MOVIE SPECIAL: 'Moxie'

Episode Transcript
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Hey. I'm Maria. I work at a labor union by day and write and watch too much TV by night. I like to say I've been firmly in the CW's clutches since it was The WB. As the great Seth Cohen on The OC once said about the fictional teen drama, The Valley, TV teen dramas are mind numbing escapism.

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They exist in a fantasy world where 20 hot actors are usually cosplaying high schoolers in melodramatic depictions of adolescents. But that's honestly why I love teen dramas so much. I love the tropes and the ships and the not at all subtle product placement. I love the early aughts theme songs and the cameo performances by pop punk bands. I love the newer generation of shows that are more diverse and representative of the vastness of teenage girldom.
And I especially love the moments when TV teen dramas get political. You guys, we can organize. Stand together. Speak with one voice. Karl Marx has come alive for me today.
Now it just seems so obviously wrong that those who control capital should make their fortunes off the labor of the working class. Well, since you've fired us, you've given us plenty of time to pick in. Fortress of the world, you're not profiting. Long live the revolution. Welcome to another episode of Leftisteen Drama, and specifically, welcome back to our series of special episodes where we focus on political moments in teen movies.
This is our third ever time doing this and our first one of 2025. Super excited to welcome two of my childhood friends, Rosalie and Andre, back to the pod to discuss a teen feminist movement, which is parallels to our own much shorter lived and less dramatic, but still dramatic, attempt at doing a little feminist movement in the twenty eleven to twenty twelve school year. So I figured you guys would be the perfect people to talk about this movie with. So do you guys wanna first reintroduce yourselves before we dive in? Feel like we have to add some color and talk about the map, so these feminism pays.
Oh, yeah. Absolutely. For sure. And it's interesting to talk about, like, the different generations of activism, and I feel like our little contribution as teenagers was extremely 2010. So, yeah, it'll be Oh, yeah.
But, yeah, introduce yourself. Sorry. I feel like I cut you off. Yeah. I'm Dandre.
I live in Los Angeles. I've known Maria since 02/2006 and no. 02/2005, probably. Yeah. Zal since 02/2004.
Yeah. And we have been a great little group about Cass ever since. Yeah. Hey. I'm Rosalie.
I live in Queens, New York. And, yeah, I've known Maria since sixth grade, almost twenty years, which is wild. Yeah. Dondre since fifth, I think. And, yeah, we quite caused a little a little bit of drama of our own back in the day.
Not not on purpose, though. It wasn't like No. Physical drama. We thought we were just being, like, wholesome little activists, but We also didn't anticipate the drama either. No.
We definitely like, I definitely don't think we did. I think we were just, like, woah. Yeah. Yeah. We were, like, wait.
You guys don't agree? Oh, I thought we were all in the same bubble. Yeah. No. Yeah.
Yeah. Let's just give them a quick little, like Okay. Boxes. I yeah. Essentially, I don't know who start was it you started, Maria, the page?
Or Jocelyn? Who was it? I mean, I probably knowing my you know, it's actually very funny knowing what I now do union comms. I think I probably physically set up the page. Yeah.
I'm still an admin on it. Like, I still get notifications every once in a while. So Oh, really? Yeah. Me too.
I mean, it could have been, like, something we did in my basement with multiple of us. I don't, like, actually quite remember the, like, day we launched it or anything like that. I'm trying to figure out what caused us to launch it. Like, I feel like it wasn't like it's today where, like, you see an online movement. You know, I feel like today, like, the Internet informs your life sometimes, and, like, we didn't really have that back then.
So I'm just trying to figure out what was, like, our inciting incident. Like, what caused it that made us wanna do that? Isn't that so wild that we don't remember? I know. Because I don't even know who.
I do remember that it was, like, a specifically Facebook, like, trend to, like, write on, like, finds, like, your experience or whatever. Like, I feel like we were trying to imitate, like when we made this Map Sony feminism Facebook page, we wanted everyone to, like, explain why they needed feminism. I feel like we were we were definitely playing on some sort of trend that was, like, on probably Tumblr. We were all definitely, like, you know, Tumblr feminists for better or for worse at that time. That's true.
We did have some sort of social media. But it was very different. It was like it was like you went home and then went on social media on your computer. You didn't, like, have social media, like, on your phone until maybe senior year. I guess, some of us started getting iPhones, I feel like, around then.
But, like, before that, you didn't have, like, social media on your phone. That's a very big difference, I feel like. Mhmm. Yeah. Yeah.
True. That's so true. I'm looking at it right now. At the page? I found I found it on the page.

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So okay. So it says, following the trend started by students at Duke University Oh. We are compiling a list of statements by CHS students explaining why individuals need feminism in his or her life. Interesting choice to put the his first. If you want, please please put the statement on here directly or message Maria DePasquale, Shondra Taylor Stewart, Rebecca Hirsch, or Jocelyn Zorn your statement.
Oh, no more me. Our goal is to put the statements together into a book to be distributed We did not do that. I don't think. They shot us down before we even started. I mean, our mission is our mission is to showcase the strength of our local feminist community.
Feminism is relevant. Now tell us why it's relevant to you. A sample statement would be the following. I need feminism because people still tell rape jokes. He's feel free wow.
We didn't really expand too many examples. That was a pretty Yeah. One of those. Yeah. That was, like, right out there, man.
I feel like maybe that was our inciting incident that maybe, like, douchey dudes were making rape jokes. I don't know. Yeah. But I feel pointed. Feel free to list as many reasons as you'd like in whatever form you'd like.
Our deadline for statements to be included in physical collection is 05/31/2012. Our hope is that the online dialogue we've been having will continue as long as it can well past the end of the school year. Okay. Twelve years later. Oh, what?
Baby Graver are we in again? Seniors. That was our senior year. Oh, that was our senior year. Okay.
Because another thing that caused drama so maybe we should have anticipated more of lashing out from a certain subset of our community. So I was the editor in chief of the newspaper that year. And I let Rebecca, our friend Rebecca, that was listed on there, have a feminist column, and, like, all the, like, guys who were douchey and, like, explicitly conservative in their politics were, like, that's favoritism. Like, they shouldn't be able to put their, like, feminist agenda, like, in the newspaper or whatever. So that was, like, earlier in the year before we started this, that is to say.
Got it. And I remember there is backlash too when, Andre, you put my little feminist thing in the yearbook. There's backlash for that too? Yeah. I just heard people talking about it when I was, like, in class.
And I was like, what the fuck? Let me be passionate about something. Okay? God. God.
Anyway. That's what we've gotten to piece together from our memories, from our twelve years ago feminist moment. Apparently, we remember less than we realized. But you know what? Good thing that we wrote it down.
And despite the fact that Meta is owned by, you know, a bad person, at least we have the memories, I guess. Yeah. Wrong. And then they did it before. Before, you know, it was easy to do.
Not that it's ever been easy to do, but, like, I feel like, I don't know. So many things now happen, and it's a everything's a moment or a trend. So I I think there's, like, something really authentic about, you know, our approach to this even though it was short lived. I I do think that I don't know. It's it's nice to be able to look back and be like, you know what?
I we've always been like this. Yeah. No. Totally. Exactly.
And one thing about us, it's consistency, man. Right. So yeah. So this is, like, you know, the reason that Moxie is the perfect movie for us to talk about. It's something that I think I first came across on, like, a Netflix scroll, but I never act I just, like, put it on my list or whatever and had not not watched it until, like, a week ago when I finally watched it for this podcast.
But knowing what the plot description was, I was like, this is obviously a entire movie about a political moment in a teen movie. So we're talking about the 2021 Netflix film Moxie, which is based on the 2015 book Moxie, a Novel by Jennifer Mateu. And the screenplay was written by Tamara Chester and Dylan Meyer, and this is one of Amy Poehler's directorial. It's song, like, her debut, I don't think. But it's, like, one of her projects where she's both the director and stars in it as the mom of the main character.
And it's set in this fictional town of Rockport, Oregon. What I think is really interesting is that on Rotten Tomatoes, it has, like, a 70%, but, like, Letterbox hates this shit. Letterboxd is, like, 2.8. That's out of five, which is interesting. What was everyone's, like, general reaction, I guess, before we get into the the meat of the movie and everything?
I liked it. I mean, simply well, I think mostly because it just, you know, reminded me of our own little movement in our year, since high school. So just, like, I was watching it through that lens. So, like, it felt pretty sentimental, I guess. And I it just made me feel proud of, like, little us.
Mhmm. And then also just, like, proud of my, like, high school aged cousin. She literally just did a, like, walkout for the same reason at her school. And I was just like, oh my god. I'm so proud of you.
I love you. So I don't know. The whole movie just made me feel sentimental and a little sappy. Yeah. So I I wasn't watching it through, like, any other lens than that.
So I can't tell if it was, like, bad at all. I felt like it was, like, a good entry point for activism. It did a really good job at capturing the innocence of being an activist and standing up for what you believe in. And, like, I thought the main character was a good avatar for that because she's not perfect. And Yeah.

