plug: 20th Century Women (2016)

Mike Mills' film on the beauty and tenderness of growing up on punk music and crushes.

Welcome to today’s plug, a quick recommendation of an oft-forgotten film, cult classic, or movie that is dying to be rewatched // We send plugs every Tuesday + Thursday // 

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The first time I watched Mike Mills’ 20th Century Women, it felt like I was remembering a forgotten dream. The details were fuzzy, the meaning right in front of me yet just out of reach, and the realization that this didn’t actually happen to me despite feeling so real and familiar.

Like Jamie (Lucas Jade Zumann), I grew up an only child to a cool, tough single mother and at age 15 anchored myself with an obsession on punk music and a habit of crushing on female friends. But Mills’ Jamie, an autobiographical stand-in for his own coming-of-age, experienced this in 1979, a time where our country was washing itself of the failed counter-culture revolutions of the ‘60s and readying itself for the age of technology + loneliness.

The fear and anxiety and anger of growing up a sensitive boy during such a turbulent confusing time is reflected in the punk-filled soundtrack with songs from Talking Heads, Black Flag, Germs, Suicide, Buzzcocks, and other influential groups.

The scene of Jamie’s mother, Dorothea (Annette Benning), and her tenant, William (Billy Crudup), listening, and not understanding, Jamie’s punk collection is why we watch movies, folks.

Mills’ cast is otherworldly, particularly Greta Gerwig and Elle Fanning, two of the women who help raise Jamie. They’re tasked with being dreamy objects of affection for Jamie while also being real characters that object to being objects of affection for men and young boys.

20th Century Women is one of my favorite films and I’ve been revisiting it lately, taking particular interest in the soundtrack for a pitch I’m working on. But it’s a gorgeous, satisfying watch at any time of year.

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