Fantasia 2017--Tiger Girl--Jakob Lass (2017)

Jakob Lass's Tiger Girl (2017) shows us what happens when women get angry

Watching women stop taking sh** and stand up against di**heads can be extremely satisfying, especially in a world where the differences that divide us can create a sense of overwhelming powerlessness.  Jakob Lass's gritty Tiger Girl (2017) immediately immerses you in a world where for young women, every moment of the day is laden with harassment and threat.  The film follows Maggy (Maria-Victoria Dragus), aka Vanilla, as she fails her police exam and takes the next step toward having some kind of future, training as a security guard.  Along the way, her encounters with both men and women are dispiriting, as she is mocked, harassed, and treated like garbage repeatedly.

Both Vanilla and the audience fall for Tiger's (Ella Rumpf's) charms

In the midst of this bleak situation, Tiger (Ella Rumpf) appears, a young, rough female hoodlum who takes no crap and meets adversity with a vicious kick and a kind of violent glee.  Someone blocks a parking space with her giant SUV? Knock off her side mirror so there is room.  Threatened waiting for the metro?  This scrappy young woman will take you on, even if it means she'll suffer some knocks in the process.  Certainly, the violence both committed by and acted upon Tiger is upsetting, but that's what makes her tough, mischievous demanding of payback so thrilling; her limited code of ethics, and her manic energy, keeps the character from being too unlikeable.

The baseball bat is the catalyst for a whole bunch of mayhem

After Vanilla's fateful encounter on a subway platform, the two start to hang out in earnest, two angry, disenfranchised women looking to have some rather violent fun.  The development of their friendship feels both hyper-intense and desperately real.  Their primary source of entertainment is to dress up in security uniforms, and pretend to enforce rules on the populace, wielding a small degree of authority in a world where they have little to none.  The scene where they strip search a series of male customers at the local mall is both disturbing and decidedly naughty.

Vanilla (Maria-Victoria Dragus) starts to take her violence way, way too far

Still, what starts out as some pranks against a culture that oppresses them, turns into a full-blown display of "ultra-violence," as Vanilla starts acting out well beyond her nighttime excursions, slugging people and bullying them just because she can.  Her once absent confidence transforms into a strange narcissistic psychopathy, and her ability to feel empathy is completely replaced by a malicious contempt for everyone, including a couple of droogs she enlists along the way.  In this maelstrom of female rage, even Tiger starts to distance herself from Vanilla and her extremes.

Vanilla and Tiger pose as mall security

While the film's adrenaline-fueled scenes of action and rage certainly plunge the viewer into this grim world and drag her along from scene to scene, the repetition of often unmotivated violence gets to be a little tedious after a time.  What begins as refreshing starts to feel rather pointless, and the film takes on an A Clockwork Orange relentlessness.

The cops are always eager to assert their authority

Yet, while Kubrick's film seems to have some really clear messages in its ultraviolent worldview, Tiger Girl's takeaway is more unclear.  Both young women are hungry to attain a power that is relatively absent in their lives (power that is economic, social, sexual).  Vanilla's interest in becoming law enforcement, and then part of a security force, connects to a larger wish to gain control over her life and wield authority over others.  Yet the notion of "power corrupts" is taken to an extreme, as her loss of control becomes rather tragic.  The film's ending also rings strange, as its message is not conclusive, but more a way of raising more questions of what the future might hold for these two angry citizens.  Tiger Girl is worth seeing for Ella Rumpf's portrayal of the charismatic Tiger, but overall, the film disappoints on some important levels.

Getting Rid of Lost Girl Baggage

Syfy's Dynamic Duo

Syfy's Lost Girl has its ups and downs, and the focus on romance always seems to detract from the more important relationships--between friends.  "Truth and Consequences" and "Lachlan's Gambit" finally got rid of all the romantic baggage that seemed to be bogging things up.  Only two more episodes left it seems.  For those of you not up to speed on this show, **Spoilers Ahead.

1. Nate and Kenzi are kaput.

For Warehouse 13 fans, the clinging presence of Nate (Aaron Ashmore) became increasingly annoying as the season evolved.  For one, Kenzi (Ksenia Solo) actually went on tour with him instead of fighting alongside Bo (Anna Silk), which made her absent from at least two shows.  On a show full of ridiculously gorgeous actors, Ashmore was just too "Jimmy Olsen."  I like him better as a gay man on Warehouse, rather than getting in the way of Kenzi and Bo's friendship.

2. Nadia and Lauren are over.

While I'm sad that this lesbian couple's storyline had to end so tragically, Lauren mooning over Nadia in a coma was quickly replaced by Nadia dragging Lauren down post-resurrection. Their relationship seemed more about obligation than excitation as the season went on.  The psycho shower scene moment was tres cliche, but I'm never immune to Zoie Palmer soaking wet.  Nadia's death was all over the place as well (seems she was possessed by the Guruda and just wanted to kill everybody while simultaneously spying on them).  Silly, silly, silly plotline.  Lauren's better off (like Kenzi) not having to continually lie to her human partner, and take her rightful place in this fae/human Scooby Gang.

3. Dyson and Ciara are history.

I don't know how they cast this show, but everyone seems to need brief periods of "vacation," so Dyson left for a bit to get in touch with his inner wolf or whatever.  Love seeing Kris Holden-Reid with his shirt off, but when he opens his mouth this season,  Dyson's so whiny--not sexy and brooding.  So I wasn't sad to see him go.  And then he came back.  Ciara (Lina Roessler) on the other hand--can we keep her?  She was always too cool as fairies go, but her and Dyson....kind of milquetoast until "Lachlan's Gambit."  Her knife play during "we-might-die-tomorrow" sex was extremely hot.  That and her "knife-in-the-eye" fight move made me cheer for her return.  Then she had to die.  What??  Stupidly too.  Now Dyson has even more to whine about.  Sigh.

4.  Lachlan is dead.

Lachlan's loss is a bummer.  Not only was Vincent Walsh pretty smoking, but he was morally ambiguous enough to be intriguing.  I'm glad that they never made him hook up with Bo, or have some distracting love/sex relationship.  He sacrifices his head (literally) for the good of the fae, joining four fellow fallen nagas.  Will Hale (K.C. Collins) now be the new Ash next season?  That would move him out of the Dyson sidekick role for good.

5.  Friendship trumps romance.

The sweetest moments this season have been when the characters set aside their romantic yearnings and had each other's backs.  Kenzi pretended to be Hale's date in "The Girl Who Fae'd with Fire" despite Nate's rampaging (and misplaced) jealousy.  Other than Bo, Hale is closest to Kenzi, and he knows that when he leaves her behind during Dyson's fight, she's not only "too cute," but too savvy, to die.  Putting aside any feelings Bo might have for Lauren, when Lauren asks to sleep with her, she tells Bo it's to displace her grief over Nadia, and just wants to be held; Bo sensitively obliges, telling her that "they're in this together."  The show may have a great deal of sizzle, but its foundations are built on trust and respect between friends.

I scoured the web looking for the image that sums up the series for me--no such luck.  At the end of "Truth and Consequences," Bo arrives home, calling Kenzi's name, and finds her quietly cuddled on her bed.  Even after Trick informs Kenzi that she's a dangerous distraction for Bo, and Bo tells Kenzi to run somewhere safe, Kenzi insists that where she belongs is by Bo's side, sisters forever.  Bo is smart enough to see how much she needs her friend, and tells her so.  Their embrace at the end of "Truth and Consequences" made me teary-eyed and delighted at the same time.  Here's to my favorite BFF's on television.