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I think her strength as a character is that she knows how to listen really well, and she was really selfless. And I thought that was really cool to see in the sense that, like, it wasn't trying to display someone who's on a soapbox. It actually was the opposite because she doesn't reveal her identity for most of the movie. So I thought that was kind of refreshing because I feel like with social media, I think it could be a slippery slope sometimes of, like, the cause versus ego. Mhmm.
Yeah. Mhmm. And I feel like she was she navigated for her age pretty well. And, of course, there were, like, you know, the social justice cringe moments of it all. But I don't know.
I thought if if if if this is gonna be a snapshot in time, like, I think it'll be a good movie for, like, other younger kids to stumble upon and, like, try to wake them up a little bit. But I thought it still gave you all the high school tropes at the same time, so I thought it was pretty balanced. Pretty pretty balanced. And, like, even all of, like, the little challenges that the friend group faced too, like, different world views, different lived experiences that they have. Like, I like how that movie covered even the small, quote, unquote, small things that can even happen within a friend group too.
Yeah. Yeah. Definitely. I definitely, like, also felt like I had, like, you know, a soft spot for it specifically because of my own experiences. But I yeah.
I mean, I definitely have some critiques, but I feel like I'll save them for when we get to them. But, like, overall, I felt like it was, like, I'm glad the movie was made. Like, this is an important movie to to exist. I agree that it's a good, like, entry point into feminism for people. And yeah.
I mean, I felt like it served the most when, like, it was centered on the ensemble. And so, like, I felt my main critiques we'll talk about later is that I wish the ensemble was more fleshed out. Yeah. And most of the clips that we'll watch are basically the ones that I think were the strongest moments, which were largely the collective action, you know, moxie meeting kind of vibe scenes, which I feel like do kind of I mean, we were like a bunch of, you know we didn't realize it at the time, but a bunch of girls gave them names with our friend group. Not everyone was out.
But No. I was out. What do you mean? The camaraderie of all of the, like, you know, kind of, like, marginalized and misfit types kind of reminded me of our friend group is my point. So let's get into the movies.
One of the things that kinda gets dropped is this whole UC Berkeley aspect of things. Like, the movie opens on, like, our main character who is a blonde white girl named Vivian Carter staring at this, like, blank application form field on the UC Berkeley portal, which says, like, reflect on a call if you feel passionate about, explain its significance to you and the steps you took to make a change. I think that it's kind of like one of her inciting incidents, but then it kinda, like, drops off, which is kinda weird. But Yeah. And so then we're introduced to the concept that there are these, like, awful, like, rankings that happen every year of, like, the the student body and literally their bodies.
And Vivienne's, like, best friend Claudia, who's, like, I guess, a first generation, like, Asian American with, like, an immigrant mother, She is, like, talking about, like, who they think is gonna be, like, ranked best ass and other such categories. And so, like, this this culture is kind of established as being pretty fucked up in their in their school. And, like, the first conversation they have about it, it is very normalized. And it's like, oh, yeah. This is what we talk about, like, on the first day of school because we know it's coming.
And then again, it is mentioned that they both wanna go to UC Berkeley together. Things really start to get interesting when this new girl named Lucy makes herself known in English class, and I thought this would be the perfect first scene to watch. I really enjoy Lucy, and I honestly think that this movie could have benefited from being more of, like, Lucy and Vivienne's point of view. I was gonna say, yeah. Because she's the one that got Vivienne to even, like, think about holding her head up.
Right. You know? Exactly. And it felt at the beginning and, like, we'll talk about it as we get into it. But, like, the beginning, you see Lucy, like, go to the principal over, like, harassment she's experiencing from the, like, shitty, you know, big man on campus character Mitchell.
And it felt like maybe, oh, we're also gonna get her point of view. And then it, like, kinda after that scene, I feel like it didn't really happen. So yeah. That I feel like yeah. That would have been nice.
Anyway, we will Pretty great. Introduce that. Who did the summer reading that I asked everyone to do? You were new. You are Lucy Hernandez.
Welcome. Well, Lucy, since you did the summer reading, I'm gonna ask you the first question that we apparently have to ask about every work of art now, no matter what it is about or what time period it was created. How are women portrayed? Well, I think the real question is, why are we still reading this book? It's written by some rich white guy about some rich white guy.
And I guess we're supposed to feel bad for him because he's obsessed with the only girl he can have. I mean, if the point is to learn about the American dream, we should be reading about immigrants or the working class or black mothers or at least someone who doesn't already have a mansion. Why aren't we reading Sandra Cisneros for great book. Hey. I was talking.
Yeah. I know. But The Great Gatsby is a classic. Just because other books are good doesn't mean that this is less good. I didn't say the book wasn't good.
I just wish that we would brought it You're not listening to me. People have read and have loved The Great Gatsby forever. I mean, there must be something inside this book that makes it so that we read it each and every year at our own school. Spoken like a true Nick Carraway. Do you know who Nick Carraway is?
He was played by Tobey Maguire in the movie. Okay. Oh my god. But yeah. I mean, she comes in hot, and I have to respect respect her game, honestly.
For sure. She obviously has a really good point about, like, most in this country, you know, curriculums that are super unbalanced and usually are focused on white men as the authors of, like, you know, everything we read. Although, I feel like our school system probably have, like, a slightly better than our like, I feel like we did read a lot of, like, stuff written by black authors We did. More than more than one would expect. Yeah.
I feel like we were pretty even handed when it comes to the reading curriculum. Like, we're reading, like, The Giver. We're reading, like, Raisin in the Sun. Like, I I really feel like they I remember that. Did a pretty good job at exposing us pretty early to a variety of literature.
Yeah. Thankfully, we grew up in a diverse enough community with, like, enough people who cared about that that they probably had that fighting before our time or something. Yeah. Make sure there was better representation. But I think in many school districts across this country, like, that just does not happen.

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And you really are reading, like, you know, the the white man classic, special. So I also thought it was interesting that he referred to Mitchell as Nick Carraway, considering that I thought Nick was actually a decent, honest person in the book. It was supposed to be, like, nonjudgmental, but he's literally interrupting the new student. So I I I thought that was an interesting display of white male alliance and warped perception of, like, the white man's role in the conversation. It's it's interesting that, like, someone like Mitchell is only allowed to thrive because of the ways in which the principal and the teacher assume the best intentions with him.
You know, it's obviously not assumed for the girls. And so I I think that was cool that, you know, how with most isms, it's structural and institutionalized. And I thought they did that was a really between the interactions with the principal and the teacher, I thought that they did a really good job of showing how that plays out. Yeah. There were, like, multiple in like, beyond our little feminist movement, there were multiple, like, racial incidents in our high school, like, late late in our high school.
Yeah. I think almost all my senior year. Your senior year. Yeah. Yeah.
And there was, like, this group of white boys that just kept getting away with doing, like, fucked up shit, like, over and over again. And so this felt very relatable. Yeah. Yeah. And they were rewarded for it.
Like, all those boys, like, died. Yeah. They're probably all fucking working in finance right now. Yeah. They are.
Well, who think who says they're actually thriving? You know? Yeah. We We all have our own definitions of thriving. Right.
Yeah. So let's just keep it like that. So, you know, obviously, it must be said because it's very visual that all of this, like, definitely perks Vivian's ears up. And she's kinda like, I've never seen someone, like, kind of like, you know, disrupt the status quo like this before. Like, especially, like, Mitchell getting to be, like, the good guy in everyone's mind.
Yeah. And it's interesting. We'll we'll get this clip, I'm sure. But, like, there's a scene where she says, like, you just put your head down and, like, you know, ignore it. And, like, you're right.
I guess, Lucy is her inciting incident because, like, she's so used to just, like she gets what? Voted, like, the most obedient, I think. And, like, still, like, making herself small to kind of avoid the issue. So Lucy really comes and freaks things up. Yeah.
Go, Lucy. Yeah. She's a very cool character in my opinion. Like, I would like to know, like, why she's like that, but I feel like we never really dig deep enough in to find out. But, like, I feel like it's very obvious that if you're, like, that young and you come to a new school that assured of yourself in your, like, politics that, like, there's a story there.
That's right. We literally never see Lucy's home. I was craving a scene, like, of her with her mom or now with guardians in, like, the kitchen. I wanted just a conversation. Yeah.
Like, I love the scene of them in the thrift store. Like, that was so cute. And, obviously, we spent a lot of time in thrift stores as teenagers Mhmm. Especially once we got licenses. And so that I loved, but, like, I wanted more of that kind of thing, I feel like.
I think what was kinda funny to me was that Amy Poehler's character was an activist in her day, but we don't see her giving any insight to her daughter. But then Lucy, who clearly has gotten some insight from whoever raised her, we don't meet them at all. Right. Yeah. Interesting how they would, like, position people who had wisdom to impart, but then never allow them to do that.
Yeah. I guess now I'm seeing some of the flaws. I couldn't I couldn't see it when I was watching the movie. It's still overall like, I'm still you know, this is like I'm off the scene drama. We're overall celebrating that these movies and TV shows and TV plot lines ever existed, but we also are not immune to critique.
As any urbanist should be. Yeah. And so yeah. Actually, like, as you actually, like, mentioned, Andre, like, the next day is when Vivienne witnesses Mitchell, like, again trying to hit on Luffy by the vending machine and, like, it's kinda, like, riling her up and shit. And, you know, he's such a fucking little, like, gas lighter where he says, like, no need to freak out when she's just, like, don't touch me, which is pretty in a pretty reasonable tone too.
He says, like, why do you have to always be so difficult? And she has a great line where she says, I'm literally just trying to buy a soda. You're the one having this meltdown. And then he literally takes her soda out of the machine before she can get it and, like, fucking spits in it. And I was like, are you kidding me?
And says, welcome to Rockport. Since Vivienne witnesses that, that's the moment she comes up to Luffy and introduces herself and tells her to ignore Mitchell. Lucy says, why should I have to ignore him? Why can't he just not be a dick? This is, I think, really important to, like, where we end up with Mitchell is that Vivienne tries to say he's just an idiot.
Like, he's been like this in second grade. And Lucy says that he's dangerous, and Vivian tries to, like, argue that he's just annoying. But, like, Lucy very, very accurately, we know by the end, says, you know what annoying can be more than just annoying. Right? Like, it can be code for worse stuff.
Vivienne says what is clearly, like, her life motto up until this point, which is, like, if you keep your head down, he'll move on and bother somebody else. And, like, I think you mentioned before, Rosalie, like, Lucy literally says, thanks for the advice, but I'm gonna keep my head up. Hi. See you in class. She presents a very different, like, theory of how to, like, present yourself than, like, Vivienne has ever considered.
Yeah. That was definitely her moment. Moxie is born shortly after this. Vivienne is stuck on this UC Berkeley portal question, and she asked her mom what do 16 year olds care about, which kinda reminds me of, I think, a Gilmore Girls scene where Rory, like, asks for and she, like, has a, like, student come while she's in college. And she's like, where would a 16 year old go?
Like, she asked her mom that because she was, like, such a nerd that she, like, wouldn't know where a 16 year old would go. Very much reminded me of that. And this is when we find out that Amy Poehler's character has the feminist past. And she says, I don't know. When I was 16, all I cared about is smashing the patriarchy and burning it all down.

