Thirteen Turned the Teen Flick Inside Out

By Aramide Tinubu

Thirteen begins with a slap across the face. Tracy (Evan Rachel Wood) and her new bestie Evie (Nikki Reed) sit cross-legged in her bedroom, slapping each other forcefully enough to draw blood while huffing compressed air and laughing maniacally at one another. A flurry of rock music pounds away in the background. This depiction of adolescence is not the teen angst previously shown in Hollywood in films like She's All That, Clueless, or even the darker-toned Cruel Intentions. From its opening sequence, it was clear that 2003's Thirteen is a much more sinister window into teen girlhood.

Hollywood has always been fascinated with teen girls. Films like Grease, Sixteen Candles, and Scream dominated the box office in their respective decades. Though these movies dealt with issues like first love, family woes, identity, and newfound freedom, very few were willing to go well below surface-level themes. Grittier topics centered on teen girlhood were reserved for TV shows like Dawson's Creek, Moesha, and My So-Called Life. The longer form allowed more in-depth nuanced experiences of teen girls coming of age.

When issues like sex, drugs, self-harm, and abuse were unpacked, the teen girls at the center of these stories were typically in their late teens, headed toward their twenties. Catherine Hardwicke's debut feature, Thirteen, changed everything. Girlhood is fleeting, and in our ever-changing world, teen girls are rushing to try and keep up with perceived societal and social expectations.

Based on the real-life experiences of actress Nikki Reed, who was like a daughter to Hardwicke, Thirteen showcased a brand-new era of girlhood. As cell phones and the internet became more common, teens were exposed to more facets of the world than ever before. Along with the universal desire to fit in, many were desperate to be viewed as grown-up and desirable. Having so much more access to the world also meant that teen girls were turning to new avenues to release various anxieties. Unfortunately, our general understanding of mental health was only beginning to be a more centered topic. Without resources, teens used what was at their fingertips to dull their pain.

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