Age is an important factor when watching the new film The Runaways.
If you are a teen, you might be excited to see Dakota Fanning and the ubiquitous Kristen Stewart, the heroine Bella from the Twilight saga, sharing the screen again; their pairing almost feels like a teaser for the upcoming third film, Eclipse.
If you are middle-aged or older, you might remember the all-girl band as something that happened post-Elvis, post-Beatles, when macho male rock groups like Led Zepplin, Kiss, and others ruled the hard-rock charts.
If you are my age (late 30′s), you might see this film as a tribute to the beginning of girl power, when women could fight the proverbial glass ceiling and sometimes win. The Runaways focuses on the band of the same name, the life-long dream of rocker Joan Jett. We get to see her as an angsty high schooler who longs to sing real songs, use an amplifier, and best of all, play electric guitar. When her tutor–a middle-aged teacher who treats her as an invisible paycheck–declares that “girls don’t play electric guitar,” it’s easy to root for her and admire her determination as she practices in her bathroom by herself, the only space she can call her own.
I remember The Runaways only because I love Joan Jett; in a time when everyone bought cassettes of Def Leppard, Lynard Skynard, and Whitesnake, I stumbled across Joan Jett and the Blackhearts by accident. A girl singing rock music? Playing her own guitar? Really? During this time frame in the mid-eighties, girls were pretty video decorations wearing skimpy clothes and lip synching to sexy songs by the aforementioned testosterone-ladened bands. I found very little to relate to. In contrast, I was immediately drawn to Joan Jett’s spunk, and thus, I discovered the legend of The Runaways, the almost-famous, almost-first, all-girl band.
This film doesn’t make it all seem like a rosy, “if you dream it, you can do it” path to happiness and sunshine. The girls are exploited by their manager and ignored by their families; they fall into needy relationships, meaningless sex, and addictive drug habits. Their downward spiral shows that success comes more from inner happiness than fame and money. And, in the end, that is the coming of age lesson in this film: to find your path can be painful, but if you keep trying, and learn from your obstacles, you just might get there after all.
This film has cool songs, good acting, and some great retro images of Coke bottles, sparkly outfits, and LP albums. Though the scene might be the 1970′s, the message is relevant and timely–and one that a viewer of any age could find meaningful.
Reviewed by: Dr. Sandra Eckard