'Megan is Missing' is not a feel-good movie. Which is quite an understatement. And that is exactly how it's meant to be. It is meant to shock; but not simply for the shock value in the way horror movies like Hostel are made. The genre of torture-porn wants you to feel bad for entertainment reasons, even though many will disagree with me, the avid horror-fan knows exactly what I mean. The difference between a feel-bad movie like 'Megan' and torture-porn, is that 'Megan' wants you to feel bad so to give you a message. And to do so, it uses the grim reality that many people like to deny.
When many people look at their teenager, they like to see them as if they are still innocent kids. At one point in the movie, Amy has a conversation with her dad telling him: "I liked that when I was like ten dad, I'm not a child anymore." The father reacts: "Please do not grow up too fast Amy.." In the scene of the party that follows, we see those seemingly innocent kids getting drunk, taking drugs, having sex. Now I am not saying that every party your kid is going to will have these excesses, but I do know one thing, when I was that age (which is about 26 years ago), we were no innocent kids either. Let's face it, as soon as hormones kick in at either gender, your child changes to an adolescent and one thing that comes with adolescence is the wish to experiment and discover. We should never underestimate that. Experimenting and discovering (to a certain level) is not necessarily a bad and unhealthy thing, it is a part of growing up. But there are dangers which we, adults, smell from a huge distance, and those kids do not.
And therein lies the problem, these kids are still far too young and unexperienced to understand what the reality of this world is, what the risks and consequences of their own behavior are. Their body is developing, their brain is still not capable of smelling the real dangers of society. They think they know it all (didn't we all think that at that age?), but they are still incredibly naive. An other problem that especially girls have is that they are often far too sweet. They feel sorry if they give no as an answer to a guy who is pressuring them into something they don't really want to do. At the same time; many girls are looking for someone who 'loves' them. Who compliments them, who gives them the feeling that they are special. That combination is a very risky one.
I wish it wasn't reality; but unfortunately the very ugly truth is that there are many predators walking around on this planet who prey on children and teenagers. 'Back in the old days', the pre-computer age, those predators had to walk the streets to find your (teenage) child. But since there is the world-wide-web, they can hide into perfect anonymity and lure your child towards them, without their victim even knowing how they look like.
Back to the movie. Megan and Amy are such adolescent girls. They are beautiful and naive, the perfect prey. Megan is more naive than Amy, because she has a troubled past her need to find 'someone who loves her' is bigger. She has experienced more, but thinking that she knows it all, she doesn't understand that she is not invincible. Amy is the more sensible of the two, even though that makes her 'boring and unpopular' to the popular kids at school. When Megan finds this 'nice guy' online, everything goes wrong.
Personally, I think the actresses did a good job. To me they were totally believable in their role as teenagers. The script has its flaws but is well-enough written, with the director using real chat-conversations between teenagers to show the reality we are dealing with. The story is composed of seven real cases. Now; about the last 22 minutes. Yes, they are shocking. They will make your stomach turn. They will make you want to fast-forward, or turn the bloody TV off. Some scenes are done in real-time, so the viewer experiences the horror the victim has to go through. It is not polished, or brushed up, what we get to see is a very grim picture of something that has been reality for quite some victims. And that is where the strength is of this movie. Yes; it is sick. Yes, we are looking at torture and it is a torture to watch. No, it is not torture-porn. It is a message, and a warning, and a glimpse into a reality which you don't want your child to EVER experience. Some horror fans complained that 'it wasn't shocking enough'. But beware; the director is walking a fine line between making a strong imprint and falling into the torture-porn category.
This movie shows you the importance of educating your children against such predators. We can't stop them from experimenting and we can't stop them from developing a life of their own. But we can, and have to, provide them with the necessary tools and mental weapons so they do not fall into such a trap. Don't be naive, like your teenagers are. Do not deny the temptations they have, or the fact that they are growing up. You don't have to take away their freedom and their ways of communication, we do not have to put them in a cage to protect them. Instead, we should make sure that these kids know what the dangers are, that they learn to think for themselves, are able to say no, and are armed with knowledge so they don't fall for predators like Josh.
