Linetta Alexander Islam

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In 1954, William Golding, a British author, released his novel, Lord of the Flies, about an island of boys left to govern themselves. In 2020, Maïmouna Doucouré wrote and directed a French coming of age story, but for parents and adults, a cautionary tale of what happens when our girls are left to govern themselves in an age when they have access to adult images, but no adult guidance. Amy, an 11 year old was subjected to the role of child while apparently being solely responsible most times to care for her 2 younger siblings. To gain acceptance from a desired peer group, she modeled herself after them and served them, until she impressed them with dance moves she had learned from watching videos of erotic dancers. To prove their innocence, one of the girls blew up a used rubber thinking it a balloon, and when she was teased, she cried, "How was i supposed to know?" Later, after returning home from running away from the lessons on "how to be a woman" by cooking for her dad's wedding to his new wife, the elder asked what was wrong with her, then let out a chuckle when she saw that Amy had bled through her clothes after startng her moon cycle. The child had no clue what had occurred. By all accounts, Amy's life was a proverbial trainwreck. But at a critical moment, she saw herself, caught herself. That was powerful. Life had provided this Black girl with two options, but empowered by her mother releasing her permission to choose, she created her own path. When she stepped into who she had designed for herself, the world could not dim her light nor hinder her altitude. This is an incredible film. 👍🏼⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ A must watch for a parent/caregiver/guider of girls. My 12 year old watched this on her own and was unsettled, begged me to watch it. We just finished watching it together, and oh what great conversations we had. Lots of teachable moments for both of us.