In the Finnish coming-of-age film 'Girl Picture', a girl, Ronkko, feels uniquely deficient. No matter how she approaches lovemaking, real pleasure remains elusive. She has tried communicating her wishes through moans alone, and when her friend advises her to speak her mind about what she wants and she acts on that, her one night stand complains that it's unsexy to follow 'a manual for the genitals'.
It's clear to us that the boy putting her down simply has no clue how to pleasure her and feels insecure, but Ronkko can't help but feel depressed. "There must be something uniquely wrong with me," she confesses to her friend.
I was immediately reminded of the feminist podcast 'Unfuck your brain', where Kara Loewentheil describes a phenomenon of women from all walks of life coming to the conclusion that there is something fundamentally lacking deep within, because they keep getting pushed about by patriarchy. Whether our ideas are ignored, interrupted, plagiarised, or our self esteem is subject to everyday crushing slights and degradations, girls and women have a raw deal. It takes access to the right information and people to stay ahead of the game and radically re-evaluate your self-worth.
'Girl Picture' represents the poison that society shells out to teens, and has a glorious depiction of an antidote, too: Ronkko's friend, Mimmi, enthuses that Ronkko is a 'goddess! A curly[-haired] goddess!' I forget the exact words used, but Mimmi sees her as wonderful, attractive and worthy. It's in turn wonderful to see this representation of female friendship, and I hope I will watch more films like it in the near future. It makes it easier to vocally appreciate the women I am friendly with when I see love-ins like this. :)
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