Sweetheart

I’m frequently displeased with teen characters in fiction. They’re never awkward enough. Too many fictional teens are confident and mature characters who seem comfortable in their own skin. Sweetheart doesn’t have this problem. Sweetheart’s lead character was awkward as hell.

Sweetheart is a summer coming of age/romance film. 17 year old AJ’s mother, Tina has dragged her family to a holiday camp to stay with AJ’s pregnant adult sister, Lucy. Also in tow is AJ’s kid sister, Dayna. AJ makes it very clear she doesn’t wish to come on this trip and thinks it foolish her mother wouldn’t let her stay home alone. She often clashes with her controlling, sometimes irrational mother. The bright spot is Isla, a pretty lifeguard. Isla befriends AJ and openly flirts with her. But the depth of Aj’s feelings for Isla makes her act exceedingly uncool. She frequently self sabotages in an attempt to protect herself from feelings or someone else hurting her.

This is a depiction of teen angst that is realistic to the point of being sometimes difficult to watch. AJ’s defensive mechanisms are built up so high that it’s hard to know her as a character. Not only does she have generally awkward reactions to things, her own teen angst heavily colours her view of the world. Sweetheart utilizes voiceover into AJ’s thoughts to offer depth to her general outward appearance of non-engagement. These voice overs show someone with a lot of worries ranging from “people always stare at me” to “factory farming is the number one reason for climate change.” AJ is a character with a lot of negative emotions and not enough skills to deal with them.

Sweetheart manages to walk the line of offering sympathy for both its teen protagonist and less than ideal mother. Alternately, it depicts both the characters as inherently flawed. Much as AJ’s mother is overly controlling while being flighty herself, not all of her concerns are bad or irrational. Not letting her 17 year old drop out of school to knit jumpers for elephants is absolutely the correct parenting choice no matter how much it angers AJ. On the other hand, Tina’s refusal to let AJ make choices of less long-term consequence and especially in regards to AJ’s personal identity is absolutely a negative that the film highlights. Tina is trying her best, but so is AJ. Both characters suffer from their inability to listen to the other. Which is pretty relatable to a lot of real teens’ experience with their parents.

AJ’s relationship with her sexuality is interesting. She’s out as a lesbian to her mother and her mother is at least hypothetically supportive. The striking point for both characters is the fact that AJ can only be described as a baby butch. It’s a really interesting and modern focus for this character to not feel held back by her actual sexual preference but in her lack of feminine presentation. Her mother refuses to call AJ by her chosen name and continues to suggest she dress more feminine despite AJ’s discomfort. Sweetheart shows how having choice in physical presentation can matter as much as who someone is actually dating. Especially for younger people who might not have the opportunity to date, their presentation via clothing and makeup (or lack thereof) is tied heavily to their sense of self.

Of course, AJ gets to affirm her sexuality in more than just clothing. She gets to meet Isla, who is a consummate secondary interest of a character. Isla lacks a level of personal motivation and individual characterization pretty common in cinematic love interests. She is there to look pretty and flirt with the lead character. Even when the lead character is awful and in her own words doesn’t understand why Isla is interested in her. There is a disappointing lack of depth to Isla, but she is supposed to represent something more than be her own character. Isla’s presence certainly helps AJ grow. AJ has a serious downturn in teen angst and unpleasantness once she accepts herself and experiences a positive gay experience.

What does make me laugh is the aftermath. AJ and Isla have sex. They have a good time and it helps AJ confirm her own identity and feel joy in it. After this, AJ is much more polite to her family and reconciles with her mother. I get this this was an overall growth thing but it definitely reads a bit like AJ had sex and that made her problems and teen angst vanish. Nothing like a good spot of lesbian sex to make you less resentful of your mother.

Sweetheart’s flaw is that it is in a competitive category of WLW films. While Sweetheart is a good teen summer romance film, it’s not one of the greats. Still, the film is a relatable portrait of awkward teen youth. It offers sympathy for most of its characters and a hopeful ending for its angsty, defensive, “problem” teen.

Overall rating: 6.4/10

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