Being a tall girl can be very complicated. People often imagine glamourous models with loads of poise and endless legs. Or star athletes whose extreme heights work out awfully well in their favor. For most of us however the reality is a lot less photoshoots and slam dunks and more like gawky limbs and slouching stances.
Tall Girl premiered on Netflix on September 13th, and when I saw the trailer I was elated. At 5'10", I've suffered through being in the 99th percentile for height for most of my life. This movie was a chance to represent girls just like me; what could go wrong? Internet trolls, that's what.
Shortly after the trailer aired, I saw people on twitter picking it apart, attacking everything they could find wrong about it. Some related to being tall and said it was unrealistic, that they didn't get made fun of or felt different at all. Others pointed out that other people have it way worse in high school, such as those judged unfairly due to race, religion, sexual orientation, etc. They bring up a valid argument, since minorities aren't seen nearly as often in romantic comedies, especially for teenagers.
However, why can't girls who are vertically inclined get this one movie for them? We grow up in a society that still holds on to some of the outdated values of the past about gender. Boys are supposed to be big and strong, while girls small and demure. This is nowhere close to the truth, where anyone can be and look like whatever they want and be the right definition of themselves, but those old ideas still linger, especially over the heads of young, tall girls.
Watching the movie, I immediately could relate to the 6'1" protagonist who did anything she could to not stick out more than she already had to. That was a big aspect of my own life around middle school age when I still seemed to tower over all my peers. Was the teasing maybe exaggerated to move the storyline along more and to obviously prove a point? Sure, but do you think that bullying like that doesn't happen at all?
Things like that really get into a young girl's head. They think everyone's constantly watching and judging their every move, especially when their moves are magnified by their long limbs. At one point, being tall was the only thing people described me as, and I used to define myself as the "tall girl", just like the main character Jodi did. She learned by the end of the film that she is so much more than just that one physical trait and also that it didn't matter if her dream guy's taller than her.
I know that might seem like a simple understanding, but society drills into your head from a young age what you should look like. Actresses in movies and T.V. shows are rarely taller than their romantic partners. Models might be seen as dream girls that everyone wants or aspires to be like, but a girl like me with broad shoulders and thick thighs, just isn't the same as a model, even if I share the same height.
This movie may not be revolutionary at breaking down the discrimination faced by so many kids in school today, but it's still a fantastic story of body positivity and self esteem that we never really see in film. Young girls of all heights and sizes can watch this film and take away a valuable life lesson that could really make a difference in how they see themselves, regardless of how others see them. If awkward 5'6" 11 year old me had this movie to watch, maybe it wouldn't have taken me as long to stand tall and see my height making me stand out as a beautiful blessing and not a miserable curse.