(01:25):
And, you know, Vivienne's like, well, I can't put that on my application. And there's this very heavy handed moment. I don't know if you guys noticed that, like, when she turns on the TV, there's, like, the newscaster talking about, like, how more allegations have come out over some public figure, and there's protests. But it's, like, they don't in any way, if in name, it's just kinda, like, vague. Yeah.
I noticed that as well. Yeah. Which, like, again, I I I had a section for us to talk about this later about how this accident is 2021 and, like, much closer to, like, the height of the Me too movement. And I think that you see that, like, definitely in multiple moments throughout this movie. And that is obviously the most heavy handed of those moments.
Yeah. Vivienne then says, like, you know how you're always telling me to keep my head up high? Is it from a song you used to play when I was little? And Annie Poehler's character is like, yeah, rebel girl, bikini kill. Why?
And she's like, history project. And, you know, she makes, like, a joke about how she's making her feel old. Sorry she asked. And so that's what inspires Vivienne to go look up the Bikini Kill song on YouTube. And as she's listening to it, she looks through her mom's old stuff, which includes this old leather jacket with, like, feminist pins on it.
And it's, like, this stickered suitcase with a huge stack of feminist scenes and old photos and such. I really feel like the production, you know, team must have had a fun time with this one. And so later, they're at a I think a pep rally. Yeah. A pep rally.
I keep, like there are so many times I'm like, is this a pep rally or a football game? Like, I I don't know. But I think this time it was a pep rally. And in her, like, little speech, the principal says those girls got moxie about the cheerleaders, which, obviously, I was like, okay. Moxie, like, title in dialogue?
And she says this entire school has got Moxie. Am I right? Which is, you know, kind of foreshadowing. And Claudia is like, Moxie? What is she, like, a hundred years old?
But clearly, this word sticks in Vivian's head. And so one thing that I think is important to note because it's, like, very visual and everything is that during the prep rally, they definitely do a good job of showing, like, how widespread the sexism is, like, where we notice, like, Mitchell bothering Emma, who we were told earlier, they're broken up. And so, like, he's clearly harassing her. And, like, one of the girls, Caitlin, is being, like, grinded on by Jay, and we had seen her move out of his way when he was trying to harass her in class in the previous scene. So I felt they did a pretty good job of making these actually seem pretty realistic.
And, like, I mean, it sucks that this shit happens to high schoolers, but it sounds pretty realistic from my time. Yeah. Oh, and not to mention did we talk about the dress code thing yet? Oh, not yet. But yeah.
That'll that's gonna have a lot of parallels for us, for sure. And so it's at this pep rally that everyone's phone chimes. I should really make, like, a fucking montage sometimes of all the times in teen dramas and teen movies that everybody's phone chimes somehow. I know. Right?
That's so funny. I'm like, what type of teenage next door is this? Because I don't remember that. Teenage next door. I'm dead.
But, anyway, so it's the list, which is the thing they were talking about on the first day of school that ranks everyone's looks and such. And Vivienne, having just had her moment, is like, this is actually, like, pretty messed up when you think about it. But, like, no one's listening because everyone's just scanning the list trying to see if they're on it and such. And, like, people are talk like, the mascot who's, like, you know, like, a very, like, nerdy character is, like, talking while everyone's just, like, ignoring him and looking at the list. And we see Kaitlyn Price, find her name under best rack, and, like, zip up her hoodie and, like, roll her eyes.
We see that Emma got most bangable, which Claudia says is boring. Vivienne continues to have an epiphany, and she's like, no. Like, this is really messed up, as Claudia is saying that she called it that Kiera Pascal got that sass again and asked if they betted on it. And Vivienne is like, why have we all accepted it? Like, no one even blinks.
And that's when they realized that, yes, Vivienne is on there as most obedient, as we said before. Meanwhile, Lucy, I guess, is not opted in yet to whatever fucking system or give everyone the text because she has to grab someone else's phone and and be like, what the fuck is this? And Claudia said they added a new category. Oh, that's that's a lot. And they're like, you think we should say something to her?
And Claudia says, I don't wanna have to say the c word out loud. So they allow us to fill in the blanks of what they've called Lucy. And so, Luffy, not gonna take this sitting down, gets up and storms over to the principal, and she's like, have you seen this? And the thing that I think is so funny is that when the principal sees the phone, she's like, oh, no. That's social media.
I don't understand. And I'm like, literally, like, the DW. Like, I like, this doesn't apply to me because I can't read. Like, I was just Yeah. I know.
Like, Like I'll do what the teachers are saying to the kids now. Like, I I just No. That's not what they're saying. Like, there has to be some social media training going on. Oh, yeah.
Like As someone who works at a school that is not You've absolve yourself of social media? Like, it doesn't work like that. Like Yeah. I can't see. It's like, girl, what?
And so then she eventually just says, like, sticks and stones, Lucy, like, when she hears that, basically, like, what she's upset about us being called a name. Do it. But just, like, obviously, it's much more than that, but that's what she reduces it to. And she says, go and sit down. We're having a pep rally.
Pep rally. It's it's it's yeah. This I I will say this principle is definitely, like, it's a very funny performance by this actor. Yeah. And so, Lucy, like, gets up and leaves.
And we see a football player slap Kiera's ass, the character who got that ass without her consent. All the all the soccer girls, like, gasp. I know. Right? And that Vivienne, like, is like, I don't feel well, and she said she's not gonna go to the game with Claudia later.

(01:46):
And so instead, she goes home and makes a feminist vene, basically, which is honestly a way better use of your time than going to a football game, especially since we learned, which is another parallel to our high school experience, that the football team sucks. That is hilarious. Oh my god. They had, like, some sort of, like, record losing streak. And they eventually broke while we were at school.
But, yeah. Like, we had they had a really we had a really bad football team at our school. We did. Which is funny. But, also, like, it's very much more, like, yeah, award winning musicals over award winning football team high school.
And fencing team and, you know, all those things. Also, if you're gonna be a man, be good at it. Like, why are you not doing a football? True. True.
So Vivienne is so mad when she gets home to her room that she ends up, like, again pulling out her mom's suitcase of beans and just starts, like, getting inspiration from them and making her own, printing and cutting and pasting. And, like, in a very dramatic scene, she, like, bikes in the rain to the copy shop and says, I need a shitload of copies. And her zine's called Moxie, and the guy at the copy shop is like, how many is that? She's like, 50? And he's like, yeah.
Okay. The last song hero of the movie. I feel like everybody else is He was the little, like, ally. Oh, yeah. We were so happy.
His name is Frank. They call him that at the last scene, and I will shout out every time that Frank is in this plot. He is truly Frank is an ally. Yeah. Yeah.
He was so unbothered too. Like, if if a teen girl just, like, was she was so wet and, like, it's just, like, it's pouring rain. She's like, I need a shitload of coffee. And he's just like, okay. He's like, seen this before.
And so Vivienne definitely takes like, as we said, she doesn't reveal her identity for the majority of the movie. So she definitely takes a very, like, low key approach to distributing this and just kinda leaves a bunch of them in the girl's bathroom. And then she goes into a stall kinda, like, freaking out about what she did, and she overhears two girls come in and look at them. And somebody says, like, this is intense. Who made this?
Are these all in the bathrooms now? We then get a scene. Lucy has gotten a copy of the zine, and in English class Mitchell has taken Lucy's copy and says he'll give it back once she admits she wrote it. So this begins most people in the school for most of this movie think that Lucy wrote this vene. I think it's very clear.
And he says, like, okay. I'm not even mad. I actually think it's kinda funny, but admit it. And she's like, okay. I don't really care.
I don't have to tell you anything. And he, like, references the fact that she tattled on him, quote, unquote, to principal Shelley. You know, we don't actually get to see all the contents of the Vines every time, but, like, we we learn that, apparently, there's a dirtbags of Rockport High List in the Veen, which includes most awful for Mitchell and biggest piece of shit for his friend Jay. And, you know, he said something that I thought was really, like, felt familiar where he said, you know there's real problems in the world. Right?
Like, ones that are bigger than two kids at your high school not thinking you're hot, which is, like, obviously, like, ridiculous. That's not what she's mad about. But the real the there being real problems in the world and, like, the inter like, the interpersonal kinds of, like, sexism and racism and such that we, like, deal with on a smaller level not mattering is the kind of shit that I feel like shitty people use to just deflect. I remember being in high school and hearing that sentence for the first time, and I don't know, just feeling like maybe my maybe it would the delivery of it would change as you get older, but I feel like as you get out into the real world, like, you still hear the sentiment repeated a lot when people talk about racism or sexism or any of those isms. Like, it's whenever it's a social interpersonal conflict, it's always like, well, there's so many other things happening.
You know? And I feel like that is what makes it so hard to have a dialogue about because everyone thinks about it as this thing that is, like, minuscule when it's literally pervasive in every sector of our lives. Right. And that just shapes how the world is going to be Yeah. Without, like, disrupting the way we think on a micro level.
Mhmm. Yeah. And also for, like, the teenage aspect of it all, like, I do think that, like, kids learning because teenage, you you know, teenagers really are just kids at the end of the day. Like, learning to, like, do activism in a sphere where they actually have, like, a say and a voice is, like, the best way for them to learn activism to begin with. And that's why I, like, obviously love all of the scenes we get to talk about in this show where teenagers are, like, demonstrating within the confines of, like, their school or, you know, in the babysitter's club, their summer camp.
Like, that's how you do it in the real world too. I feel like because, like, in the real world, it's like, okay. I wanna organize against the Trump administration. It doesn't necessarily mean only going to, like, you know, a protest. That's great.
But, like, building with your neighbors or building with coworkers in your workplace, like, that's the kind of, like, things where you actually have the most control and the most ability to probably make an actual change. And so, like, learning that in school and also in college it's so foundational. Yeah. Mhmm. After, like, Mitchell's harassing Lucy about this zine, Vivienne says, hey, you can have mine, and gives Lucy her zine.
And she says, thank you. And so the next clip we're gonna watch is when Lucy comes and asks if she can sit with Vivienne and Claudia having taken that, like, kindness really to heart of giving her the zine. And this is where we start to see the girls actually talking about, like, feminism. So I tried that face mask, and look. Oh, no.
I'm zooming. To be honest, it was painful. Hey. Can I sit with you guys? Yeah.
Sure. Oh, and thanks for giving me this. I really needed a sign from the universe that there were actual humans here. What is that? I don't know.
I I found it in the girls' bathroom. It's a zine. In the Bay Area, there are tons of them to chose, but it's the first time that I've seen Monir. Sorry. We are not in the Bay Area.
So So are you guys gonna do the thing that it says for tomorrow? It says to draw hearts and stars on your hands to show support. Yeah. I was gonna do it. No.

