PRINCESS
DV 2K APPLICATON
SYNOPSIS
Princess documents the life of a “Jewish American Princess” as she navigates her way through her senior year of high school. The film follows Brooke, a pretty, popular senior at wealthy, largely Jewish Highland Park High School near Chicago.
As the year progresses, Brooke struggles for independence from a family who gives her everything she could ever ask for, but expects perfection in return. The film is, on one level, a meditation on a stereotype. It is also a character portrait of a girl who is about to leave home for the first time.
Offering a vision beyond the controversial and ugly stereotype of the Jewish American Princess, the film testifies to what life is really like for teenagers coming of age in Jewish suburbia.
THEME
The film examines the “Jap” stereotype, and at how one teenager both fits into its mold and transcends it.
Brooke lives in a community of upscale, mostly-Jewish professionals. Education is important; but, for girls, so is looking perfect. Brooke admits that on the surface, she represents a quintessential “Jap.” She obsesses on her looks and her weight, and admits that she has never cleaned her bathroom.
Her family gives her everything she could want, and all she wants is to make her parents proud of her. They, in turn, want her to be successful in school, popular and pretty.
For Brooke to reject the standards of the community, she would have to disappoint the parents who have given her everything. But she wants to be her own person, and does not always agree with what her parents want for her.
STRUCTURE
“Princess” tells Brooke’s story as she goes through her senior year of high school in a series of episodic vignettes. Each scene touches on the “Jap” stereotype, and also furthers the story of Brooke and her relationship with her mother.
The film also follows Brooke’s relationship with her mother, Michele. Because Michele never attended college, she wants to make sure that Brooke goes to a good school. She picks out Brooke’s outfits and critiques the way she looks. As the year draws to a close, Brooke begins to establish some separation. She begins to create her own identity, choosing outfits by herself and considering college choices she worries may disappoint Michele.
STYLE
The film is an intimate family portrait, it was important for the film to be mostly verite. I wanted to show the family as they interacted with each other, and in their most private moments, rather than simply having them tell us, in a series of interviews, about their lives.
We used only available lighting, since I didn’t want to distract the family. I only interviewed Brooke three times, as I wanted to keep the film observational. When I did interview her, I took my shoes off and sat with her on her bed and just had a conversation.
The music was extremely important. Because the film is about the flimsiness of a stereotype, it was important for the film to have all the hip-hop music that Brooke loves. That hip-hop and rap—forms of music that are not usually associated with the Jewish, affluent suburbs—were her favorite kinds of music underscored the point that the “Jap” stereotype might not be an absolute truth. Although it will be impossible to license all the music for the finished piece, I’d like to be able to re-score the film with hip-hop.
The VX-1000 was the one thing that made the film possible. I funded the film myself, so MiniDV made the production affordable. Because the camera was so small, and the crew was just myself as sound recordist together with a cameraperson, we could be more unobtrusive than I had ever imagined. There were times when I would ask a question of Brooke or Michele, and they would look at me, startled, and say, “I forgot you were here.”
The teenagers I filmed were extremely comfortable with me because of the camera’s size. Because it looked like I just had a home video camera, they felt comfortable with my filming them even though they knew I was a “real” filmmaker. It made me less scary and I think it made the film more honest. I don’t think that I would ever have been able to film the kids hanging out at Dunkin’ Donuts so naturally without such a small camera.
POINT-OF-VIEW
The film is told from Brooke’s point of view. The film is about her story, and about the stereotype she represents.
VOICE
The film is a personal one. I grew up in Scarsdale, New York, another wealthy Jewish suburb. My friends and I regularly referred to ourselves as “Japs.” I moved away from the suburbs, but I always thought about the term, what it meant and why we used it.
The ugly name suggests vain, over-privileged girls. But I realized that the truth behind the stereotype was much more complicated.
I wanted to make a film that showed what life is like for just one of these girls. By showing one particular experience, I hoped that I could make people think twice before using the term Jewish American Princess in a negative way.
Because I had such a strong personal agenda going into the film, I had to be careful to not let the film become preachy. Brooke only touches on the issue of the “Jap” stereotype in her interviews, and then the verite scenes tell the rest of the story. I wanted the audience to get the experience of a life that is at once privileged and frustrating. Telling them about it in narration or in interviews, I thought, would not be as effective as simply watching it Brooke go through her senior year.
WHY “PRINCESS” IS APPROPRIATE FOR PUBLIC TELEVISION
Several mainstream films, such as “Dirty Dancing,” “Clueless,” “Marjorie Morningstar” and the film adaptation of “Goodbye Columbus” have examined the Jewish American Princess. I am not aware of any other documentary that has focused on the “Jap” stereotype. Because these suburbs exist all across the country, a good portion of the public television viewership is familiar with Jewish suburbia and the stereotypes associated with it. The film would offer a more informative and complex view into those communities.
CURRENT STATUS OF THE PROJECT
I am submitting a non-broadcast quality on-line of the rough cut. The film needs another two to three weeks in off-line to smooth things out and get the film to the appropriate time. I also have to have the film re-scored, to avoid costly music licensing issues. Then the film needs to be re-mixed and on-lined.
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