The Tale
Every now and then, Tiktok is taken over by a “collective outburst” where everyone is watching and talking about the same thing. Many of these times, the main topic is movies or series.
I don’t really trust the recommendations of people who, during the past year, treated “Megan is Missing” as a horror masterpiece, while the film didn’t have much to offer us.
However, feeding my own blatant hypocrisy, last week I decided to give a chance to two recommendations that appeared in my for you.
Both works address the same subject, a subject that is already heavy in itself and requires delicacy and the right perspective to be portrayed.
While watching the first film, I made the decision not to mention the name, nor to do any kind of “advertising”, because, in addition to it being a very uncomfortable experience, I believe that there is a correct way to portray themes such as sexual abuse and pedophilia. And, of course, a scene of almost 5 minutes of an underage girl being abused multiple times explicitly.
Therefore, I decided to focus only on the second film, “The Tale”, released in 2018.
Directed by Jennifer Fox, the film is based on her own story. The director, played here by actress Laura Dern, goes through a journey of discovery and deals with the resurfacing of memories after her mother finds a story in which she tells about her first relationship.
What was just an innocent story for Jennifer soon begins to gain a deeper layer, as the character realizes that in reality she was being manipulated by two adults when she was only 13 years old.
As the main character begins to investigate her past, we embark with her on a mix of confusing memories and see the world through her eyes. Here we see the world from the perspective of a child neglected by her parents, being welcomed by a woman she considered beautiful and stunning.
Little by little, we see how the couple built this world where she was trustworthy, mature, and too adult for her age.
Two adults twice, perhaps three times, her age become her confidants. Through letters, she vents about how much she hates her family, and they exchange poems and more details about each other’s personal lives.
In her parents’ lack of love, we see little Jenny growing increasingly attached to Mrs. G and her boyfriend Bill. Through small acts such as Mrs. G pushing on her the responsibility of deciding whether or not to tell her parents that she visited Bill at his house, we can see how they manipulate her and insert her into a narrative where she can make her own decisions.
Unfortunately, halfway through the film, “The Tale” makes the same mistake as many films on this subject.
For me, as a viewer, I can’t see the need for scenes with such a sensitive topic to have more explicit scenes. Even though things here are not shown with such fidelity and violence, it is still an inconvenience that can be avoided.
I understand that the directors want to shock viewers, but I believe that the story itself is already shocking enough.
Some dialogues between Jennifer and her mother, played by actress Ellen Burstyn, also cause a certain discomfort. The mother, who at the same time blames herself, also questions her daughter if she liked what was happening to her.
Jennifer’s understanding is slow, she doesn’t like it when someone calls her a victim or openly says that Bill abused her, she becomes defensive and says that they actually had a “relationship”.
As memories come together, details that go unnoticed are added later. In this way, our journey happens together with Jenny’s.
Painfully, we walk towards an unimaginable end. Jenny wants to face her greatest enemy, she wants to look him in the eye, to close this chapter as much as we do, to feel that justice has been served in some way.
However, justice does not always come to everyone.
In Conclusion
Jennifer Fox tells us her story through letters, a short story, and memories. She exposes an event that changed her life and completely affected her path.
We, as spectators, spend the film rooting for justice, wanting something to be done against someone who abused not just one, but multiple underage girls.
The bitter taste comes to our mouths when we remember that not every story has a happy ending. As bittersweet as reality, Bill did not suffer the consequences of his actions; on the contrary, he lived his life being acclaimed and awarded.
The coach accused by Fox died in 2021, at the age of 88. Two years after his death, an investigation was opened to verify cases of abuse involving his name. As of the date of publication, there is no information about other victims.
For now, I may avoid Tiktok recommendations, but as I said above, sometimes hypocrisy wins.
In Brazil, the film “The Tale” can be accessed on the HBO Max streaming platform.