(02:07):
We do. Why? What do you mean why? Oh, I mean, like, what's the goal? Revolution, baby.
I just don't really see what doodling on our hands is gonna do. Well, it's better than doing nothing. I don't know. I'm just type that somebody made this. Whoever did it, don't.
That's the first, like, you know, discussion we have about actually taking an action. I do think it's cool that she included an action in the first scene. And then, obviously, we have to talk about Claudia. And Claudia Claudia's journey is really interesting. And, like, one of the best scenes, I think, in the movie that we'll talk about toward the end is the scene where Vivienne and Claudia really have it out.
Yeah. But, you know, Claudia is in a very different position than Vivienne, and Vivienne doesn't really recognize that for a long time in this movie. And Claudia is much more hesitant to get involved in something that seems, you know, confrontational. I also feel like it's being a first generation kid too. Like Yeah.
Totally. Like, I remember being in college and my parents being, like, we did not do all that we did for you to be marching the street. Like, they wanted me to get an education, and, like, that was their first priority. So I feel like a lot of things that I did or didn't do at that age when, yeah, I was Claudia's age, like, was shaped by, like, my parents and, like, not wanting to upset them or, like, disrespect them. So So I I I thought that was a really cool nuance for them to add her with her being first generation.
Yeah. I agree with that. So the next day, Vivienne, she does the doodling on her hands, but she doesn't see any other hands of stars and hearts when she first enters the school. And so she, like, kind of starts to second guess herself and hides her hands in her jacket pocket. And she even, like, goes starts to try to wash them off in the sink until she sees two girls from this soccer team, Kiara and Amaya, who have doodle's hands.
And they say, like, we're showing the people what's up. Female has got us stick together. Number one, untapped resource women, which I think that's a Maya who we do later find out is gay, and I just feel like that really that really tracks for me based on the way she said that. Yeah. And, you know, they say there's more of us than them breaking the glass feeling baby power.
And so you sort of see more and more girls reading the scene. We see Caitlin, the one who had been given best rec, and her friend taking selfies of their doodled hands. We meet for, I think, the second time or the first time she's named, and this wheelchair user comes up again and again in the in the group called Meg. She has the hands, and Lucy says, good morning and welcome to the revolution. Damn.
And she took a picture and put it on social media with the hashtag Moxie Girls fight back. There's more of us than you think. And then we see that Vivienne's, you know, love interest, Seth, also has the doodles on his hand. And I will say that I think that Seth was such wish fulfillment for me as a teenager. Like, if this is exactly what I wanted to happen to me as a teenager.
Of course. Of course. I know. My lip my heart was, like, fluttering for them. And so that brings us to I feel like this movement kind of has, like, multiple phases where they kind of naturally move through multiple issues if they come up, which makes a lot of sense.
So first one that they really start to tackle is the dress victims of this issue. The principal comes in the middle of class to single Caitlyn out in front of everyone and ask if she has a sweater or jacket because she's wearing a tank top. And she's told that her straps are a little thin, and she's showing lots of collarbone. And Caitlyn points to, like, you know, like, a flat chested girl next to her and says, like, it's, like, the exact same one she's wearing. And principal Shelley says, Caitlin, please give me a break and just cover up so we can all get back to learning.
And Caitlin's like, I don't have anything to cover up with. And so she has to leave the class, and the implication is that she is sent home. And Jay, you know, one of the sexist guys, says something about how she's going to, like, jail and that's what she gets for dressing like Britney Spears. And I did appreciate they had one of the other girls tell him to shut up. Yeah.
Okay. Sure. Also, the irony of the principal saying, do this so we can get back to learning when she literally interrupted the class. Right. Like, everyone was learning until you came in to police her fucking body.
Like, also, like, how did you know I was wearing this? Like, did you like, where did you come from? I did like, I just I I thought that was pretty on brand too. Well, it reminds me I I remember once at a time that Meghan was told by one of the, like, female teachers that the vice principal, who was a man, was uncomfortable by their outfit. And, like, I just I don't know why that just sticks in my head.
Maybe Meghan and I talked about it at the time recently or something. But, like, it was, like, fucked up. Like, it was, like, I could totally see, like, a male teacher having, like, flagged it. And then, like, the principal is, like, a woman. So, like, she goes and is the one who, like, actually delivers the message.
But it's also, like, why did it have to be in front of everyone? Obviously, we have to make the point. But, like, it's just as many levels of bad. Yeah. And I think that we all I mean, I don't know about you, Andre, but I most of, like, all of our friends definitely got, like, dress coded or whatever at different points.
Like, I feel like I got in trouble for having a too short of a skirt before, for sure. Like, this was definitely an issue that Right. Yeah. They even they even tried it with me. I feel like it was, like I mean, clearly, I'm not a girl, but, like, in high school, I was very flamboyant dressing.
And, like, I remember the dean looking at me and being like, wow. I thought I would only have to tell the girls this, but I gotta tell the boys this too now. And so, like Oh my god. Yeah. And there was also the thing with, like, people, like, fagging their pants that was, like, very fashionable at the time.
Yeah. And, like, you know, obviously, there was a lot of, like, you know, racism in the way that that particular thing was dealt with. And, like, also, like, what they point out here, which is not necessarily even race based, but it just has to do with your body type, is that, like, if a girl is more developed, then her body becomes, like, a threat. And, like, it's, like, certain people bodies, like, are being targeted. Like, literally, they show you the two girls wearing the same, like, level of straps or whatever.
And just, like, one of them has developed more than the other because these are fucking growing teenage girls. And it's just, like, ugh. It's just so, like, micro, you know, like, kind of zoom in on that in front of everyone. It's just so fucked up. Yeah.
It's also kinda fucked up for the Flash tested girl too. You know? I know. Yeah. Just feel like what I remember feeling like high school was that, like, adults had a platform to project their personal feelings onto us.

(02:28):
Like, it was but then they would be like, it was like school law. But, like, it it was it was just all based off of their own skewed perceptions and view of things, but we had to deal with it. And I feel like this movie really communicates that, like, that it's not the kids. I mean, of course, there's Mitchell, you know, upholding it, but, like, a lot of it came from administration. Absolutely.
Because they just kinda looked past the important things and, as you said, projected their own, like, insecurities and bullshit onto us children children. We had really made sense of ourselves. Like, we were developing. So to, like, have them put that on us while we're trying to figure out our own selves. Yeah.
It was I just remember that being very frustrating. Yep. Later, Vivienne tells her mom about this injustice, and this is probably the only moment we actually see Lisa, an Amy Poehler character, like, actually impart any sort of wisdom, really, from her feminist days beyond being like, yeah, I smashed the patriarchy. Lisa says, I'm so glad we didn't have a dress code. Me and my friends were such assholes.
We protested everything. One time, someone told our friend Sarah that she smelled that none of us showered for two weeks, which is, like, ew. Good. Like but then again, I don't know. Like, I will talk about it more when we get to the gen x of it all.
But, like, I feel like this is such, like, gen x stereotypical feminism, where it's like, we didn't shower. It's like, you really showed them. Right. Vivian asked an important question, which is like, how do you know what to do, like, how to protest? And Lisa says, we didn't.
You know, we made a ton of mistakes. We argued with each other. We weren't intersectional enough. We called our meetings pow wows, which is, you know, kind of fucked. And Vivian does say, but you're glad you did it all.
Right? And she says, of course. What are you gonna do? Nothing? And she says, you sound like Lucy.
So I don't know. I felt like we could have gotten more from that relationship, but that was kinda like the little moment we got. Yeah. So the next scene I wanted us to watch is one of my favorite, like, collective action girls meeting. It's ends up being what they call the first Moxie meeting because the Moxie zine kind of also turns into, like, a Moxie kind of, like, feminist club.
So, basically, all the girls who are, like, feeling seen by this Moxie zine, Grimes, kind of assemble at this party and kind of have their first impromptu meeting. Good. You found him. Yeah. Led by Lucy, I think, is important to say.
Yeah. I feel harassed just by being in here. I'm a lock the door. Okay. So who's Moxie?
Yeah. Who wrote it? We want the Who, what, where, and why? I found it in the bathroom. Yeah.
I saw someone reading it in trick. So no one knows what Moxie wants or what their plan is? My girl needs a plan. She does not join freaky cults. I don't know if it's a cult.
Yeah. I just think that, you know, they want our school to be safe and, like, fair. You know what's not fair? Our team went to state finals last year, and our uniforms suck. You know what's messed up?
I got sent home for wearing a tank top and then while Jason is, like, constantly shirtless. Okay. You know what's really messed up? People refuse to call me by my new name. Even teachers?
Yeah. Sometimes. And I wanna audition for Little Shop of Horrors as Audrey, and everyone's freaking out about it. It. And I would crush suddenly Seymour.
You know what's also messed up? I don't like being voted best ass. You don't like it. Why? Because historically, black women have been judged by their asses and their hair, and we are done with that, period.
You know what I just realized? The king is worth more than the queen. Why? The queen is the best. Okay?
The queen can have children. Look at this king. He looks like an asshole. Guys, I'm just glad that we're talking about this. You know that your school is weird.
Right? Oh, it's always been weird. We used to have a guy who pulled everyone's pants down, and now he's a police officer. Okay. But who wrote Moxie for real?
Benny Fudge Davis. Whoever wrote Moxie is a badass. Definitely someone, like, in their twenties for sure. I feel like they have tattoos. I think whoever did it knows this school.
What do you think did it, Vivian? I don't know. I I just found it and picked it up like everybody else. But I'm I'm really glad I did because now we're here. Guys, we just had the official first Moxie meeting.

