12. The Virgin Suicides

It’s the movie that launched Sofia Coppola’s directing career and awakened Young Maggie to the beauty of Kirsten Dunst’s armpits: the dreamy, detailed, and devastating THE VIRGIN SUICIDES (1999). We wrestle with the male narration, Marin details falling out of love with the novel upon which the film is based (and appreciating the film more as a result), and we talk about the knottiest of conundrums: how to protect adolescent girls from the world without totally depriving them of it.  

 

Secondary texts referenced:

Girl, Interrupted by Susanna Kaysen

“No” by Anne Boyer (from A Handbook of Disappointed Fate)

“Our Sisters Shall Inherit the Sky” by Alana Massey (from All the Lives I Want: Essays About My Best Friends Who Happen to Be Famous Strangers)