I recently watched the new Netflix Original movie called Tall Girl. Tall Girl is about a teenage girl named Jodi (Ava Michelle) who is 6 feet and 1 inch and is bullied for being tall. Overall, I liked the movie, there are just some things that I didn’t like. I was confused as to why Jodi was bullied just for being tall. I find the movie to be kind of sexist because if she were a tall guy in the movie she wouldn’t be picked on, and they show that in the movie when a new guy comes to their school who is taller than Jodi. There is a new foreign exchange student named Stig who goes to their school and he is not picked on for being tall, even though he is taller than the “tall girl” Jodi. Instead of being picked on like Jodi, Stig is very popular for being tall and handsome. If this was real life and not a movie then I would imagine that a girl as tall as Jodi would be the bully instead of getting bullied.
This movie shows the stereotype that women should be short and men should be tall. I imagine that if Jodi was short, then she wouldn’t be picked on, but if there was an unusually short boy in their school, he would probably be picked on. I don’t understand why Jodi doesn’t fight back for being picked on or at least stand up for herself. When someone comes up to her and says, “How’s the weather up there?” She should turn around and say, “Say that again or I’ll step on you!” Or something like that.
Another thing I don’t like about the movie is how fake Stig’s “Swedish” accent is. If they wanted to include a Swedish exchange student in the movie then they should have used a real guy from Sweden instead of an American with a fake Swedish accent. The actor who plays Stig is Luke Eisner and he is from Wisconsin. To be honest, they didn’t even need a foreign exchange student in the movie. Luke Eisner could have just played a new student at their school who is American.
I was confused as to why Jodi was the only one in her family who was tall. Why weren’t either of her parents tall, if it runs in her family? I guess the tall gene skips a generation. Also why was her father so concerned that she was growing so tall? When Jodi was a little girl her father asks Jodi’s doctor if she should take the hormone Diethylstilbestrol, a hormone that stunts growth for young girls. Later on in the movie, her dad asks her if she is feeling okay, and is concerned if she has any major health problems. He tells her a story about a tall woman who developed Gastroparesis when she was in college and she died.
Overall, I kind of liked the movie. I liked how Jodi’s big sister Harper (Sabrina Carpenter) was so supportive of her sister and always wanted to be there for her when she needed her. I liked that despite the fact that Jodi was so tall, her best friend Jack (Griffin Gluck) still had a crush on her since they were kids. I liked that her other best friend, Fareeda was always standing up for her and there to support her. Overall, I think the movie was good, I liked the actors, and the characters, there were just some things that I didn’t understand about the movie. If I had to rate this movie I would give it 3 out 5 stars.