Quiz 7: Thirteen (the movie)

In the clip above, a trailer for the 2003 movie Thirteen is featured. In the film, the main character Tracy is first presented as a straight-laced, straight A, student. When she meets Evie; her exact opposite, the two form a friendship and throughout the film get involved in everything from shoplifting and drugs, to sex and self mutilation. Both of the characters are thirteen.

The film constructs the characters and the scenes in such a way that makes the viewer feel as if their behavior is deviant; that it dissents from the "norm." However, the truth is that the actions presented in the film are not rare for thirteen year olds. Perhaps the film is even "too realistic" for some as it does not shy away from issues that are often considered controversial. In this way, the dissent is ineffective. Furthermore, the kind of behavior presented in the film is now being presented as "mainstream" through shows such as 90210 and Gossip Girl. Therefore, to "dissent" as the girls did in Thirteen is not to dissent at all; their rebellion is "normal" and thus by doing the activities named they are conforming instead of rebelling.