(02:49):
Hell, yeah. The football teams won two games. You know how to play with Max. Yeah. So Claudia's sus as fuck of Vivienne, rightfully so.
Yeah. That was the first meeting. I I again, these these scenes just make me wish we had more of it. Like, I wish we'd gotten more of the trans girls experience, more of I mean, I do appreciate that there are, like, several black girls who are named and have very unique personalities, but I wish we'd gotten more from each of them. Like, yeah.
Yeah. I definitely think this is the movie's strength because I feel like well, first of all, I feel like feminism is an issue that has to be tackled with multiple perspectives. Just so that, you know, we're not ever blind to something. So I feel like the way that they're able to have each girl speak to their own experience or have them come to their own realization, I yeah. I think this is where the movie shines the most.
Yeah. And the the part that stuck out to me when going back when Vivienne was talking to her mom, and her mom was like, we're not inter sectional enough. So I appreciate though, like, not perfect, the movie did put different perspectives in there rather than just, like, the cis white woman feminism perspective. Yeah. Absolutely.
It's interesting that, like, one trans girl's experience of the people being upset about her trying to try out as, like, you know, that iconic character in Little Shop of Harv, because it just feels like it resonates so much more now with, like, the bullshit with, like, the sports team, like Regular. Like, that whole politicized bullshit. It feels like that's just an issue that's actually gotten even worse since the movie was made. Later, Vivienne continues listening to Bikini Kill in her room. I guess, when they have the Linda Lindas on, it's almost like that's the modern version of, like, Bikini Kill.
It's just interesting that it's, like, such a Gen x, like, genre that's, like, inspiring her. Yeah. I know. Right? She makes another kick ass female listening to this music, and she again shouts out to the copy shop guy, Frank.
He's again there, loyally copying her copies of her zine. Yes, sir. And we get this scene that I actually really appreciated this, like, little plot line where Vivienne runs into Seth, and he ends up being, like, the one person who knows about her identity because he captures her, like, early trying to stalk the bathrooms before everyone gets to the school. Like, a whole bunch of them, like, fall out of her hands. Like, it's just, like, caught red handed.
And she says, like, please don't tell anyone. And he says, like, yeah. I mean, only because secret identities are objectively rad. And he offers to put them in the boys bathroom. And they have a back and forth about Mitchell, but because, apparently, they were friends growing up and, like, she ultimately does let him take the Vimeo.
And he has this cute line where he says, like, hey, Vivienne. Is it weird that I'm not surprised? Back in kindergarten, you always wanted to take the spiders outside when everyone else wanted to smash them. You remember that? And she's like, no.
And he's like, well, I do. And I was like, oh, that was a swoon worthy teen teen romance moment. I feel like you've always seen her. It's just Yeah. I appreciate it because I feel like she's the kind of she's, like, the kind of girl who, like, I don't know, in my experience, just wouldn't have had a relationship in high school.
But, like, it's cool that, like, in these in these movies, you get to. Yeah. So all the girls read the new Moxie vene that has been distributed. And, like, they kind of realized that all of the different, like, things that were discussed in the Moxie meeting are now, like, in the pages of the vene. So, like, soccer team issue is in there and Caitlyn's whole issue with the dress code.
And the call to action is that in protest of this outdated, archaic set of rules, on Thursday, everyone has to come to school in a tank top. Like, Claudia is really freaking out. She's like, Caitlin just got sent home for that. The only time I got sent home is when I barfed during my Eleanor Roosevelt presentation. I don't even know if I own a tank top.
And so you continue to see the tensions of Claudia trying to so I really think she does, like, see the issues and want to do something. But it's like a you know, like we said, kinda working with a different set of circumstances than Vivienne and trying to actually be a part of it. Yeah. Which is all valid. Yeah.
And so Livy and Lucius is when we get the scene of them going to the thrift store to shop for tank tops, and they have a very cute shopping montage. And they talk about whether their parents will be mad at them for getting in trouble. And Vivienne says she doesn't think so because her mom did a lot of protesting when she was younger. Instead of giving this a moment for us to talk about Luci's mom, we end up talking about how which is valid. She's concerned about Claudia and Claudia's mom because she knows that she's pretty intense, as she says.
They, like, talk about her friendship with Claudia and, yeah, just have, like, a a fun time in the thrift store. And Claudia sees Lucy and Vivian's selfie with their tank tops on Instagram, like, at the thrift store, and is at home getting ready for school the next day. And she stares at her own tank top on the bed, finally puts it on, starts to walk out the door, but her mom stops her and, like, you know, reprimands her in Mandarin. And she tries to say, like, it's just a tank top, mom. It's not a big deal, but she is told to change.
And so when we get to school, the girls are walking down the hall dramatically pulling their jackets off to, like, reveal tank tops, and it's just, like, you know, almost all the girls you can see in the hallway, like, have the tank tops on. And Claudia says, like, oh, right. You guys are doing that thing today. And, you know, Vivienne sounds pretty disappointed when she says, like, you didn't do it. And Lucy sees them and immediately hugs Vivienne.
And there's definitely, like, an air of jealousy in the Claudia, Vivienne, Lucy dynamic. And then Seth also wears a tank top. Like, he is truly walking the the feminist walk in this environment. And he compliments Vivian's as he walks by. You know, Lucy is like, see, I told you he would love it, which, you know, makes Claudia jealous that they were talking about, you know, her crush and everything.
And then there's a gross moment where Mitchell and Klaus is like, I just wanna say if this is what feminism is, then I really support it. No complaints from me or Jay. Right? No complaints from the football team. But there is a very empowering moment for Caitlin when mister Davies, the, like, you know, English teacher that kind of is, like, the representative of all the teachers in this movie, is like, this seems like a women's issue, and I'm gonna respectfully just stay out of it.
And I didn't think this was, like, an interesting, like, dynamic to, like, call attention to of, like, well meaning allies who were like, well, that's not I'm gonna let women talk about it. And it's kind of, as Caitlin says, a cop out so he doesn't have to actually do anything. And she says, this dress code thing, it may seem like whatever to all of you. I'd say it's another way to control women. If you're doing nothing, then you're part of the problem.
And he says, like, I'm obviously going to stand on the side of equality and freedom for all and diversity and to come together as both sides. And he's just completely, like, you know, saying nothing. And the girls clap for Caitlin as the teacher excuses himself. This is the Gen z of it all. Someone takes a video of this and, like, post it online of, like, mister Davies, like, you know, pathetically babbling.
And so then, like, later at the football game, they're watching the video, and they report that someone saw principal Shelley seeing all the tank tops and then going back into her office and shutting the door. So she just fully chose not to deal, as they said it, which they, like, count as a victory. And then Amaya and Kira come to sit with them, and they report that the girls' soccer team won as always and that the crowd of 15 moms went wild. And, obviously, they're at the football game, which is, like, full of people, but they know that the team is so bad to lose. So that's kind of the dress code protest.

(03:10):
This kind of seamlessly weaves into them starting to really have the soccer team, football team inequality of, like, women's sports come into the forefront with so which was the theme that's already set for this earlier in the movie. I got the first pep rally. Earlier in the movie, we saw, like, a conversation with the soccer girls being, like, imagine if they actually won a game. And pep rallies were for teams that actually won games. They'd be doing soccer cheers up in here, and maybe the bake sale could buy us new uniforms.
And so this is definitely the sentiment going into this game where there is a student athlete ambassador award, which is, like, you know, in terms of made up teen drama shit is up there. I'm like, what what does that even mean? But, like, Mitchell was just gonna be given it uncontested, and Lucy stands up and yells that she actually has a nomination, and she nominates Kiera Pascal, the captain of the girls' soccer team. All the soccer players cheer and, like, you know, various members of the Moxie Club, like, second and third and fourth of her. And Seth gives her the fifth vote she needs to be nominated.
And so Kira's like, what did you just do? And Luci's like, don't you like money? Let's get you some. And so they're all like, yeah. Like, let's try to get her this, like, it comes from a scholarship to go to, like, college.
And so they decide that they're gonna, like, make running a candidate, essentially, like, part of their tactics to create feminism at this school. There's also a moment where Vivienne runs after Claudia, who is starting to leave, and she's like, why didn't you, like, stand up and nominate her? And Claudia says, why do you care? Just go back to your friends. And Vivienne is like, is that what this is all about?
You're just mad that I have a new friend. She's like, is this not you have a lot of new friends? Like, she's just kinda, like, you know, talking around it. And she explains that she does care about this, like, about the feminism, but making a big deal is not her thing. And she's like, then what's your thing?
And Claudia has this really sad line where she's like, I thought my thing was you, and I thought our thing was being best friends. I'm like, oh, so sad. And they are, like, supposed to be, like, very, like, long time best friends, like, is how it's set up, like, since childhood. So next, we're gonna cut to the next Moxie meeting, another of the good ensemble moments where the girls are strategizing about winning this election in the locker room and, again, talking about this issue of inequality in sports. Kira, you're a much better athlete than Mitch.
You win games. He doesn't. And yet, you're the underdog. Why? Because she's a junior.
Okay. But because she's black. Yes. Not what I was gonna say, but yes. Also, because we've been told in big ways and in small ways for our whole lives that the achievements of men are much more important than the achievements of women.
Well, forget that. Forget that. Yes. And when you win this thing, and you will win it. She's like like Serena Williams.
It's gonna prove that we're done with that shit, that that show is canceled. Yeah. It's much bigger than Kira. It's for girls everywhere. Oh, hey, Emma.
Hi. Do you wanna join us? Nope. Nope. I just came to grab this.
Anyways, we have to get Moxie to endorse the campaign. I have an idea. Why don't you text yourself? It's not me. Okay?
I would tell you. Well, if it was me, you all would know. There would be a giant parade. Put this in the minutes. If we stick together, things are gonna change.
Yes. Yes. Can't stop, won't stop. Next stop, Kier Pascal, get the scholarship. Yes.
Let's win this thing. I love how she said that this is bigger than Kiara. This is for all of us. You know? Like, it's to be that young and to realize that it's not about you, that this is really, like, a bigger picture is, like, I don't know.
That's that's that's really beautiful. Yeah. Yeah. And the part where Emma came in well, her name was Emma. Right?
Yeah. That's kind of the moment I kinda put everything together was when she walked in. I was like, she's gonna have a more important role in this movie. Yep. Gonna take down someone important.
Absolutely. Yeah. It is very visual. So, like, basically, there is, like, a moment where, like, she takes a little longer to get the things she needs from the locker room than it actually takes. Like, she's definitely, like, curious and, like but isn't quite ready to to actually explore what, you know, getting into feminism could mean.
Yeah. And I think that's probably relatable to a lot of people who are, like, I agree with this stuff, but I don't. I'm too scared to label it. Yeah. Yeah.
That was one thing that, like, since we graduated, I've had, like, multiple girls who were, like, a year younger than us reach out to me and tell me it was you mostly, like, when we were in college, like, earlier in being out of high school, thanking us for doing that because it was the first time they realized that, like, what feminism meant and, like, ever thought of themselves as a feminist was, like, our little map so needs feminism thing. So I do feel like we made, even if it was a small difference, a small difference in, like, what feminism means to some of the people in our community. We were the older kids at that time. We were being, like, feminism school. You did it.
I also appreciated that they did the fis e puede chant because it's a little bit of a nod, I feel like, to, like, fis e puede really comes from, like, Caesar Chavez and, like, the farm workers movement. So it's a nice little nod to the labor movement. Also, they said Lucy's last name was Hernandez. So, like, I feel like she's Afro Latina. So that's another thing I would have appreciated exploring.

