Review of Eighth Grade (2018) by Harris M — 28 Nov 2018

I am a student in high school and got the opportunity to watch the movie, Eighth Grade in our film class. Generally speaking, I thought that the movie was extremely cringy and made my classmates, the teacher and I recall our awkward stage during our preteen years. The year where we find ourselves starting to care about our surrounding and how people perceive us, the year where we are trying to figure out about ourselves and have constant identity crisis. I must admit that the fact that we had to watch this movie with our classmates, made some scenes awkward. I would say that the movie was on point, attempting to meet their aims on portraying eighth grade realistically in terms of behavior, language and clothing. As a teenager myself, I related to the Kaylaï¿ 1/2 1/2 1/2(TM)s insensitive response to her fatherï¿ 1/2 1/2 1/2(TM)s comments. Most of the times, children just want to show their parents that we are strong even when things arenï¿ 1/2 1/2 1/2(TM)t fine. We struggle to express ourselves because we are also not sure why we think or do certain things. We care so much about what people at school think of us. No one really wants to feel like an outcast. In order to avoid this, teenagers try hard to fit into the crowd and hope the best to gain validation. Sometimes you are mandated to do things that you might not particularly enjoy doing. You only do it for the sake of being accepted to the teenage community.

The scene where Kayla was researching tutorials on YouTube was explicit. The idea of oral sex, masturbation, and nudes may lead to very awkward conversations for a younger child and some parents would certainly argue that it is not an age appropriate content, (PG 13) to be demonstrating to ï¿ 1/2 1/2 1/2naiveï¿ 1/2 1/2 1/2ï¿ 1/2 1/2ï¿ 1/2Â? children in 8th grade. I would say that Kayla is somewhat relatable to teenage girls and guys who suffer from anxiety and body image. She reminds the audience of lessons such as staying true to yourself, becoming more confident and how you donï¿ 1/2 1/2 1/2(TM)t owe nobody anything through her Youtube videos. Having a character that exposes an image of shyness, awkwardness and low confidence to be posting videos on Youtube, a social media platform where you are unsheltered from the public allow viewers to gain a sense of confidence. Regardless of the way Kayla exhibits herself in school, she somewhat ironically finds Youtube as her ï¿ 1/2 1/2 1/2comfort zoneï¿ 1/2 1/2 1/2ï¿ 1/2 1/2ï¿ 1/2Â? where her main audience are perhaps teenagers who go through the same things that Kayla is going through and are in need for advice.

Overall, I personally think that the movie had a nice ending to it and is a great way to spread awareness on topics such as puberty, social dissociation with family, mental health and sexual harassment. It can be extremely awkward for parents or guardians to have a conversation about these subjects between their teenage kids. The movie can be an alternate device for them to gain knowledge. The scene where an older boy pressures Kayla to take off her shirt during a game of truth and dare, he attempts to sexually assault her in a more ï¿ 1/2 1/2 1/2innocentï¿ 1/2 1/2 1/2ï¿ 1/2 1/2ï¿ 1/2Â? and ï¿ 1/2 1/2 1/2subtle mannerï¿ 1/2 1/2 1/2ï¿ 1/2 1/2ï¿ 1/2Â?. it is a very crucial subject that for families to discuss with their young ones about sexual assault. Sexual assault does not only imply having sex. I would highly recommend the movie to teenagers because not only does the movie spread awareness about important subjects, it also allow us self reflect on our ï¿ 1/2 1/2 1/2teenage behaviourï¿ 1/2 1/2 1/2ï¿ 1/2 1/2ï¿ 1/2Â?. Sometimes we are not aware that certain words and actions that we display can hurt people around us. Also, it is filled with cringy, awkward humor which is very entertaining,.