Tiger Stripes starts out with more bra removal than a frat movie. That’s gonna sound like the film is more lurid than it really is, but still, we’re talking about a Muslim community of underage girls. I know I’m not imagining the idea that one might find blowback in various circles of Islam. What’s going on are girls who are ready to be adults and practicing towards that eventuality. One expects to see such in, say, the Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret. One does not expect to see such juxtaposed with kneeling towards Mecca.
Points for originality. Well, sort of. Tiger Stripes was clearly produced in the same vein as Turning Red where puberty changes a girl into a beast. But nobody expects such to come from Malaysia and especially not from the Muslim community.
Zaffan (Zafreen Zairzal) is a Mean Girl. Wow, I didn’t know they had that in Malaysia. Or in Muslim communities. I just assume discipline is so second nature to the culture in question that acting like Lindsay Lohan is unthinkable. Well, that is what I get for close-minded stereotyping. Shame on me. And Zaffan is most decidedly a bad girl to boot. But this Malala-lookin’ chick is ready for action. Already sexualized well beyond her peers, Zaffan is openly defiant of custom and tradition. She has no problem flaunting bra usage in front of her homies, nor removing her head scarf outside of class. How long before she gets stoned to death?
And then -as if willing it to happen- Zaffan gets her period, and the world changes. Several problems accompany period blood. The first is Zaffan doesn’t know what’s going on. The second is she won’t tell anybody. The third is that her new secretions and behaviors start alienating her friend group. But the last, and most important is: something is not right.
At least three times, I begged Zaffan -from my movie seat- to see a doctor. The movie frustrated me a great deal on this count. And then it became patently obvious that this
was the movie’s statement: Puberty turns girls into monsters. Ummmm, ok.
While I enjoyed the unique delivery of the message and the strange place it comes from, the film did itself no favors. Tiger Stripes takes foreverto let us in on the joke, so-to-speak, after convincing us Zaffan was on death’s door, and in doing so, it was hard to root for a Zaffan who starts a Mean Girl and evolves into a monster. We end up liking Zaffan only when she’s inadvertently alienated her friend group, but our empathy is short-lived because her monstrous behavior is no better than her pre-monstrous behavior.
Oh, and -as far as I can tell- live frogs WERE harmed during the making of this film; that’s never going to sit well with me.
I may never say this again, so please mark these words with care: Tiger Stripes needed CGI. Seriously. Not sure I’ve ever seen film than needed MORE CGI. I’ve only seen films that needed less. Tiger Stripes badly badly badly needed CGI. The reason? It’s impossible to take Zaffan’s changes seriously based on acting alone. She’s just not talented enough to convey “monster,” hence, the only way to make her a true monster is by CGI or some much better make-up.
There once was a girl from Malaysia
Suffering from puberty dysplasia
As estrogen increased
She turned into a beast
But only on special occasia
Not Rated, 95 Minutes
Director: Amanda Nell Eu
Writer: Amanda Nell Eu
Genre: The puberty blues
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: Girls living through “the curse”
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: “Is this really the message of the film?”