(03:31):
So much left unsaid there. Yeah. Yeah. So that would have been really cool. Lots of untapped stuff that could have been cool to dig into, unfortunately.
So we then get a montage that includes, like, you know, more witch fulfillment of Seth kissing Vivienne on the cheek while she's working on a feminist scene, and Kira and Mitchell doing, like, fitness competitions in the gym in the lead up to the election. We once again see Vivienne with Frank and Moxie girls handing out flyers to vote for Kira. Meg is who is the wheelchair using character, who we don't really get to hear, like, talk much, which is another, like, you know, like, again, like, you just put a, like, disabled character in here for, like, the points, it feels like. Most it feels it a lot with that character, I have to say, above some of the others. But she's giving out vote for Kiera Pins in the field.
Claudia, you see walking by nervously. And, you know, you see all the girls raising their hand in class, which I thought was an interesting thing to show because I do think that there are a lot of boys who will talk out of their ass in class, and then a lot of girls who actually would have something good to say but don't feel comfortable. So, like, all of the girls raising their hand as a sign that, like, people are becoming empowered felt very real. And so we have a really big Claudia moment where she comes up to all of the Moxie girls and says that she saw their posters being taken down because they were never officially registered as a club in the office, so she went and did it for them. She says, Moxie is now officially a school club and gets access to elite privileges such as hanging stuff on walls.
You might also have to learn how to play chess. You guys have been busting your asses, and it would be lame for a technicality to ruin it. And so Vivienne hugs Claudia, and Claudia says, I do care. Okay? You just gotta let me do things my way.
I think here I might actually be able to win this. Yeah. It's just that just keeps going on off the point. It's just, like, respecting how people show up, and activism isn't just this one action you can take. It's a whole world of things you can do and how you can be heard.
You know? Yeah. You just have to start with what, you know, start with what you know, start with where you are, and, like, you know, I I just think it's really easy to say, like, I don't see where I can fit into it. But I think just, like, you know, finding whatever is authentic to you is still a step in the right direction than not taking any action at all. So I thought that was a really not only a great character arc moment for her, but also just, like, nice little soapbox moment just kinda say, like, you know, you can really come at this in your own way.
It doesn't have to be the movement always needs so many different things done. So, you know, you don't have to show up in the conventional ways if that's not what feels comfortable for you. Yeah. Absolutely. Yeah.
And I felt that it was, like, just a really good way of underlining that, like, a movement does need, like, all different types of people who have all different types of skills. Like, I think we've kind of been saying, and, like, just because you can't do one thing doesn't mean that the other thing you can do isn't valuable. And so everyone finding their way to their little, like, niche in the movement, I feel like it's so important. And, like, I always think of, like, my senior year of college being at a labor conference where there was, like, a panel for people who were, like, seniors and were, like, what the fuck do I do if I wanna keep doing labor stuff? And, like, one of the organizers was like, you just need to figure out, like, what skills you already have that could be applied to this, and then, like, follow them.
That's how I ended up in union comms because I was like, well, I know how to write and, like, communicate. So, yeah, I just think that's so important. Not everyone's gonna be, like, you know, the the person with the microphone necessarily. But we need a lot of people behind the scenes. Make the person with the microphone get there.
Yeah. And Claudia also, in very literally an example of that, gives them access to the place where she volunteers to hold this sort of, like, campaign rally for Qi'ra on the eve of the election for student athlete ambassador. Like, what, like, again, what is that? I feel like they literally made it up. Oh, for sure.
For the movie. But we're gonna watch this campaign rally, which, again, does allow Luffy to be the one with the mic, which I do appreciate. Even though it's mainly because Vivienne is just hiding, but, you know, at this point. But yeah. Oh, this is a scene that has the Linda Lindas in it, which is a real band with young young people in it.
They prob I mean, they're obviously, like, several years older now. But, like, they're probably, like, middle school age maybe in this. Maybe a little older. Young teenagers. Hi, Bonnie.
Hey. Listen up. We're here to celebrate the end of the mediocre white dude's choke hold on success. Yeah. Yeah.
Helen, I see you. The dress for the fries. No. Kiara is gonna win this thing tomorrow. So tonight, we celebrate how far we've come.
So let's give it up for the youngest members of the revolution from the Rockport Middle School, the Linda Lindas. Okay. They grow everywhere. Okay. So, yeah, that is a very, like, interesting scene to have, like, these Zoomers, like, rocking out to, like, stuff their mom sort of loved.
Yes. History repeats itself. And then they do a lot of riot girl things in that scene to make it seem like a riot girl, like, DIY show where they have the, like, girls to the front, like, saying, I forget is that Sleet or Kenny? I forget which band, like, popularized that. I, as a millennial, am I did not have a Riot Girl phase.
Like, I just I feel like I didn't. I, I don't know. So then they have that rally. You know? It's very uplifting, and it's the night before.
And, you know, at the end of that scene, we saw, like, all of the girls in the Moxie Club, like, dancing together, and, you know, it's definitely a very feel good scene. And so then the next day, on the morning announcements, it's reminded that everyone has to vote that day. And Vivienne yells, like, let's go Kiera in class. And lots of people cheer. And Jay tries going, like, no.
No. Mitchell. But, like, nobody in the class joins in with him. So that, like, shows where the opinion has shifted. And so then on the morning announcements, Bradley, the, you know, morning announcement kid, is like, okay.
Now we're gonna hear from one of the candidates, Mitchell Wilson. And they're all like, what? We didn't tell them about this. Like, if he gets to talk here, I should be able to as well. And so then we have, like, such a typical, like, diatribe from this dude where he's like, I've been the victim of a targeted attack by an anonymous group called Moxie.
This group has spread propaganda and has defamed my character. In short, Moxie's bullied me. And so they say, like, oh my god. He really is scared. We got to him.

