+1
I only made it to the trailer last night. Actually, it looks like a good movie. It presents itself as a story about (I assume) a daughter of an immigrant family trying to find her way from the more conservative expectations of her family and wanting to fit in with kids in school. It looks like that bridge is in the form of dance. Without all the social media frenzy, I'd probably just take it from the trailer that this was a more adult'ish ...Footloose? I mean adult in the sense in how the topic of social acceptance is treated, not in the sexuality.
There were blips in the trailer that I caught that I would never have questioned without knowing what I already knew before watching it. For example, it seems that the daughter steals some money from her mother to help her dance friends buy costumes. For a beat, you see the girls more or less skipping down the sidewalk with shopping bags and one of the kids had a bra on the outside of her shirt. It looked like an old Madonna standard, but on a kid. I'm not sure I would have questioned that cut, knowing where social media is today. Side story incoming: My boss has a daughter that's around 14. She (my boss) is always telling me her fears and, from time to time, a horror story of how some of her daughter's friends have private Instagram accounts that they share in their circle of friends. Apparently one friend in particular posts inappropriate pics of herself to share with boyfriends. This is, of course, third-hand knowledge. The kid tells the mom/boss, and the boss tells us at work when she reaches a limit and needs to vent. I have no idea if it's true or just another urban legend projected onto "that one kid." It's unfortunate, but ultimately matters like this fall on the parent to teach their kids restraint and of the risks that this world has. That's another topic, I know. But it touches back on parents flipping out over this movie when I genuinely would not be shocked in the slightest to learn that their own kids are doing worse things. I'm not sure what to make of that as I'm not a parent and technically am only sitting on the sideline here observing others interact. Seems off though.
All that out of the way, the trailer looked interesting and thoughtful. I did pick up a sense of tension but not to the level or even the topic of what's being criticized of it. This felt more of a conflict between parental and social norms and acceptance. I can see that spilling over into the appearance of sexuality, specifically in dance and not the actual act of it, but at a glance I would assume that would be more to heighten the tension of the religious conservativism (I'm still assuming this btw) of the immigrant mother and the divide that will probably create in losing her daughter to worldly standards. That by itself is an interesting subject and seems legit, given the trailer. Based on reactions and even posts here, I feel that I'm way off base though so who knows. I don't yet.
I will try to watch it this weekend. It's not a movie I would normally have interest in but you know. People screamin' bout stuff gets attention. It's French and it's sub-titled, so there's that.