Go to the website of the movie: http://www.meganismissing.com/ to read statements of both the director and the father of murdered Polly Klaas.
When many people look at their teenager, they like to see them as if they are still innocent kids. At one point in the movie, Amy has a conversation with her dad telling him: "I liked that when I was like ten dad, I'm not a child anymore." The father reacts: "Please do not grow up too fast Amy.." In the scene of the party that follows, we see those seemingly innocent kids getting drunk, taking drugs, having sex. Now I am not saying that every party your kid is going to will have these excesses, but I do know one thing, when I was that age (which is about 26 years ago), we were no innocent kids either. Let's face it, as soon as hormones kick in at either gender, your child changes to an adolescent and one thing that comes with adolescence is the wish to experiment and discover. We should never underestimate that. Experimenting and discovering (to a certain level) is not necessarily a bad and unhealthy thing, it is a part of growing up. But there are dangers which we, adults, smell from a huge distance, and those kids do not.
And therein lies the problem, these kids are still far too young and unexperienced to understand what the reality of this world is, what the risks and consequences of their own behavior are. Their body is developing, their brain is still not capable of smelling the real dangers of society. They think they know it all (didn't we all think that at that age?), but they are still incredibly naive. An other problem that especially girls have is that they are often far too sweet. They feel sorry if they give no as an answer to a guy who is pressuring them into something they don't really want to do. At the same time; many girls are looking for someone who 'loves' them. Who compliments them, who gives them the feeling that they are special. That combination is a very risky one.
I wish it wasn't reality; but unfortunately the very ugly truth is that there are many predators walking around on this planet who prey on children and teenagers. 'Back in the old days', the pre-computer age, those predators had to walk the streets to find your (teenage) child. But since there is the world-wide-web, they can hide into perfect anonymity and lure your child towards them, without their victim even knowing how they look like.
Back to the movie. Megan and Amy are such adolescent girls. They are beautiful and naive, the perfect prey. Megan is more naive than Amy, because she has a troubled past her need to find 'someone who loves her' is bigger. She has experienced more, but thinking that she knows it all, she doesn't understand that she is not invincible. Amy is the more sensible of the two, even though that makes her 'boring and unpopular' to the popular kids at school. When Megan finds this 'nice guy' online, everything goes wrong.
Personally, I think the actresses did a good job. To me they were totally believable in their role as teenagers. The script has its flaws but is well-enough written, with the director using real chat-conversations between teenagers to show the reality we are dealing with. The story is composed of seven real cases. Now; about the last 22 minutes. Yes, they are shocking. They will make your stomach turn. They will make you want to fast-forward, or turn the bloody TV off. Some scenes are done in real-time, so the viewer experiences the horror the victim has to go through. It is not polished, or brushed up, what we get to see is a very grim picture of something that has been reality for quite some victims. And that is where the strength is of this movie. Yes; it is sick. Yes, we are looking at torture and it is a torture to watch. No, it is not torture-porn. It is a message, and a warning, and a glimpse into a reality which you don't want your child to EVER experience. Some horror fans complained that 'it wasn't shocking enough'. But beware; the director is walking a fine line between making a strong imprint and falling into the torture-porn category.
This movie shows you the importance of educating your children against such predators. We can't stop them from experimenting and we can't stop them from developing a life of their own. But we can, and have to, provide them with the necessary tools and mental weapons so they do not fall into such a trap. Don't be naive, like your teenagers are. Do not deny the temptations they have, or the fact that they are growing up. You don't have to take away their freedom and their ways of communication, we do not have to put them in a cage to protect them. Instead, we should make sure that these kids know what the dangers are, that they learn to think for themselves, are able to say no, and are armed with knowledge so they don't fall for predators like Josh.
Go to the website of the movie: http://www.meganismissing.com/ to read statements of both the director and the father of murdered Polly Klaas.