Girls State

Having watched Boys State and Girls State back-to-back on consecutive days, I was surprised how different the films were. The young men in Boys State often come across as entitled, especially in their entrenched views regarding 2nd Amendment rights and abortion. Much of what is featured in that movie is pure politicking, saying and doing whatever is needed to win office, independent of the boys' actual beliefs or without regard to the consequences. In Girls State, the young women are forced to go through far more trivial rituals and follow set rules, which prevents them from actually dealing with issues for the first part of the movie. However, when they finally get past those hindrances, the students are much more serious and thoughtful about the issues, which leads to some great scenes, especially the Supreme Court case and the three featured Governors' speeches. In the end, I found myself caring much more about the young women in Girls State than the young men in Boys State. Girls State also left me much more hopeful about the future of the U. S. A. Than the male version. Even so, these are both excellent, thoughtful, enlightening movies and I would recommend them both. Do yourself a favour and watch both movies. It will be more than worth your time.