BuzzSugar

Towelhead: Sad, Disturbing, Just Like the Book

BuzzSugar — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 14:30:33 -0700

There's been some controversy and outrage surrounding Alan Ball's adaptation of Alicia Erian's novel Towelhead, which I might understand more if I hadn’t read the original work. People are calling the film "abhorrent," "ethically reprehensible and irresponsible," and "gratuitously offensive." And yet, this isn't really Ball’s fault. His adaptation is completely faithful to the novel - I don’t think there’s even one line of dialogue or one bit of action that isn’t in the book - so why wasn't there this reaction to the novel?

The story is shocking and disturbing. It’s a coming-of-age tale focusing on a young woman (Jasira, played poignantly by Summer Bishil in the film) who is half-Lebanese and half-white, living in a largely white Texas community with a strict father and a leery older male neighbor. Everything Jasira does (from using tampons to dating a black boy) seems to anger her father and disappoint her mother (played by Maria Bello). So, Jasira confuses the attention she gets from her leery neighbor (Aaron Eckhart) with a kind of true affection, which he easily exploits. Jasira's young sense of self and her burgeoning understanding of sexuality get all mixed up with abuse and humiliation and - occasionally - pleasure. This is just the tip-top of the iceberg, so read more.

There are things that will make a person’s stomach turn in this story, but there’s also truth, humor and redemption. The book is told from Jasira’s childlike point of view, offering readers an agonizing glimpse into her naivete as well as her innocent hopefulness. Lacking this insight (as the film version provides little, if any such glimpse into Jasira’s interior world), and perhaps because book-to-film adaptations often must include only the “big” plot points, the complexities of Jasira’s experiences are lost and all we see is a disturbing 2-dimensional story about a girl in an unfortunate situation.

In some ways I can understand the reactions some people have with the movie; with no real insight into Jasira’s inner landscape, it appears to be shocking for the sake of shock. But Alan Ball has never been one to avoid the ugly, sinister aspects of the human experience. In American Beauty, which he wrote, he obviously touches on some unpleasant and taboo topics, and perhaps one of the problems with Towelhead is that he actually goes there.

Frustratingly, some people are focusing on one scene in which Jasira discovers a used tampon, and holds it up for Jasira - and us - to see. Apparently this is too disgusting for some viewers to which Ball had a superb retort: "We can make movies like There's Something About Mary, using semen as hair gel, and it's a huge hit - but to show a bloody tampon is considered shocking. I think that says a lot about our culture's attitude towards women and towards female sexuality." My thoughts exactly. The horror and repulsion with which menstruation is so often treated is repulsive in itself. As Ball points out, "We all have mothers and we're all are here because of the way that female sexuality works." We just don't want to acknowledge it, apparently.

Obviously, this story is provocative, but maybe we should be provoked. Having read the book, I wasn’t shocked by anything in the film because none of it was a surprise, though I definitely sat there anticipating with dread the more upsetting scenes. I appreciate what Ball (and the excellent cast) has done with the movie – it must have been a challenge, to say the least. But between the two mediums, in this case, it would probably be wiser (and more interesting) to read the book.

Photos courtesy of Warner Independent Pictures

Book Review: Towelhead

BuzzSugar — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 10:30:50 -0700

I first heard of Towelhead when I caught a trailer for the Alan Ball-directed film adaptation of Alicia Erian’s novel. The trailer looked like a sweet (perhaps a little bittersweet) coming-of-age story with moments of dark humor. The book is all of these things, but I was not at all prepared for exactly how disturbing it would be, or how utterly sad.

Towelhead is written in the frank and simplistic words of 13-year-old Jasira, the daughter of a white mother and a Lebanese father. In the summer of 1991, Jasira moves from her mother’s house in Syracuse, NY, to Houston, TX, to live with her strict father, Rifat. In a largely white community, Jasira becomes increasingly aware of the fact that she’s different and that different is bad. But when she starts to date a fellow student who is black, Rifat angrily forbids her from seeing him, reacting out of deep-seated prejudices he insists he doesn't possess. For more about Towelhead, read more.

Turns out, most things anger Jasira’s father, and when he's angry, he hits Jasira and berates her. Meanwhile, Jasira's next-door neighbor, Mr. Vuoso, offers her the attention and what she perceives to be positive affection that she so desperately craves. Unfortunately, Mr. Vuoso wants to be way more than just a friendly neighbor and at the root of his interest in Jasira there’s a sinister, ugly desire. Jasira’s one ray of hope comes from another neighbor, a young pregnant woman named Melina who wants to help and protect Jasira.

At times it’s a frustrating read because Jasira has very few people she can trust not to hurt her and this grows wearying. Even her mother has jealousy issues and blames Jasira for any number of things she couldn't possibly have done. Jasira’s father constantly finds fault with her, mostly having to do with her developing body. The worst parts involve Mr. Vuoso, whose depraved exploitation of Jasira’s naivete and her burgeoning curiosity about sex is absolutely heartbreaking and difficult to read. Thus, she receives mixed messages about her body and her sexuality: shame and disgust from her father, leering objectification from the adult man next door, and a slightly more innocent desire for exploration from a boy her age.

In truth, there are parts of this book that made me feel like vomiting, and I had to put it down at times. And yet somehow, Erian's writing made me obsessed with Jasira’s story and I had to keep reading. As bleak and horrible as it can get, Jasira's narration is so simplistic and childlike, I kept reading just so I could see if she would ever find some kind of relief, love, or peace. There are also points of great humor as Jasira tries to navigate this new, very adult world all by herself. It’s a gripping tale, and I really like Erian’s no-nonsense writing style, though it’s also emotionally trying.

Source

Movie Preview: Towelhead

BuzzSugar — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 11:31:05 -0700

Towelhead (which also goes by the title Nothing Is Private) was one of the movies on my to-see list at Sundance that kept getting edged down by other movies, partially because of other priorities, though I also worried that it would be really disturbing. Now the film, based on the novel by Alicia Erian, has a theatrical release date of August 8 and a trailer that has only made me more uneasy about watching the movie - though also more curious, too.

The story is of the coming-of-age variety, though this one features a 13-year-old girl (Summer Bishil) whose Caucasian mother (Maria Bello) sends her to live with her Lebanese father (Peter Macdissi) in a small suburban town. She begins to explore her awakening sexuality, spending time with a boy from school (Eugene Jones III) and befriending a neighbor (Aaron Eckhart) whose intentions are far from pure. Her home life with a strict and sometimes abusive father only further drives her curiosity about her identity, her sexuality, her place in the world.

Alan Ball, creator of Six Feet Under, tries his hand at directing with the movie, and it seems to bear his signature marks of examining the darkest corners of the human soul while offering glimmers of humor and redemption. I'm both interested in and slightly afraid of this film. To check out the trailer, read more.

Source