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A review by morgans_lit_life
Girl on Film by Cecil Castellucci, Jon Berg, V. Gagnon, Vicky Leta, Melissa Duffy
3.0
First off: finally a graphic novel that isn’t sci-fi, social issues, or superheroes! (I am now referring to these as the 3 S's of graphic novels because that's all there ever seem to be anymore.) I don’t see enough graphic novels in adult literature. And it’s more suited for graphics, I think, because of the lack of a real storyline.
Some edits for my original review: it's not a terribly unique tale, and I'm not sure a nobody (read: someone who isn't an author, band member, or other successful "artist") could have reason to publish this or have an audience) so I recently dropped my rating to 3 stars. I think I enjoyed it more at first because I was so excited to finally be reading a graphic adventure.
Still, it has some interesting points. One might not expect a story about a journey into filmmaking to be a rip-roaring adventure. Especially because this book is much more about art itself than filmmaking--don't pick this up if you're hoping for an exploration of film culture. It’s just an enjoyable collection of moments of one woman’s journey to wanting to attend film school, to applying, to exploring new avenues and even dealing with normal things like wanting your parents to be proud, the status quo, and dealing with crushes. I also liked how we’d get to know a character and learn later that they were famous or knew someone famous. That was fun---though my opinion of some people dropped after reading this! I also didn't mind her declarations of wanting to make award-winning films like some people did. Aren't many of us like that at a young age?
Flash-forwards of Cecil writing her memoir balance out the art talk with science and ideas on how our memories shape ourselves and how we shape our memories. It was an interesting concept, but I’m not entirely sure how the memory information was supposed to connect to the themes of the book. I think it was trying to relate the idea of memories to our lives and our art, but this isn’t really stated. It's also possible that she included it as a way of talking about her memoir writing process. But I'm not reading a memoir to hear about the memoir writing process--that defeats the point. I'm reading it to hear your story. I feel like the "flash forwards" showing the writing process are overdone in these types of books and can be distracting.
The art style was enjoyable of course. Mainly. I loved the use of panels in historical flashbacks and at key moments. The one thing that was hard to get past was Cecil’s design. Several different illustrators collaborated on this project, but nobody could make her look good. In some scenes she looks far too old for her age; in others she looks like a dude. I got edgy Prince Eric vibes from one artist in particular. I don’t know why she looks so bizarre when everyone else largely looks fine.
Girl on Film is a book that reveals how even if you don’t end up on the path you wanted, your choices can end up taking you somewhere else wonderful. I mean, it's not unique. But if you want a take on finding your path and being an artist, or want some light artsy fare, you might like this.
Some edits for my original review: it's not a terribly unique tale, and I'm not sure a nobody (read: someone who isn't an author, band member, or other successful "artist") could have reason to publish this or have an audience) so I recently dropped my rating to 3 stars. I think I enjoyed it more at first because I was so excited to finally be reading a graphic adventure.
Still, it has some interesting points. One might not expect a story about a journey into filmmaking to be a rip-roaring adventure. Especially because this book is much more about art itself than filmmaking--don't pick this up if you're hoping for an exploration of film culture. It’s just an enjoyable collection of moments of one woman’s journey to wanting to attend film school, to applying, to exploring new avenues and even dealing with normal things like wanting your parents to be proud, the status quo, and dealing with crushes. I also liked how we’d get to know a character and learn later that they were famous or knew someone famous. That was fun---though my opinion of some people dropped after reading this! I also didn't mind her declarations of wanting to make award-winning films like some people did. Aren't many of us like that at a young age?
Flash-forwards of Cecil writing her memoir balance out the art talk with science and ideas on how our memories shape ourselves and how we shape our memories. It was an interesting concept, but I’m not entirely sure how the memory information was supposed to connect to the themes of the book. I think it was trying to relate the idea of memories to our lives and our art, but this isn’t really stated. It's also possible that she included it as a way of talking about her memoir writing process. But I'm not reading a memoir to hear about the memoir writing process--that defeats the point. I'm reading it to hear your story. I feel like the "flash forwards" showing the writing process are overdone in these types of books and can be distracting.
The art style was enjoyable of course. Mainly. I loved the use of panels in historical flashbacks and at key moments. The one thing that was hard to get past was Cecil’s design. Several different illustrators collaborated on this project, but nobody could make her look good. In some scenes she looks far too old for her age; in others she looks like a dude. I got edgy Prince Eric vibes from one artist in particular. I don’t know why she looks so bizarre when everyone else largely looks fine.
Girl on Film is a book that reveals how even if you don’t end up on the path you wanted, your choices can end up taking you somewhere else wonderful. I mean, it's not unique. But if you want a take on finding your path and being an artist, or want some light artsy fare, you might like this.