Smooth Talk

Plot:
In the movie, Smooth Talk, we see Connie and her friends. She's the same peppy, blonde haired girl that was described in the short story, Where are you going, Where have you been?. The only thing different is that she has short blonde hair in the movie. She has the same type of attitude towards her appearance. She has one look at home and another at the mall. She goes out of her house looking casual and not dressed up at all. That is until her and her friends take off the clothes, put on new ones and put make up on themselves to make them seem older than 15. This scene just describes how Connie acts throughout the whole movie. She's an outgoing 15 year old girl soaking up the summer, instead of going out on school nights.

Point of View:
Here the movie is just like the short story. We see everything Connie does, and how she reacts to it. This way the audience can see how and why the family acts the way they do towards Connie. In the short story, they make her seem like she is just an outgoing teenage girl. In the movie though, we see that Connie is very obsessed with her looks and will get angry if her mother asks her  to do anything around the house.

Characterization:
Connie is still portrayed as a young, outgoing 15 year old that is a little too worried about her looks. She doesn't know how to handle on the attention she gets from other guys, but she loves it, and that isn't a good thing. If she were to act differently though, the story would have a totally different ending. She doesn't think about the consequences of her actions, and sometimes just acts on instinct which can get her in trouble.

Setting:
The setting is during the 80's which is when the movie was made, and the short story seems to be in that same time frame. This makes the story because they call it a "hamburger joint" and the mall and clothes they wear are also important to the story. The setting is also set in the summer time, and this is relevant because thats when all the kids go out and have fun. This is where Connie gets herself in trouble with Arnold Friend, who is also out looking for some fun.

Theme:


From watching the movie and reading the short story, I see a new  theme. In the short story, I never really thought Connie deserved all the hatred and disappointment from her mother and sister,  but now the movie has made me think otherwise. Connie is very rude to her mother but then after leaving with Arnold Friend, she turns around and apologizes to her family. I think a key theme is karma, what goes around comes around kind of deal. She was so rude and nasty to her mother that it came around when Arnold came to take her for a ride. No one really knows what happened to her, only that she came home a completely different person. Also another theme is not everything is what it seems. Connie "hooks-up" with guy after guy because they seem like good guys. That's not the case for Arnold. He seems like a good guy, but when he talks to Connie at her house forcing her to come take a ride with him, we see a dark side to him.

below is a scene from "Smooth Talk". Enjoy! :)