An Education

Stay in school, girls. That's what An Education is telling you.

Because I hadn't heard a lot of controversy about the film, I didn't expect to be weirded out by this Lolita-like story. I guess I figured that if I wasn't hearing gossip, the filmmakers must have portrayed the relationship discretely. But they didn't, really. It was weird. And disturbing. And kind of gross.

But it's all in the service of a really interesting and well-communicated message that has a lot to do with girls, but more to do with young people in general.

The story goes something like this. A precocious (and adorable) 16-year-old Jenny is seduced by an older man. She becomes enthralled with his exciting, grown-up life, and gradually becomes something very different from the excellent but bored student she once was. Her parents are also charmed by David and become kind of blindly complicit in the relationship. When David proposes, Jenny has to decide whether to go to Oxford as planned or marry him.

And then, there's this perfectly written and acted argument between Jenny and Miss Stubbs, one of Jenny's teachers, where Jenny makes a pretty convincing case for the relationship with David. I want to quote it because it's so good, but I'd rather you go and watch it. The dialogue actually had me, a by-all-accounts devoted student and happily responsible young adult, questioning the decisions I've made in my own real life.

I won't let on what Jenny decides, but by the end the film has reminded you that a life you make for yourself is priceless and that, as much as we young people may want to, we only short-change ourselves when we try to fast-forward through the difficult, uncomfortable, or boring parts of our teens and twenties.

The portrayal of female characters is perfect. Jenny, played by Oscar-nominated Carey Mulligan, is a heroine all young people, female or male, can relate to. Miss Stubbs becomes an unexpected and understated role model any girl would be lucky to have. And Jenny's mom, dad, and headmistress remind us that our expectations for young women are many times unfair, unrealistic, and nothing like what we would hope for boys.

Click here to go to An Education's website.