(03:52):
But he continues on saying that the worst part is that we don't know who Moxie is and a person gets to spread lies about us and not tell us who they are. We call that weak. So tonight, when you go to cast your vote, just think about this. Who is Moxie, and who will they go after next? Because it could be you.
And, again, Jay is the only person in the classroom who, like, claps, but, you know, they lead you to believe that this has an effect on the election. Because later, after the football team is once again totally demolished on the field, it's time for the student athlete ambassador election result. And they say congratulations to Mitchell Wilson. He will apparently represent Rockford's commitment to character and leadership at the upcoming state caucus, which is, again, very vague and makes no sense to me. What caucus?
What does that mean? And he'll also, more importantly, get this $10,000 scholarship to go to any academic institution of his choosing. And they say, like, Kiara, it's been a fun campaign. As an educator, I just think it's wonderful and exciting to see everyone getting involved. Healthy, fair competition is good.
And I definitely think there's a question of whether, like, he actually got the votes to win or if they just, like, said he did. Like, I feel like he could have gone. Like, I would believe either one. Yeah. The parallels to the real election are so funny.
Yeah. Like, over like, overqualified Kiara going against traditionally Love Mitchell. Like, it is just did they predict that? I got the vibe that he rigged it. But because, you know, he probably have the power to.
Right. And, like, if he didn't, you could still make the argument that he rigged it by getting to go on the show that the other candidate didn't get to go on to and, like, influence the outcome. So I feel like no matter what, yeah, I think it's fair to say that he rigged it. And that, like, it shows, like, what white cis male privilege does for someone, you know, is I feel like the main point they're trying to make. You know, all Noxxi girls are really upset.
They really truly believed that they had, you know, started enough of a movement for Kira to have won. Vivienne had brought champagne anticipating a victory, and she ends up drinking a lot and coming home drunk. And, you know, the she does have this line that I think is, like, worth mentioning where she says, like, you try and you try and you try and nothing actually happens and nothing works. Yeah. It's like a whole thing of her mom, but that isn't as relevant.
But I did think that it was like, damn, you already feel this way. It's gonna be a long road. Right. Oh, and she also accidentally throws up on her mom's boyfriend. So this is kinda when she's, like, spiraling a bit.
Noxie is kind of in trouble, if you will. So the next time that she goes to the coffee shop is when we learn that Frank's name is Frank. And she makes these stickers that say, you're an asshole, x o x o moxie. And Seth says, like, is this the best idea? And she's like, maybe not, but it's the idea I had.
Thanks, Frank. And he's like, go get them. And that's the line that that solidifies that he's an ally. Yep. So these stickers that say, you're an asshole, x o x o moxie start being put all over the school.
And so principal Shelley pulls Vivian into the classroom and asks where she got the stickers. And she lies and says she found them in the bathroom. And the principal is like, this is serious. People have defaced school property, and someone will get suspended for it. Apparently, Mitchell Wilson isn't the only one Moxie doesn't like.
So we we learn that in the latest issue of Moxie, it says, quote, principal Shelley has made it clear she has no interest in supporting the female population of the school and unfairly gave Mitchell Wilson the morning announcement for his hate speech. And the principal says that if Moxie had asked for the spot, they would have gotten it too. Vivian's like, well, how are we supposed to know that? We were supposed to ask for it. And so I thought that was a good example of, like, these, like, unwritten rules that, like, somehow, like, if you have more privilege, you just, like, know them.
Mhmm. You know? Or, like, you know how, like, there's that thing where, like, like, men are more likely to apply for things they're less qualified for than women are? Like, women will see, like, a couple things that are, like and they'll be like, well, I'm probably not qualified. Like, oh, man.
And, like, a man will just feel like I'm, like, definitely not qualified and still go for it just because of, like, the way that people are, like, socialized. Like, I just heard that that's, like, a thing that happens. Yeah. It gives you I mean, when the system is built for your success, it gives you false confidence. So Yeah.
The principal says, like, if you wanna sit at the table, pull up a chair. And she says, like, listen, Vivian. I think all of this is wonderful, like, which is, again, like, a callback to the, like, oh, healthy competition line. And she's like, but it has to stay within the confines of the rules of the school. Vivian asks if the principal likes Mitchell and, like, says the girls that the school would like to know what she thinks, which is kind of weird.
But, the principal's like yeah. Right? Like, I'm like, I she don't think she should be commenting on whether she likes individual students. Right. Basically, she's like, do you know who started Moxie?
And she says no, and then the principal secretary comes in to, like, grab her and say that the asshole stickers are all over her car. So she's like, oh, no, and, like, runs out. But later, Vivienne finds all the Moxie girls talking about how Claudia got suspended for Moxie because since she had been the one who, like, I guess, put down their names for the school club association, they, like, just blamed her for everything. And Lucy is like, it'll be fine. Like, she can write about it in her college application.
But Vivienne is, like, very upset, like, fully understanding how, like, strict her mom is, and it's like, you don't know Claudia like I do. So we're gonna get back to that later because I figured we would close with that clip just based on where we are in the outline. But we're gonna move into Emma radicalizing and this walkout in solidarity of rape survivors happening. So as we had talked about, Emma had come upon the group meeting in the locker room and looking curious but not joining. Then on the announcements on the actual morning of the student athletic ambassador elections, there's a moment where Bradley says her, like, co anchor Bradley says, good morning, mermaids and pirates.
And Emma says, what does that mean? And he says, like, I'm being inclusive. And she's like, what? So women can't be pirates? And he's like, are you gonna let me get to the announcements?
And then she's like, of course. Good morning, pirates of any and all genders. So that's, like, the beginning of you starting to see the truth radicalizing and that, like, the things that are being talked about in the school are actually starting to get through to her. And, like, a few scenes later, you see her picking up a copy of Moxie curiously. And so then after Claudia has been suspended, this notebook paper shows up in the bathroom that Vivienne finds that says to Moxie.
Dear Moxie, this is probably a mistake, but I don't know who else to turn to. Last year, I was raped. I wanted to come forward, but I didn't want anyone to know it was me. You get things done, and no one knows who you are. Can you help me?

(04:13):
From one anonymous to another. I immediately was like, it's Emma. Like, I don't know if you guys did, but I was like Absolutely. Yeah. And so Vivienne is so upset by this idea that someone understandably so upset that someone, you know, is suffering in this way in her community, and she ends up using red paint.
You know, she's continuing to kind of spiral out to vandalize the school sidewalk so that it says rape court as, like, a play on Rock Port. She makes a post on this, like, Moxie Girls account that I think Lucy started that says, tired of what goes on at school. A student wrote a note and said that she was raped. Walk out at the attendance bell and show your support. Tell her she's not alone.
I did write in the notes, and I do still agree. These are the moments where I wish that she had been, like, I have to call Lucy and figure out what we should do. Or I, you know, I have to call a meeting and see, like, what we should do. And that, like, calling the walkout had been, like, a collective decision. That's what I wish was different about this moment.
Because I feel like for we have been carrying the zine the whole entire time on our own. Like, the ending should have been, like, collective action is the way to solve it all. You know? Like, you can't just be one person taking it all on themselves. Exactly.
So, yeah, I think this is, like, kind of where the, like I understand why, like, a lot of people's overarching critique is, like, everyone is in service of this white character's, like, heroine journey or whatever. Like, I totally see that read because of, like, where it veers by the end, like, here. Mhmm. And, like, not getting into the backstory of a lot of the people of color in the movie. Right.
So we come to the day of this walkout. And in class, before the attendance fell, mister Davies tells the whole class that, you know, clearly, like, a speech he has to give, that anyone who walks out will be seen as demonstrating support for the Moxie group who has vandalized school property in a sense that is punishable by expulsion. Then mister Davies says, I'm washing my hands of the whole thing, and he puts his hands up to reveal he has a star and heart doodled on his palms. And so then the school bell rings, and people start walking out. So we're gonna watch this climactic moment when everyone walks out, and there kind of ends up being an impromptu speak out as well as Vivian actually revealing her identity.
So you see Claudia watching from home. Speaking in front of people is my worst nightmare. I'm not brave. I'm not fierce like some of my friends, and I do not fit the prototype of a leader in any way, but here I am anyways. I hate that we are shoved aside, that we are dismissed, ranked, assaulted.
And I mean, nobody does anything about it, you know? Nobody listens to us. And that is why I walk out today. That's why I'm standing up here yelling at all of you. It's why I started Moxie.
And you know what? If you're gonna expel somebody, expel me. Okay? It's me. I started Moxie.
I am Moxie. Then expel me too. I started the Moxie Instagram, and I did that shit proudly. I got you. I protested the dress code.
I wear what I want no matter what my body looks like. And I'm never changing. -Yeah. -So expel me. I tripped Bradley in his dumbass pirate costume.
That's feminism right there. And I do not feel bad about it. Moxie Forever. Oh, we haven't talked about that kiss. I'm realizing we forgot to talk about that.
I wrote to the notes. I'm the one who reached out for help because it felt like Moxie was the only one who was listening. We're listening. We're here, and we believe you. Last year after prom, Mitchell Wilson raped me.
He was my boyfriend, and he raped me in my own bedroom. And then I got voted most bangable. What does that even mean? Sorry. I don't know what to say.
I don't know what I feel I guess I'm just angry. I'm angry, and I wanna scream. Do it. Do it. Great.
Oh, yeah. I forgot about that weird Audrey at the beginning. I forgot about that. Oh, yeah. Wish it was silence.
Yeah. It's like this callback to the beginning of the movie when she has this dream where, yeah, she's silenced as Rosalie said. And so then they flash back when everyone's screaming to her finally screaming and finding her voice, which is cool because, you know, she's not doing it alone. She is doing it, you know, alongside all these other women. And there are decent amount of, you know, allies in the in the in the group, not just Steph.
Yeah. So that's, like, the big climactic moment. One thing that, like, we forgot to talk about from the that I wish came up again again, I know broken record, but from the rally was that Maya and Lucy, like, make out. I'm like, what? Yeah.
And I'm just like, are you kidding? Why would you even drop that in there if you aren't gonna give me more? Like, are you kidding? Yeah. Or or not have any scenes of them talking.
Like, it what? I guess that's being a teenager. There's random make out sessions, but I don't know. Is it like that? And then there's no backstory?
I don't know. It shouldn't be in a story. I don't know. Yeah. Disappointing.

