The project was screened at the end-of-year arts festival. As the lights dimmed and her film played, the tropes crumbled. People weren't seeing "characters" anymore; they were seeing their peers.
Normally, Sarah would have looked at her shoes. But today, the irony of the lesson hit home. She stood up. slut teen movies
For the rest of the semester, Sarah decided to lean into the "movie" theme. She started a project called The Unwritten Scenes . She interviewed girls across the school who had been labeled—the "nerd," the "drama queen," the "slut"—and filmed them doing the things they actually loved. The project was screened at the end-of-year arts festival