'Moxie', A Teen Movie With Weak Social Issues

JAKARTA - Movie is a reflection of social life that occurs in the real world. Today, we live where teenage stories are more than just romance and school.

One of them, Moxie, is the latest film from Netflix which was released on Wednesday. This movie by Amy Poehler is adapted from a teen novel.

Moxie tells the story of Vivian (Hadley Robinson), a teenager who finds injustice at school and tries to make a voice by releasing a zine containing her anger anonymously.

Various issues such as racism, disability, transgender women are some of the social issues that are mostly shown in this almost two hour film.

Besides Moxie, other series that put a lot of emphasis on this kind of issue are Netflix's 13 Reasons Why and HBO's Euphoria. Both series tell dark portraits of teenagers with intense anger and anxiety, known as teen angst.

Stories of sexuality and drug use as well as parental perspectives that do not influence the child's choice are the main topics. Initially, issues like this were considered taboo.

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We do not deny the fact that young people today have very fast access to information. Their high curiosity also allows them to get social issues just from watching films and series like this.

When compared with the past, teenage shows in the 2000s are not far from the luxurious lifestyle and the love conflicts experienced by the characters.

Then do we not find stories like that now? There is. There are still many shows that choose the 'safe' route, such as the The Kissing Booth franchise, which tells the love story of a teenager without social problems.

Go back to Moxie. This movie presents a coming-of-age story that is not as plain and simple as other movies. The main character is depicted as very angry and upset over the injustices at school due to cases of sexism and sexual harassment.

A Description Of Young People

Many movies associate teens as immature, lazy, indifferent, and so on. Likewise, the description of parents who are always required to take care of their children so they don't fall into the wrong 'hole'.

They are only considered adults when they enter the legal age. As long as they have not reached that age, they have no right to make decisions.

However, this is not the case in Moxie. Vivian, who is a child of a single parent, does not experience psychological or emotional impacts when she only has a mother.

The form of anger is also not based on a lack of affection or overprotection. This is an example that young people are also able to express their opinions and creativity even though they go through a series of dramas.

In Moxie, Vivian is known to have started her Moxie project after seeing a magazine made by his mother when the mother was still in school. There is a sense of inspiration to want to fight for the same thing even though at school, she is not someone who is popular.

It doesn't always work

As previously mentioned, Moxie offers stories about social issues such as disability, racism, and others. In fact, this step is relatively new in the storytelling of teen movies. But on the other hand, this movie is unable to cover the entire story.

The various dialogues and the unsatisfactory ending make social issues in the movie a mere patch. What they present is actually rarely done by other teenage films, but they are not able to solve the problem.

Overall, Moxie will not be as iconic as Mean Girls or The Half of It because of their difficulty in closing the already complicated storyline. But, there is nothing wrong if Moxie is your viewing choice.