(**1/2)
Can a debutante ball, an old fashion rites-of-passage for young women, make the transition to the 21stcentury—and be relevant? Yes and no.
The organizers of a one-year-long leadership program in Canton, Ohio are training Black female teens to adapt to their preconceived—sometimes archaic—notion of what womanhood should be. They have good intentions and dubious reasons for their quest. Says one organizer, “I want people to know that we can be as successful as anybody else.” Are we still trying to convince the dominate culture that we are worthy? Or are other people’s perceptions of Black people finally irrelevant?
As the footage shows teens preparing for the real world, from academics and careers to relationships and starting families, it’s enheartening to watch. Like sports or an afterschool club, the process lets these girls bond, gives them an extended family, a support system and a source of constant encouragement. They’ve got to keep good grades and follow rules to continue, which are boundaries that help them stay focused.
However, the expectations for any educational/developmental endeavor these days is that it be inclusive. Not elitist. Yet teenage moms can’t participate. That kind of scarlet-letter shaming is outdated. Also, no accommodations are made for girls who might not be comfortable with male escorts or male father figures at the debutante ball. Anyone who is non-binary or a lesbian has no path forward in this program unless they pretend to be who they aren’t. If whites, back in the day, didn’t let Blacks participate in their cotillions, why are these organizers being discriminatory too? History has taught us about the evils of injustice. Why repeat it?
Director Contessa Gayles isn’t afraid to share the good and the bad. The progressive and regressive aspects employed by organizers Dr. Nikki Bush and Dr. Jennifer Ross. On the one hand, this isn’t your granny’s cotillion. Lessons on sex education and birth control are commendably graphic and realistic. And watching three students (Amelia, Dedra, and Taylor) become more educated and mature is inspiring. On the other hand, why can’t the woman who raised you, when your mom and dad were absent and helped you become a fine person, participate in the cotillion on the most highly visible and honored level? If she be can’t an escort or the father figure who dances with a daughter because of old rules, change the rules. Also, telling girls “the man must lead” and teaching them “tearoom” etiquette isn’t all that pertinent these days.
This doc feels best when viewers see young girls triumph. It’s harder to watch when it marginalizes people in its own Canton community. There are moments in the beginning when you think this will be an emotional breakthrough documentary like Daughters. That sensitive doc humanized the incarcerated and their need to be reconnected with their families. The Debutantes doesn’t reach that greatness.
Some audiences will be glad elders are encouraging and preparing high school girls to conquer the world. Some audiences will wish these mentors had adapted better to modern times. Wisely, the director Contessa Gayles lets the audience be the judge.
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