This movie has been extremely buzz-y and that can be a good/bad thing. It’s a movie you’ve heard a lot about before you go into it. I avoided reviews and think-pieces (it’s already generated a few: and, side note, can we please stop with “think-piece”? How about good old-fashioned “essay”? I am as guilty as anyone for submitting to the over-complicated word-trend. I hereby declare NO MORE.) There will definitely be a controversial reaction to the film (or, it’s already happening) due to the May-December – so May-December that it’s ILLEGAL – romance.
Is art required to provide moral conclusions? Should art point downwards at certain behavior with a neon sign saying, “This is bad? Don’t do this?”
Exhibits A and B: my thoughts on Wolf of Wall Street and Observe and Report: both films aroused similar brands of controversy as Diary already has.
I go into all of that in my review of Diary of a Teenage Girl over at Rogerebert.com.
