I bought some pretzels and hot Cheetos, got out my laptop, and turned on Netflix with every intention of writing an article. The original plan was to write something serious about the new Arkansas law that banned trans health care or how fast fashion can negatively affect our environment and economy. And those articles are still coming and in the works, I just couldn’t get the movie Moxie out of my head. Yes, I made the dumb (but also wonderful) decision to turn on this badass feminist movie while trying to “get things done”. But sure enough, I shut my laptop before I got as far as fifteen minutes into the movie, totally engrossed.
If you don’t know what Moxie is, it’s based on a book written by Jennifer Mathieu. The plot is based around a 16-year-old girl, Vivian, who is inspired by her mother’s rebellious teenage years to start a revolution in her school. Without anyone knowing it’s her, Vivian creates a zine called “Moxie”, asking girls to draw stars and hearts on their hands, wear tank tops, and perform an all-school walk-out in support of women. Sexism, although the main issue tackled in the movie, is still only one issue. Vivian's mother mentions intersectionality and this eventually leads to the movie hinting at racial injustice, disability struggles, transgender issues and pronouns, and rape culture.
If you haven’t seen this movie, I urge you to go watch it on Netflix! It’s brilliant and incredibly inspiring! It had me opening up my laptop in almost no time. But from this point forward, the article will be filled with spoilers. Once you get the time to watch and finish the movie, I’d love for you to come back and read the rest of this article so we can create a discussion (possibly in the comment section).
Vivian, who is played by Hadley Robinson, is a surprising character. I’ve never read the book but by reading the synopsis I would’ve guessed that she was more extroverted than she was portrayed. At the beginning of the movie, when we see her become more fascinated with the feminist movement, she is visibly angry. I loved everything about this. I shouted at my TV, “Get angry! Yeah, be angry!” That strong sense of feeling is what fuels a lot of feminists today because we have to deal with so much shit. We’re even seen as unreasonable, destructive, and obnoxious. I appreciated that this movie showcased that being angry — unreasonable, destructive, and obnoxious — is the only way for women’s voices to be heard.
I appreciated Lucy, who is portrayed by Alycia Pascual. Her character brought this movie to life and almost everything that she said was followed by a “PERIOD!” from me. The very second she said “I was talking” to Mitchell after he interrupted, I punched the air. Major Kamala Harris energy for me. And the fact that Lucy is a Black girl and created a rise from Vivian had me cheering at ten o’clock at night. The power that this girl held was beautiful, inspiring, and even a little intimidating. From telling off Mitchell to questioning authority to encouraging a feminist movement in her new school (yes, she’s the new kid!), I stood with her throughout the entire movie.
Now, I hate to talk about him because his character was truly the worst, but Mitchell is the definition of the kind of guys we have in mind when we say “I hate men”. He can’t keep his hands to himself, he gets incredibly close when talking to girls, uses his white male privilege to his advantage, and fear-mongers. I know that Patrick Schwarzenegger who plays Mitchell in Moxie is probably nothing like his character, but I have to admit that his face became very punch-able barely five minutes into the movie. When he talked during the morning announcements and claimed that Moxie was bullying them and creating fear in his classmates, I legitimately wanted to throw my brand new phone at the TV. Bullying? Spreading propaganda? And this is coming from someone who sexually abused his girlfriend and continued to visually sexually assault girls at his school.
Now I really wanted to talk about Seth (Nico Hiraga) and Mr. Davies (Ike Baranholtz). Kings. They are kings! My brain nearly exploded when the camera shot Seth’s hand that had stars and hearts on it and then it panned out to reveal that it really was him! I screamed! When I said that feminist boys are hot, I meant that. Seth is so caring, understanding, and careful. When he asked Vivian if he could put some of the zines in the boys’ bathrooms I instantly fell in love with him. And on top of that, he wore a tank top and participated in the walk-out in solidarity with women. Now that is boyfriend material if I do say so myself. Next, Mr. Davies. He was a confusing character at first. Teachers, by law, are supposed to be neutral when it comes to controversial topics such as feminism. Mr. Davies had difficulty choosing where he stood at the beginning but by the end, we all fell in love with him. You can tell he’s the cool teacher. Because he doesn’t want to get fired, he warns the students that walk-outs can lead to suspension and expulsion, but when he lifts his hands upon saying “It’s your funeral”, we can see that he has a heart on one and a star on another. Mr. Davies was an ally all along! Did I scream at that part? Yes, yes I did. Although treating women with kindness, decency, and respect is literally the bare minimum, I can always appreciate a man who does the work and supports the feminist movement.
I mentioned before that the basis of the movie is about sexism, which is showcased in a scene where a girl is sent home because she was wearing a tank top and many other scenes where the soccer girls mention that they win their games whereas the football boys can’t win any of theirs (and the football boys are the ones who get pep rallies). But the movie hints at a lot of other issues that need to be addressed in real life. The movie sheds more light on these issues when Vivian’s mom mentions intersectionality. A trans girl is still struggling with teachers and peers using her dead name (and I’d also like to point out that this trans girl is, in fact, portrayed by a trans woman, Josie Totah)! Racial injustice and other issues involving race and ethnicity is mentioned by Vivian’s best friend, Claudia (who is played by Lauren Tsai), and a group of Black girls: Kiera (Sydney Park), Lucy (Alycia Pascual), and Amaya (Anjelika Washington). I also loved the disability struggles that were portrayed in the movie. They were subtle but powerful. And lastly, rape culture. I knew that Josephine Langford’s character, Emma, was going to be a significant part of the movie but I wasn’t quite sure how. When it was revealed through a letter that a girl was raped, I just knew that it was Emma who wrote it and that Mitchell was who she was talking about. I loved it even more, at the end of the movie, when Emma voiced that it seemed like Moxie was the only one listening, all the girls stepped forward and assured her that they were all listening. Girls supporting girls, that’s what I’m here for.
And the scream at the end. I felt that scream. Deep down inside of me, that was me letting it all out. As feminists who deal with shit on the daily, screaming and throwing the biggest fits is all we want to do. Those screams, whether it was just acting or not, came from a real place. I appreciated that scene more than anyone could ever understand because it alone meant that I wasn’t the only one who felt that way.
Moxie is a beautiful movie with a reasonably diverse cast and amazing actors and actresses. Every issue is presented respectively and intellectually, which I admire. It’s a movie worth watching and obsessing about. It might just be my new favorite.