Tuesday, August 6, 2013

"Dirty Girls" not so Dirty



A few days ago I got to watch “Dirty Girls" a documentary filmed by Michael Lucid. Shot in 1996 and edited in 2000, this is a short documentary basically about a group of 13-year-old riot girls in Los Angeles who were socially ostracized at their school by their peers. Everyone in the schoolyard held strong opinions about these so-called “dirty girls," and meanwhile, the “dirty girls" themselves aimed to get their message and ideals across by distributing a zine across campus.

It is a short almost 20 minute video where the audience gets to see both sides of the situation. What I found very frustrating was how ignorant their peers sounded, with things like:

  • "I find it personally offensive that they are fighting for women, because I am a woman…and they are not. I mean what do they know about…"


  • "Thats the easiest thing to do, rebel."


  • (When she shall die take her and cut her out and she shall make the face of heaven so fine) “Like Ew thats just Ew"


That poem was altered from Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet! How is that “Ew"?

The opinion of the outsiders made me have my own little fit while I was watching. I’m not here to insult anybody but I hope that all these people talking shit can look at this now and realize how ignorant they sounded at the time.


The documentary is genius! It took me back to the nineties. I felt like I was in one of those late nineties “chick flicks" that I love. And to top it off, the sound track is great! I would really recommend it to anyone who is up to a ride back to the time of the grunge and grrrrl riots!




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