hour.

Right after the opening credits, Jasira is standing in a shower in a bikini with her mother's boyfriend shaving her pubic area. Later there is a close up ona bloody tampon. The orgasms Jasira has are probably longer than is comfortable. The scene where she is manually raped is long and graphic and unsettling. These are all scenes that were followed by people walking out. I get it, I mean I get walking out when faced with something uncomfortable. However, the movie makes sense. While the movie is called Towelhead, so it leads one to believe it will be all about race, it is really about what happens when parents do not talk to their children about sex. If Jasira's parents had taught her things, there is a chance Jasira never would have wanted those magazines and the neighbor man wouldn't have seen her as sexual prey. Or, if they had taught her, maybe she would have spoken up about the rape and not have that kind of thing happen again. Yes, race factors in as Jasira is constantly called a towelhead or Camel Jockey and her father will not let her be with a black kid because he thinks it makes her look bad to American society, but be clear, this movie is about the startling sexual awakening of a young girl.

Towelhead is a very well made movie in terms of structure and performances. Aaron Eckhart is the perfect amount of slimy suburban dad and everyone else shines as well. However, in her very big screen debut is outstanding. She conveys the innocence and curiosity of Jasira perfectly. She lights up the screen with her presence and is certainly fearless in this movie. It would not work without such a strong lead performance and Summer does such a great job. Yes, it is a big messy movie and I do not blame anyone who wants to stay away and I do not blame anyone for walking out, it is meant to be that kind of movie. It is meant to be in our collective faces, but for the most part it works.

My only complaints about the movie are about writer/director Alan Ball. Ball who wrote a brilliant script for American Beauty seems a bit off his game here. He was comfortable writing from the Suburban dad perspective, but his usual wit and charm are mostly missing from Towelhead. Those elements would have made the pauses between shocking scenes a little easier to stomach, but maybe it was intentional to leave them out. Also, as a first time director, sometimes he seems overwhelmed by the material. At times it feels like he is so in love with his words, he just wants to point and shoot, but this doesn't seem like that kind of movie. I wanted a little more from the camera work.

Towelhead is a tough movie to sit through and it misses its mark at times, but a great breakout performance from Summer and an interesting story that should serve as a warning to non-communicative parents make it ultimately a good movie. I am sure the controversy will always overshadow the actual movie, which is too bad, but understandable.

Final Grade: B