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GIRLS ROCK!
Edited & Directed by Shane King & Arne Johnson
Produced by Johnson
Director of Photography, King
Released by Shadow Distribution
USA. 90 min. Not Rated

In the elevator after the screening, one critic asked another what she thought of the film, and her response was, “It was cute.” While the documentary is indeed “cute,” it’s the kind of cute that is always followed by a “but.”

The documentary follows a collection of attendees at the five-day Rock n’ Roll Camp for Girls in Portland, Oregon. In the auditorium on the first day, each girl must report to the section of the room designated to the type of music that most interests her (punk, death metal, etc.) Bands are formed accordingly and assigned a counselor who serves as a manager. From this point forward, each band has five days to create, write, and learn a song to be performed on stage at a finale rock concert in front of hundreds. Along with creating a song, the girls must learn to work as a team and deal with overpowering egos trapped in pint-sized bodies.

Spotlighted are four girls from different backgrounds, each in a different band: Laura, an overweight, adopted Korean teen who admits to hating herself; Misty, a former substance abuser who has been a bully for as long as she can remember; Amelia, a constant noise-making sparkplug who can’t get enough of the spotlight; and Palace, a wise-beyond-her-years fashion-conscious tween raised by a single mother.

The topic and premise (which is ultimately undefined) isn’t insightful enough for the semi-vérité style. Is the film about breaking down sexist stereotypes? How music helps build a self image? Pop culture causing low self-esteem? A hodgepodge of issues is touched upon, but they are not connected by directors Shane King and Arne Johnson.

In interviews, the filmmakers ask the girls questions about their lives that confuse the premise and take the focus off of music. With all due respect, the problems facing them aren’t especially unique and can be categorized under growing pains. (Palace’s mother says her daughter has been coming home from school with stomach aches...something clearly only rock ‘n’ roll camp could cure.) Furthermore, we don’t get the feeling that the music is an antidote for their problems. (Before camp, Misty had never played an instrument). I would expect a documentary of this nature to show how these girls truly needed music to survive – that it is the only medium in which they could express life’s deep frustrations – but replace rock ‘n’ roll with any other hobby, and you for the most part have the same film. Matt Alesevich
March 7, 2008