How 'I am a girl' alters the ideologies of the viewer.

This is an essay written for Year 12 English, in an exam setting with a 20 minute time frame. Take this into account when reading the following analysis. This was the essay written about "I am a girl", a documentary studied in class.

It is human nature to be judgmental, an instinct carried with us through evolution. We can look at a gap we need to jump across, and without ever having done it before, we can leap with the knowledge we’ll land safely on the other side. Our judgments help us to survive, let us know when something feels safe or dangerous. Our judgements are not always accurate, however, and this can lead to the creation of stereotypes in our minds.

I am a girl is full of stereotypes, ideas that we have formed and expect of something, even without any true knowledge to fall back on. Perhaps the strongest stereotype is one of a naïve young American girl living in a modern society, but there are others. Another girl, brought up in a patriarchal world where female power leaves you stoned to death, breaks through the stereotypes to be who she wants to be, even if the world never expected that of her. Two contrasting girls leading difference lives, and the documentary has chosen to either reinforce or critique the dominant ideas of their identity.

This film attempts to portray the hardships of a girl’s life and, more importantly, how hard it is for a girl to achieve her own goals in a patriarchal world. In many ways it supports the idea, especially in the case of the girl living in Afghanistan. Yet in other ways it fails, and this can be seen in America, with the way Breani has been portrayed. The film wants to express the idea that these girls are fighting against the stereotypical view of them, and yet it is through this that is has failed.

When looking from the dominant view of a young American girl living in the city, we expect a particular stereotype, and that is exactly what we see in Breani. Close-ups focus on her make-up and clothes, portraying these items as important to her. She speaks of her image, how she looks, constantly. We expect girls to fuss over such trivial things, to never focus beyond their own lives, and this is exactly what she is seen to be doing.

An important moment is one where a mid-shot is held for many seconds, as she sits at her desk on her phone. In this shot she is disrespectful to her mother, who is always seen in light and smiling. The room is dark, and the light of her phone throws strange contrast across her face. The film puts the viewers against her in this instance, as it supports the snobby, naïve stereotype of young spoilt girls.

Then there is the girl living in Afghanistan. She defies every stereotype that crosses our minds, an illusion to our judgements. What little the viewers know of that country is harsh, and what little they learn is even worst. Her father, though never seen, is supportive through descriptions of him. Yet we are told his is viewed negatively by society simply for being kind to his daughters, and the world she has to face becomes an enemy. His death is seen to weigh on her heavily, yet it does not hold her down.

The audience expects her to hide from a cruel world, to lock herself away and focus on safety and survival. We would not judge her as weak to do that, but as strong enough just to be able to go on. Instead she is seen to defy her stereotype, to fight for what she wants and disregard the negative views around her. The camera constantly shows her studying, curled in on herself writing in a book even before her father’s death is mentioned. Later she is seen teaching her younger brother, and this is yet another step up for her and away from that stereotype. She is given power in that moment, as we are shown that a male relies on a female, even in such a tiny ways as her brother turns to her for study. In that instant she is given power.

The documentary succeeds in her, for she is fighting directly against the ideas of a patriarchal society, and because of this is given power as a girl. Breani fights for nothing, she has no conflict that we don’t all face on a daily basis, and as a result the documentary critiques her in many ways. The audience is forced to patronize the girl that aims to be president and help other women, while, whether by the intention of the director or not, we cannot relate in any way to Breani, even though she has the most in common with us.

I am a girl portrays the idea that there are women suffering in society, that they face challenges every day simply because of their gender. It succeeds in getting an audience to support and sympathize with the girl in Afghanistan, through long shots of single girl in the midst of the red mountains. It fails with Breani, who does nothing but complain of trivial, insubstantial issues and follow the exact stereotype we still watch, waiting for her to break away from those judgements. In those ways the documentary both reinforces and critiques the dominant representations of identity, showing how we judge instinctual, even if we don’t mean to, and also showing how that judgement can falsely lead us.