On Criterion in September 2021, I watched Just Another Girl on the I.R.T., a 1992 film directed by Leslie Harris, one of the few indie films at the time focusing on a Black teen girl’s experience. I had seen a little of it ages ago on Bravo, and was glad to see it in its entirety. It’s pretty good, it focuses on a Brooklyn teen girl named Chantel (Ariyan A. Johnson) who is a outspoken, funny, smart and charismatic heroine, and focused on going to college and med school, but life circumstances get in the way.
I liked how this movie has her break the fourth wall a lot to talk to the audience, and how she calls out her white high school teacher for focusing too much on Eurocentric history and ignoring and dismissing the histories and cultures of his Black students. The movie has a really good early 90s soundtrack of hip-hop and dance music, especially a lot of New Jack Swing style and female-focused hip-hop. I liked how she was a heroine who was often confused and scared and made mistakes in an understandable way as a teenage girl. I’m glad Criterion added this film, it’s part of their New York Stories streaming collection for the next month or so.
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