In this case I would say the school was the problem - and I mean the teachers and people in charge by that. If they didn't care for the atmosphere in the collective and didn't actively work on making it good, or, as it seems, even made it worse by their approach, bullies were let loose, then there was really nothing you could do. The grown-ups failed you. You don't deserve that.
Perhaps you could meet the people who work in the library and try to organize something with them? Community gatherings need a push to start happening and people willing to organize them. If you miss these oportunities, create them, it's not that hard and it's very rewarding.
I probably saw it in the right age when I was able to appreciate the randomness, I don't know whether I would still like it now. What I do know is I really enjoyed your passionate description of the plot with all it's flaws, that was a fabulous read!
There are native versions of garlic in Europe, but yeah, it's true, especially for the middle to northern parts. There were always delicous herbs to use as spices in the south, though, like oregano.
I think basically we agree with each other. Using and exploiting children (or adults) is bad, depictions of sex can be done well and can be good.
The reason I feel differently about this particular movie is perhaps because I saw it without knowing anything about the shooting and it felt like a very good take on the story (including the sex scene - the fact they had sex was crucial even in the original play, no matter how it was portrayed at the time). The way Zeffirelli behaved makes me sick though.
Also I don't view the story as being about a toxic codependent relationship, more like being about innocent horny teens betrayed by the power games and complete incompetence of the adults around them. They are really just teenagers trying to navigate their own new needs and feelings, just like it usually is at that age.
My comment about sex positivity was not meant to say all depictions of sex are or should be positive. I wanted to say sex positivity is needed for the society to view sex depictions as something normal, not necessarilly automatically pornographic or straight out taboo.
As for the overall direction the conversation went, well, the post was about the death of an actress and most comments were about her teenage boobs - that's the internet for you.
I appreciate your view of Pretty Baby and Lolita - these are films that are quite hard for me to watch and I agree they're great examples of movies with meaningful sex scenes. I also think many people would call them child porn without thinking twice about it (and they would be very wrong).
This is also one of the reasons I liked it. I knew exactly why it spoke to me, though. I was always very submissive in my life, unable to stand for myself. I was trying to change my approach when the movie came out. The scenes where he defends himself resonated with me deeply.
For me as a fan of both popcorn movies and psychological drama movies it was awsome. I never thought I'd get a crossover of such distant genres, that seemed wild, and therefore I enjoyed it very much.
Pulp Fiction is subversive and meta. I loved it when it came out, but I'm scared to watch it again today - I'm not a big Tarantino fan anymore.
When it comes to Andor and Pulp Fiction, I can see some similarities. Could it be that you don't appreciate the counter-cinematic approach of including everyday life scenes in the storytelling? They make the plot move more slowly and can seem just out of place and odd.
I personally like them, because they help me understand the characters and world they live in.
I hated the first one as well, I found it boring. All the movies are different beasts though. I loved the new one, it was completely different and had amazingly playful over-the-top action and humour. (Haven't seen Furiosa yet, but heard it's different again.)
I don't think you understood what I was trying to say. I said I think child actors should not be exploited for artistic purposes. Ever. I think we both agree with that, right?
I don't find anything wrong about depicting a sex scene with a minor as a character if it makes sense artistically though (which is the case of R&J). There are ways to film it without including unconsenting or minor actors (or both).
I think of art as a form of complex communication and I think it's important to communicate even about hard, painful and taboo topics.
I also think porn is not a bad thing, so sex positivity is not connected to not being pornographic in my mind.
The sentense that acknowledges it is the one about Zeffirelli.
I agree artist should not be allowed to force actors into things they don't consent to. I also think scenes like the one in R&J should be allowed in movies.
That was me. I think this discourse is important. Is every sex depiction necessarily porn? I don't think so. I think sex can be depicted in art and media for other than pornographic purposes and it's ok to do so. But it shouldn't be done by assholes like Zeffirelli, let's agree at least on that.
I never found the scene in R&J pornographic, it spoke to me in the way the narrative should go - young people fall in love and consume their relationship. I felt happy for them, but not turned on. If anyone IS turned on by some scenes, that's ok too, everyone has different triggers I guess, and it can't be helped. The fact that, let's say, a view of an actress's feet or an actor's arms turns some people on doesn't mean these things shouldn't be depicted.
Every living artist uses other people's art as training data without their consent. That's the way art works and it's ok. Please let's not consider every artist has to pay for every piece of art they ever layed their eyes on to be allowed to create art themselves.
The core of Everything everywhere all at once.