Odd Girl Out

I'm a man. Previously a boy.

Except for certain advances in communications technology made since 1982, I had basically the exact same experience as the girl in the movie (with all the genders reversed, of course).

For people who have been through an experience as vindictive, drawn-out, thorough, and unrelenting as the experience suffered by the girl in the movie, this will be a movie-watching experience both very painful and very valuable.

Perhaps even more so for those of us who didn't have a parent as ideal and understanding as the one in the film. But, for the purposes of the film and its messages, that character is well-designed and serves many useful purposes.

This film covers a lot of bases in a lot of ways. It's an impressive accomplishment, seeing as it's impossible to really do justice to the subject matter in the space of a standard film. Very, very impressive.

I like hard-hitting, gritty dramas like Requiem For A Dream, Bad Lieutenant, and that sort of thing (also, harsh black comedies like Shallow Grave, Bitter Moon, etc.). This film hit me harder than any of those.

Girls can be as visibly and simply and physically violent as the stereotypical boys (e.g., the tormentors and killers of Reena Virk in British Columbia, Canada). And boys can be as invisibly and complexly and non-physically violent as the stereotypical girls.

It's not a simple world out there. And it has a lot of barbarians in it. Male and female. And they don't all fit within the usual gender roles.

There are plenty of masculine, heterosexual evil boys who behave like evil girls -- because they know it's tougher to get caught that way and that the damage done is deeper; in other words, the smarter ones use more complex and indirect methods. And everyone is far less aware of them than the big, dumb, loud, physically-violent ones -- indeed they likely never get caught because their male victims wouldn't be manly/masculine/tough/cool/honourable/etc. if they were to complain about it or admit to being bothered by it or to cry about it, would they? Just show me all the girls who lust after and fall in love with men who cry about getting bullied. Oh, that's right, there aren't any -- they're too busy fawning over the thoughtful, intelligent, emotionally-literate, understanding Alpha-male goons who are beating those other guys up. Sorry, I forgot.

It's frequently unlike the stereotype of "boy beats guy up, and it's over -- simple." And in those cases, it's particularly damaging when you've been socialized into the idiotic philistine social orthodoxy of boys not being allowed to cry, and boys have to keep a stiff upper lip and hide and suppress their feelings.

Anyway.... the film accomplishes its goals and its messages beautifully. 9-outta-10.

I usually have much fun in deriding all of the bad Lifetime movies that my wife watches all the time. I caught this one about 15 minutes in, and kept watching too. It was pretty good. The acting is decent, and the director and writer do a good job of spacing out and escalating the bullying that the girl endures. I thought it was also good how the main character, as she keeps getting bullied, continues to try to find a way back into her crowd. Because, it's realistic. People put up with all kinds of crap to get accepted into a clique. And, the mom's performance was solid too, realizing too late but trying everything she could be figure out why her daughter was getting more and more upset. Good flick. I'd watch it again.

The very overrated 2004 flick "Mean Girls" was praised by critics for its "biting" and "accurate" portrayal of clique-y high school girls. Please, "Mean Girls" is so tame, so glossy it should have been called "'Valley Girl' with PMS". Just a year after "Mean Girls"'s release, Lifetime released "Odd Girl Out", a terrifying tragic tale of adolescent cruelty. Based on Rachel Simmons's nonfiction book of the same name, "Odd Girl Out" is a stylized but painfully realistic look at how teenage girls will attack each other not with four-letter words or fists, but with rumors, dirty looks, and any form of underhanded bullying. "Odd Girl Out" reveals the 21st century's newest form of torment: cyber-bullying.

Our protagonist Vanessa (Alexa Vega, "Spy Kids") is an A-student comfortably situated in her popular clique of friends. When fair weather friend Niki (played by appropriately unattractive Elizabeth Rice) becomes jealous of Vanessa's social standing, she decides to take her down a peg by turning Vanessa's shallow best friend Stacy (Leah Pipes) against her and spreading hateful rumors and gossip. Gossip turns into thinly veiled insults ("That tray looks really heavy," one girl sneers at Vanessa during lunch), which in turn become relentless abuse (a web site dedicated to insulting Vanessa is put up). Vanessa tries her best to ignore this undeserved mistreatment, but the emotional pain becomes too much for her to bear. Vanessa's self-esteem and life begin to crumble, and her mother (Lisa Vidal) desperately struggles to help her anguished daughter.

As someone who was picked on (albeit not as badly) in middle school, I must say this movie is right on the mark. This is really how middle school girls behave: they'll simply choose their victim and attack at random. No rhyme, no reason, they are driven by their own self-absorption and insecurities. I'll admit it, "Odd Girl Out" made me cry for myself, for poor Vanessa, and anyone else who was victimized at that age. Vega is astonishingly good as Vanessa, who is forced to go through pure hell scene after scene. You really see the desperation and loneliness reflected in her sad brown eyes. Vidal is also in fine form as Vanessa's loving but somewhat clueless mom. Rice, Pipes, and Alecia Moore are realistic as the pack of former friends who torture Vanessa.

Some people complain that "Odd Girl Out" plays too much like a horror movie. Anyone who agrees with that sentiment obviously never attended public middle school.

Superior made-for-TV effort. The director, an experienced horror flick maker, has a field day playing with the evil that is produced from warehousing many unwanted kids in government run schools. There is haunting music, harsh lighting and sinister dark shadows in most every school scene. The actors all play their parts well. The drama and emotions are driven far beyond the limits of most TV movies. I watched this film with a young adult who was recently teased and shunned by her group of friends. Wow, did ODD GIRL OUT ever hit a raw nerve with her, and judging from comments posted by other viewers, it has the power to expose deep hurts in many other viewers as well.

Along with the art and drama, there are many super-nice female forms to appreciate. Excellent job LIFETIME Channel!

If you like would like to see a version of "Mean Girls" without the Comedy and with lots of drama this is your movie. I don't think I have seen a better movie that showed the real side of high school pressure. The movie actually shows what can really happen and how best friends aren't always forever, especially in a "popular crowd" because really its out to get to you. The movies by far one of my favorite movies and made me think if that would ever happened to me , what would I do? I liked how the movie made Vanessa get sucked back into the friendship with Stacey but in the end have the pressure let lose and bring it all on Stacey and show how ugly she was inside and how fake she was. This is a great movie to show to people about what peer pressuring could do to you and how effects your lifestyle. But I warn you when you watch the movie ... have a box of Kleenex because I surely needed it .