It's true - I am coming of age. This statement wouldn't be so comical bordering on pathetic if I did not happen to be 17 years of age. After watching the feature film Thirteen, the incredulity sunk in because I do not remember age 13 in such a regretful, disturbing manner.
Back in my day, 13-year-olds still indulged in their daily dose of (cigarette) cartons. Sure, you noticed the boys, but you wouldn't touch them, let alone undo their flies. Back then, the only thing that proved to be scandalous was who kissed whom "with tongue", and who had already started "bleeding". Oh, how times have changed.
Thirteen introduces one to today's generation of 13-year-olds. No Barbie dolls or toy cars. To be cool, you must wear a thong and smoke anything and everything to enable you to cope with the stress of Grade 7, your five partners and life in general. Give me a break.
I suppose it is to be expected: the age 13 is when the body is in its early stages of change and puberty. With the hormones that are flying around, it's a given that things will turn nasty. And nasty is precisely how the whirlwind trip into the psyche of these children gets. Thirteen is rated 16L. It depicts drug use, self-destructive violence and sexuality, all involving teens.
Sweet, innocent, blonde, blue-eyed Tracy (played by Evan Rachel Wood) mutates into a cheeky, bad-tempered brat, once the most popular girl in school, Evie (played by Nikki Reed), befriends her.
So, on comes the makeup, the tight low-slung jeans, the piercings, the drugs, the guys in their trucks...all in the name of being cool.
In one's quest for attention the sacrifice of the boring stuff comes automatically. So chill about homework, school, old insipid buddies, trust, dignity, respect, common sense! Because rules are meant to be broken. Whoohoo, rock on!
I hear you screaming: "But where is the Mother?"
Mel, Tracy's mother, is played by Holly Hunter. She is too preoccupied with keeping her stay-in boyfriend happy to be concerned with her daughter spiralling out of control. Mel is a push-over and by the time she wakes up and smells the booze, Tracy has erased that sketchy line that should never be crossed.
So, who is to blame? I hear anti-media groups loading their guns. The argument that the media is constantly pushing sex is founded. Sex sells. But upbringing plays a pivotal role. Are the teens of today the future if they are not disciplined and shown the correct path?