2008 - Towelhead - Women Film Critics Circle - Most Offensive Male Characters. Not often I list the award first thing in my review but this one really says it all. It's a pretty disturbing look at coming of age, prejudice and the man next door. I'm not sure if the movie's controversial point is about prejudices or that pedophiles can look like anyone.Jasira (Summer Bishil) is 13, Arab American and her mother Gail (Maria Bello), no longer wants to look after her. She's sent to Houston to life with her strict father, Rifat (Peter Macdissi).
On one side lives an extreme racist, Mr. Vuoso (Aaron Eckhart) and the other expectant mother Melina (Toni Collette), always keeping a watchful eye on Jasira. School is no easier for her as no matter how she tries to blend in, racism alienates her. She finds the only people she can talk to are the neighbors. She starts to baby sit for the Vuoso's young spoiled son Zack (Chase Ellison), to earn spending cash.
As she spends time with Zack, they discover Mr. Vuoso's collection of adult magazines. Instead of scolding Zack, she finds the magazines stimulate her new hormones to a point of ecstasy. When Mr. Vuoso's walks in on the pair, he becomes excited over Jasira's fascination. Mr. Vuoso begins fantasizing a sexual encounter with the young innocent girl. As Jasira begins exploring her sexual birth, she allows Mr. Vuoso to touch her teaching her the sensations of sex. The more she explores, she finds herself attracted to Thomas (Eugene Jones), an African American teen her father would never approve of. When Rifat finds out , Jasira is forced to seek shelter with neighbor Melina, where she feels safe from prejudice as she continues her discovery of life.
2008 - Towelhead - Women Film Critics Circle - Most Offensive Male Characters.
Warner Independent PicturesDirector: Alan Ball
Writer: Alan Ball
Producers: Steven Rales, Alan Ball, Ted Hope
I viewed 2/09
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