Speak

“You can't speak up for your rights and be silent. I thought what you did was cool, but you can't make a difference unless you speak up.”That scene where Andy traps Melinda by putting his arms around her in the cafeteria to show his power and dominance over her really stayed with me. I wanted to cry so bad for Melinda because it looked like a friendly gesture, but the music gets louder and you see Melinda dissociating. And I feel like him targeting Melinda constantly with his friends is like his sick way of warning her not to speak out. He’s a disgusting sadist who finds satisfaction in scaring her, and it’s so fucked up. I think this movie was so thoughtfully written, beautifully directed, and Kristina Stewart’s acting was so raw, knowing she was only thirteen in this role. Also, the scene where her parents gift her art supplies for Christmas was such a bittersweet scene. Melinda feels as if no one sees her, especially her parents, but they’ve been noticing that she’s taken an interest in art. I think it’s such a deep scene because Melinda feels that guilt; she wants to tell them what happened, but she simply cannot speak. No words coming out of her mouth can simply express the horrors that happened to her. In the beginning of the movie, it’s as if her parents don’t really care or want to know what changed in her—they simply think it’s her teenage years and she’s cranky and whatever. Especially when she has nightmares and she woke up to see her mom pressing her wrists on the bed, which brings her trauma back, and she isn’t even able to talk to them about it. They think it’s the boogie monster or whatever. But the Christmas scene really shows that even if it doesn’t feel like it, they’re still caring and watching her. Also, I really like how David isn’t a love interest for her but someone who supports her as a best friend or even a brother, and he’s there for her even though he screamed at her for eating the apple. I haven’t read the book, but I think there was a quote where she felt as if she would explode if someone touched her. God, fuck high school, genuinely. Anyways, this was an excellent and highly underrated film, and I really love how sensitive and nuanced they are with handling the subject of sexual assault.