(04:34):
Yeah. I would have appreciate like, there's room for multiple romantic arcs. I would have appreciated like, even if we had to do, like, less of the Seth and Vivienne romance, I would have appreciated, like, both of those romances having a little backstory. That would have been cute. But, yeah, I mean, I really love that it be kinda becomes just, like, spontaneous thing where everyone is, like, telling their own, like, thing and, like, you know, really backing up Vivienne now that she's finally revealed who she is.
We'll see in the clip that we're gonna watch later of Claudia and Vivienne. Like, Claudia is the one who figured it out first for sure, that it was Vivienne, which makes sense because I know each other so well. I thought we would just go through a few different themes, anything that we haven't touched on yet from each one. So there were a couple of things I wanted to point out that kind of specifically, you know, was about the post Me Too of it all. Like I said before, it's just very close to and I'm sure the script was written extremely close to one like Me Too is really, like, dominating the headlines.
And so that question that mister Davey says about how, like, we have to, like, talk about the portrayal of women no matter which period it is, I thought was very, like, ew, like, why are you so mad? Like Yeah. And it felt like it represented a perspective that a lot of, like, straight men were having in that time of, like, the the fact that they have to change anything about their lives. And it's not even, like, that much change came of it. Like, the fact that they were complaining about the modicum of progress that was made because of that.
And then there's also this whole scene that we didn't talk about much in-depth where Lucy goes to report Mitchell harassing her at the beginning of the school year. And principal Shelley is, like, if you use the word harass, I have to do a bunch of paperwork. You maybe you could just say he's bothering you. Like and he she's, like, not letting her, like, report him for harassing. And so she says, like, Lucy, I am aware that outside these walls, the world is experiencing a tornado.
That's how she describes, like, the movement. And that in response, young people, especially girls, are expressing their discontent about everything in every direction. We have to be clear about things before we move forward. And she basically says, I step in if someone brings drugs to school or when someone threatens on YouTube to bring in a weapon. This feels like something that we can solve together.
And I'm just like, well, this was a very interesting, like, commentary on how schools were meeting, the the me too moment, how administrators were, like, frustrated with having to actually, like, do things to protect people, the bare minimum of to protect people, might I add. And there's also a weird moment, actually, even with Seth and Vivian, where they're, like, going into the classroom, and he says, like, ladies first, or can I say that? And that was the one that felt the most where it's like, people will be like, oh, I'm gonna make this joke. Oh, can I even say that anymore? And it's like, well, you did.
You already said it. Right. And it even kinda comes up before Vivienne and Seth's first kiss when he says, like, I like you a lot. I don't know. I got on all in my head about it and started worrying that maybe I shouldn't come on too strong because you're, like, this super powerful feminist.
And it's like, what? Like, it was and, like, the scene where, like, they clearly were like, the signals were there and, like, clearly, she was wanting him to kiss her. It was so obvious. And, like, he you know, just this idea that even good guys are now second guessing themselves, I feel like is definitely present in this movie Mhmm. Whatever it's worth.
And so that brings us to the biggest Moxie problem, which we've definitely, like, touched on, but I figured we would flush out here, which is, like, the white feminism of it all. And the fact that largely, you know, all we we really do get, like, a diversity checklist where, like, you know, we have apparently, two queer black girls because they kissed. So another black girl who's, like, the the captain of the soccer team. We have a disabled character in a wheelchair. We have a one trans character.
We have, you know, one Asian character. So really and then we have, like, characters like Caitlin, who are just, like, a traditionally femme white girl, like, with, like, big boobs. You know? Like so it did feel like they were, like, okay. We're gonna, like, you know, represent a lot of people.
Yeah. Yeah. Oh, you raised your hand? But, you know, it fails in not actually fleshing them all out. And, like, I think that they really could've it could've gone a long way if Lucy had gotten equal POV because then we certainly would've gotten her relationship with Amaya.
Like, we maybe would've gotten to see more of the other characters. So yeah. And then it also as we said before, it's very funny that they're like, we weren't intersectional enough, try kinda trying to be like, we are doing it in this movie. And I'm like, you aren't doing it as well as you think you are. Yeah.
You're the same thing. You're the same thing. Exactly. I agree. That's the right word for it.
But it it did kinda feel like a little bit of tokenism was in there. Just like, we have to have these characters in here to make it quote, unquote intersectional. Right. Like a very basic understanding of what intersectional means. Yeah.
Yeah. And there was this one quote that I thought made a lot of sense from this auto straddle review from back in 2021. Quote, the cast is diverse, but the women of color exist mostly to help Vivian along her arc. And while the movie goes to painstaking lengths to explain the sexist implications of certain school policies, like the school dress code, it's less willing to touch on the racism some of its characters experience. Mitchell's harassment of Lucy, as well as the principal's reaction to it, isn't just sexist.
It's racist too. Moxie occasionally names these things, and a standout moment in the movie comes when Claudia and Vivienne have a massive friendship site in which Claudia tells Vivienne that Vivienne can't understand everything about her life and her choices because she's white, But the movie remains muted and surface level in its attempts to talk about race, end quote. So, yeah, I thought that scene was the perfect last scene for us to watch. I'm glad that, if anything, Vivienne is kinda called out in this scene. Thank you.
But she first tries to come to the door, and her mom won't let her in, so she goes to Claudia's window. Front door didn't go so great, I'd call it a bust. Yeah. My mom would literally prefer that I die of contracting bacterial meningitis and get suspended from school. Disease is at least an honorable death.
Is this gonna screw everything up for you? I don't know. Shelly's blaming me because I'm the one who put my name down for Moxie. I can't believe you did that. I know.
She kept asking me who the leader was, and I said I didn't know. Is there anything you wanna say to me? How did you know? We've been best friends since we were four. You really think you could lead a revolt and I wouldn't notice?
Why didn't you tell me? Because at first, you were being so shitty about it. Yeah. Because I knew it was a bad idea. And look, it was.
I didn't ask you to get involved. Yes. You did. You made me feel bad because I wasn't doing enough. And you don't get it, Viv.

(04:55):
You don't get what's going on with me because you're white. What? Do you know what my mom had to sacrifice to get to this country? What she had to do to make it so that I could go to college. I am under an insane amount of pressure, and I don't have the freedom to take the risks that you do.
Claudia, I'm sorry. My mom is making me deeply in the rugs to atone for my sins. If you knew it was me, why didn't you tell her? Because I'm not a coward, unlike you. Yeah.
Very real conversation. And I think it really is something that we talked about, like, not just in this episode, but on the podcast a lot before, which is, like, the tension between wanting to do activism on behalf of your marginalized identity versus personally succeed and thrive in your career field. You know, like, being able to go to college in this case, but getting suspended. So it is a big tension and, like, I think you've talked about it before on this podcast before, Dondre, and even earlier this episode about, like, you know, you being able to get to college as a first generation student and, like, you know, it's just it's just tension that comes up again and again. Yeah.
Sometimes activism, ironically, can be a privilege, like, to be able to position yourself and to do certain things without thinking about the repercussions of it. And I, you know, I do think if they were gonna get away with this movie, they had to have this conversation. Like, this is this was their redeeming quality of it all. And then yeah. So then there's also the fact that, like, Vivienne does have, like, you know, a, you know, Asian American boyfriend, Seth, and she kinda treats him like shit at a certain point.
And that isn't really resolved that well. I think they had got to, like, look at each other and smile in the last scene, and so you know that they've, like, made up. But, like, their last real interaction, he says, like, you've been doing reckless shit and letting other people take the blame while you take cheap shots at me, your mom, and your mom's perfectly nice boyfriend. I've done nothing but support you. I don't deserve to be your punching bag.
And it pretty much sums up what that was. So, yeah, it just you know, I have a couple more quotes I wanted to quickly point out from these two reviews I read. So one is from ScreenRant. She says, like, all this to say, Moxie tries to make sure its feminism is more intersectional. It doesn't give the supporting characters enough to work with, leading them to feel one note.
Even Seth, who presents an opportunity to address how men of color can be affected by the white male patriarchy if left relegated to a trite male feminist ally role. I hadn't even thought of that. Like, he definitely could have been, like, fleshed out more in terms of, like, why feminism spoke to him. Because he is, like, a less masculine traditional masculine man. That's kind of a missed opportunity too.
But anyway, they basically said, like, the cast is well rounded, and the actors are all well suited to their roles. But Moxie's attempts to giving a voice to the experiences of many young women suffers as it centers Vivienne's feminist awakening above all else. And yeah. And Autostraddle, they again said the same thing, which was basically that, like, it's a delightful ensemble, but it's not an ensemble movie, and the best scenes do feature the whole Moxie crew, which is a lot of what we've said. I feel like this movie could have been a show.
Yeah. Hot take. Yeah. Different episodes focus on different characters more. Yeah.
I can see that. I could have seen that too. Because there's so much it missed, but it's only can be so long, the movie. Totally. So I feel like it could have been flushed out more in a show, but that's just my opinion.
I like shows better than movies. For sure. Yeah. I mean, based on what my podcast is normally about outside of the special episode. Oh, true.
But yeah. And then, like, I talked about it a little bit already, but there's just a lot of, like, the Gen x feminism of it all. Like, it does feel like this movie was, like, a love letter to that era of feminism with the Riot Girl inspired, like, scene and music. And, yeah, I I thought it was interesting, like, do we feel like she actually succeeded in adapting this, like, nineteen nineties era tactic to, like, the twenty twenties era reality? I would say maybe, like, mixed results.
But it was also interesting to think about our own methods in the twenty tens, you know, like a Tumblr post, a Facebook group movement, articles in a printed school newspaper, most of which aren't really a thing right now. Well and, like, my first well, no. I don't remember if I did, like, the slut walk first or the if I read Oh, yeah. If I read the feminist book by Jessica Valente. And I would never recommend that book now.
But it was like an important book to me as I was learning more about what feminism was. Yeah. So, you know Good start to work. Yeah. Yeah.
I also thought that Lisa was just, like, Amy Poehler's character. It was just, like, a very, like, stereotypical, like, walking early '2 thousands joke about feminism. Like, at the beginning, there's this moment where she, like, the clerk tries to help her pack her eggs and tells her, like, to pack her eggs on top. And she's, like, I know how to pack my own suitcase. I can pack my own grocery bag.
And he's, like, oh, I remember you. I was also just like, yeah, this character would be played by Amy Poehler. Yeah. Yes. For whatever.
Yeah. The Leslie note of it all. Yes. Exactly. Exactly.
Like, it's only so far that the Amy Poehler feminism tends to go. Maybe we shouldn't be too surprised. So the way that we close out movie specials, I don't know if you guys have anything else you wanted to add, is that we write the letterbox review for the leftist teen drama letterboxed account for this movie. So, yeah. Anyone have any thoughts about what our what our review should say?
Just like a recap of what we all said. Good starting point, needs to work on its intersectionality, and not, like, focus solely on, like, yeah, the white girl's backstory when there's so many more interesting characters. Yeah. I do feel like there's a world where the palatable avatar for feminism doesn't have to be a white woman. Oh, that's a good lie.
Like, there's other versions of elementary feminism that can explore from different POVs, you know? So that that's what I would say. Cool. I think that's good. And then I usually read what mine was on my personal account.
So I think I said, like, pretty much everything we said in this, which is I said it was an I gave it three and a half stars, by the way, which is pretty low for me in a teen movie, but what are you gonna do? I said an imperfect film about teenage feminist collective action, to be sure. My critiques to come on and off of my podcast, here we are. But I overall enjoyed the attempts. I totally fangirled when the Linda Lindas performed, and the whole Seth Vivienne relationship got me as it was essentially wish fulfillment for my teen feminist self.

(05:16):
Oh, and Frank at the coffee shop is the realest feminist ally in Rockport. Oh, we love Frank. Which I think is a good place to end things. Long live random older white dudes at copy shops who are just down. You know?
I like to believe that more of them are out there than we think. So thank you both so much for coming on. This was so fun. Yeah. You guys.
Love you both. Thanks for listening to leftist teen drama. Follow us on social media for updates. Links to our Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, and TikTok are in the show notes along with links to suggested additional reading on the topics discussed. And don't forget to rate us on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
Solidarity forever, free Palestine, and abolish the PIC. Signing off, Maria.

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