What to Watch: 'Moxie'
I’m just going to put it bluntly; this movie is badass! This movie is centered around a rather shy sixteen-year-old girl named Vivian who keeps her head down and is just trying to make it through high school. Driven by her mother’s rebellious past and a new girl at school who stands up to the “perfect boy” football quarterback, Vivian becomes fed up with keeping her head down and starts a handmade feminist magazine called Moxie. Keeping her identity a secret, she covertly leaves the magazine in girl’s bathrooms and inadvertently starts a feminist revolution in her high school. If that synopsis alone doesn’t convince you to watch this movie let me give you three more reasons.
ONE: Seth is the new gold standard for rom-com love interests. Seth, played by Nico Hiraga (Booksmart), is Vivian’s love interest in the movie. But he’s not the typical love interest that the lead character pines over. He fully respects women. He proudly tells Vivian that he grew up with older sisters and knows all the names of the American Girl dolls. When Moxie sends out a call to all girls to wear stars and hearts on their hands in solidarity there is Seth rocking stars and hearts on his hand. However, he’s not so feminist that he just lets women walk all over him. There comes a point in the movie where Vivian treats him badly and he absolutely does not stand for it. He is all for feminism and women’s rights, but he also knows his own worth and knows that he deserves to be treated just well as he treats Vivian. Nico Hiraga did an outstanding job of bringing this character to life and making him the guy we all want to hang out with. Seth is sweet, he is funny, and I found myself with a giant grin on my face every time he was on screen because, in this character, I saw a shift in how male love interests will hopefully be portrayed for years to come. He is everything young men and women need to see from a male on-screen. There’s a new unproblematic heartthrob in town!
TWO: Now that we’ve talked about the greatness of Nico Hiraga, let’s discuss the rest of this amazing young cast. Vivian is played by Hadley Robinson (Little Women, Fosse/Verdon) who does a great job of blending the shy girl she was with the new rebellious girl she becomes. Vivian is vulnerable and confused and pissed off and Robinson makes all those emotions seem incredibly realistic. Vivian’s best friend Claudia is played by Lauren Tsai. Claudia is apprehensive at first about all the feminism going on in her school and not because she doesn’t believe in the cause but because she fears rocking the boat. Tsai does a fantastic job of making Claudia a likable character even though at points you’re mad that she won’t stand up for feminism more. But what Claudia and Tsai’s portrayal teaches us is that just because there is someone who is quieter about their feminism doesn’t mean what they do isn’t important. The beauty of feminism is that it allows all women to choose how they want to act.
On the flip side of Claudia is Lucy played by Alycia Pascual-Pena (Saved by the Bell) who is the unapologetic friend we all need. She doesn’t take crap from anyone and will scream and shout until people understand that women are not the weaker sex. Pascual-Pena’s portrayal of this character is so great because you can feel her strength. You can feel the passion she has in each scene and she doesn’t need to rant and rave to grab your attention. She is calm and strong which makes the character of Lucy even stronger. And for an honorable mention- this movie also includes America’s sweetheart, Amy Poehler as Vivian’s mom. And she also directed the movie! There are so many more actors to talk about, but you’ll just have to watch the movie to experience the full greatness of this young but mighty cast.
THREE: Last, but not least, you should watch this movie because it perfectly shows the strength that women have. And it shows us that not only grown women have this kind of power. High school girls have more power than they realize. In fact, I truly think that parents should be showing this movie to their young girls because it shows the kind of inappropriate behavior that really does happen in high school and how you can stand up to it. That’s not to say that every girl in high school should go to the same extremes that Vivian does, but it shows girls that you don’t just have to sit there and take it. You can stand up for yourself, you can stand up for others, you are strong enough! This movie shows women that even if the people who supposedly have more power than you do nothing to support or help, women have the strength to make change themselves. And we need that message more than ever.
If while reading this you thought to yourself “ugh, I don’t want a movie to lecture me, I just want to be entertained!” then you should know this movie is extremely entertaining. I even stayed up extra late to finish it because I was enthralled. And if you don’t want to be lectured about feminism even by an extremely entertaining movie then you’re contributing to the problem and probably need to watch this movie more than anyone.
Moxie is such a fun movie for anyone of any one age. It’s educational, funny, sweet, badass, and just overall a really well-made movie. You can now watch it on Netflix. Happy watching!
5 out of 5 Stars