An Education... beyond the books

*Spoiler Alert*
I recently encountered a truly unique film that captured the story a young girl’s hard lesson learned. The refreshing twist around her tragedy was that it became a story of empowerment. The film, An Education, takes place during the sixties. This was a time when a woman’s schooling was not of utmost importance. A woman’s education was irrelevant in the larger social order. Where would a woman go after she obtained her degree? A schoolmarm or other neglected female intellect of the time? This was the internal conflict of main character, Jenny. She was a sixteen year old school with a bright future of possibly attending Oxford university. However, in her final year of schooling she met an older gentleman that showed her a side of life she had never seen before. He drove an expensive sports car and traveled to Paris on the weekends. In this entirely different world the food tasted better and the colors were brighter to young Jenny. I watched Jenny go from being a modest school girl to a sexual, worldly young woman. This transformation was not without many social taboos. For example, she left to spend a weekend in Paris with her boyfriend, David, despite being looked down upon and advised very differently by her schoolmarm and teacher. Her internal conflict was brought to a boil when David proposed. She could leave her life of latin and english for a life of love and excitement. Because of the gender inequalities during the 60s she was unsure of her place as an educated female in the future. If she were to marry him she would be taken care always by a successful man. This was very common and sexist notion of her time. Faced with the difficult decision Jenny chose a life with David. Soon after this she discovered the tragedy of her decision. He was married, had a young son, and this was not his first time courting a young girl. Now she had no future. Her schoolmarm would not take her back because of the social taboos she had committed. She had been deflowered and was a high school drop out. However, there is no knowledge without sacrifice. She learned a very humbling lesson, in a very unjust time for women. When all seemed lost, Jenny worked hard, and was able to be accepted into Oxford university and start her life anew. I feel this was a story of empowerment, not failure. It was so beautifully directed. The human aspect was wonderfully conveyed to the audience, and I left the movie with a little more knowledge from Jenny and with gratitude that I was born into a much different society with regards to a woman and her education. However, the issue of gender inequality is still very relevant in the world today, especially in foreign countries like Iran. I will be discussing this in my next blog on A Thousand Splendid Suns.
An Education was not just a story of a young girl trying to find her way in the 60s, but one of changing perceptions and gender roles. Housewives began to leave their homes and school girls began to take control of their own sexuality. Jenny, despite a detrimental mishap, became wise beyond her years.