Girls Unite to Have Their Voices Heard

By: Brooke Price

The cast of “Moxie.” Credit: umlconnector.com

“Moxie” is a film about a girl who gets fed up with the sexism at her school and decides to do something about it. 

After “the list,” which are the rankings of every girl at school, have been released online, made by all of the jocks at school, all of the students find out. The girls are shocked and disgusted and Vivian becomes fed up with it. She later stumbles upon her mother’s past flyers and memorabilia about feminist movements, posing for revolution to take place. 

This leads Vivian to take a stand against the men in her school and lead a feminist club known as “Moxie.” Other girls at the school are also fed up with how the guys treat them and want to have their voices heard.

Vivian learns about how involved her mother was in speaking out about the injustices against women from her past. Her mother was outspoken in discussing feminism and participated in many demonstrations.

Moxie is anonymously run and no one knows who is behind it. Moxie posts magazines about the fact that women are being unfairly treated at the school and seeks to empower women. The magazine also discusses the school’s sexist dress code and gender inequality.

Those who stand with Moxie draw hearts and stars on their hands. Moxie garnered a lot of attention and support from the girls and boys from Vivian’s school.

Vivian is also friends with Claudia, who is introverted as well. However, after Moxie is started, Vivian makes new friends such as Lucy, who is more outspoken about the injustices occurring at the school and wants to take a stand against these issues. Claudia isn’t as outspoken as the girls of Moxie, causing a divide between her and Vivian.

“Moxie” is based on the book by Jennifer Mathieu. In an interview with Novel2Screen, Mathieu mentioned that the events that took place in her book happened in real life. 

“Sadly, everything that happens in Moxie happened to me, to a friend, or is something I have observed in an actual high school setting as a teacher. One need only read the dedication to Moxie to know what happened to me as a teenager in high school. Unfortunately, not much has changed from the ’90s.” 

Mathieu got to work on the film with Amy Poehler, who produced the “Moxie” film. Amy Poehler plays Vivian’s mom in the film, the catalyst which leads Vivian to start Moxie at her school. According to ScreenRant, Poehler got to collaborate with Mathieu and screenwriters to put together the “Moxie” film.

In an interview with Vogue, Amy Poehler mentioned why she was interested in producing “Moxie.” “I’ve always been drawn to films that show people trying, in real-time, to figure out what they care about and what they’re going to do about it. Vivian lights the match and that fire spreads.”

Hadley Robinson plays Vivian, the founder of Moxie. Lauren Tsai plays Claudia, who is initially hesitant about joining Moxie.

Nico Hiraga plays Seth, Vivian’s love interest. Alycia Pascual-Peña plays Lucy, who speaks out about her harassment from the guys at school and wants her voice to be heard. 

Josephine Langford plays Emma, the head cheerleader. Patrick Schwarzenegger plays Mitchell, a jock who harasses Lucy.

“Moxie” is available to watch on Netflix. Check it out to see how the girls of Moxie become empowered.