This was one of my favorites from last year, and it's still a great watch. It doesn't function the way most documentaries do, since it doesn't have an arc, or any real narrative design. Regardless, nearly everything in it is entertaining, and it raises a lot of questions about how unique our teenage experiences are.
All of the participants have done something unique, even as their feelings weren't all that unique. One woman, early in the movie, has a remarkable amount of sexuality incorporated in her diary. One woman is fixated on a guy in her class, and draws pages of her fantasies of getting married to him. Neither of these thoughts are that unique, but they have been manifested in a unique way.
The most unusual cases are a woman whose mother started a cleaning business, and another woman whose mother was abusive.
It's easy to wonder if my own younger writings would fit into this mold. It's easy to assume that I must have been embarrassing enough to warrant a cringe reading. I can't tell. I threw out all of my old writing. This would be material that goes back to at least fourth and fifth grade. I kept writing through around 8th grade. All of that stuff is gone.
And yet, I'm glad. My experiences weren't that special, and I can't imagine anything that funny being in there.
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