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Thursday, 5/1/97 Artist explores myths, emotions behind girls' ripening sexuality Ogrodnik dramatizes what culture neglects by contrasting twin sisters' unique sexual maturation

By Stephanie Sheh Daily Bruin Contributor The scenario is familiar enough in television and film. It's prom night. There is a hotel room reservation. A teenage girl is eagerly anticipating her journey into womanhood. Everything is going to be wonderful, beautiful, romantic ... perfect. But such is not reality. And first time writer/director Mo Ogrodnik communicates this in her new film "Ripe," which portrays the confusion and pain also associated with sexuality. The movie is about twin sisters, Rosie and Violet, who embark on an adventure of self-discovery while hiding out in a military base. "I felt very much that there was a need to look at female sexuality under a lot of the myths," Ogrodnik explains. "What it means to be a teenager and a virgin in our society. I wanted to show teenagers, kids, what I think it was really like for most of us, to sexually come of age or to become sexually active or to not become sexually active, but that there is something painful about that and alienating and scary. I really wanted to explore that." With "Ripe," Ogrodnik also wants to break down the rosy picture created by the media about sex. Ogrodnik admits that "Ripe" is not politically correct, but she is more concerned about documenting what she thinks to be true. She starts off by attacking many misconceptions about female sexuality. "(The misconceptions are) that girls don't masturbate and that girls don't have sexual urges," Ogrodnik says. "They are that girls don't initiate their own sexual experiences at that age, that girls don't get angry about sexuality and that girls don't feel alienated about sexuality." According to Ogrodnik, women's feelings about their sexuality are numerous and complex, but these emotions are not often explored in the images presented by media. "There are all of these girls that are on the covers (of magazines), 15-year-old girls," Ogrodnik says. "They are the objects of desire, but we never go beyond the image and really find out what's happening for the young girl in terms of anger, being objectified, being a sexual object and how that feels. In addition, the kid who's maybe not so attractive is very alienated and feels left out of that loop. The rejection can make them feel very angry like, 'How come you're not objectifying me?' They can feel ashamed. "I think it's so complicated," Ogrodnik continues. "There's room for many more films about this subject matter, but the way I like to think about it is that it's kind of a 'coming out' film for straight girls. It's saying that straight girls come out of the closet too and it's confusing and painful." Both Rosie and Violet go through many sexually maturing experiences, but their different personalities cause them to deal with sexuality in different ways. In one scene, as the sisters walk by virile young soldiers, the are confronted with a barrage of catcalls. Violet thrives on the attention, but Rosie defensively gives them the finger. Ogrodnik purposely presents the two views together. "I really wanted to make a film about the two sides of myself that are at war about sexuality," Ogrodnik reveals. "One part of me feels very trusting and vulnerable, loves men and wants to be with them. The other part of me feels very angry, mistrustful and violent in some way. This kind of dialectic between these two sides of myself is part of every relationship I have with a man." Ogrodnik says that these two opposing sides of her personality did not end with puberty. The internal conflict continues throughout a woman's life. "To me, the film is also about where I am now as a 30-year-old," Ogrodnik confesses. "I still feel that there is this conflict, this duality within me that fights between feeling alienated and trustful." Ogrodnik does not just struggle with her sexuality, but also fights to convey her ideas about sexual identity on screen. With the enormous task of making her first feature film, Ogrodnik had to be organized and story-board the entire movie. She only had three weeks to shoot the film, and learned a great deal through her filmmaking experiences. She says that making a film is an "exercise of self reliance," because no one could teach her how to really do it. However, she does have some advice for aspiring film students at UCLA. "Believe in yourself," Ogrodnik advises. "That's the most important thing, to really have a clear sense of what it is and why it is that you're making the films. Have a clear sense of what I call the 'throughline': what this film is really about thematically. What it is that you're trying to communicate as a writer or director to your audience? You can really clarify it down to one or two sentences. I am not talking about the plot, but what the movie is really about to you emotionally. Then lastly, really believe in yourself and really take risks." FILM: "Ripe" opens in Los Angeles May 30 at Sunset Laemmle. Trimark Pictures Writer/Director Mo Ogrodnik oversees a scene from her directorial debut, "Ripe", about the challenges of sexuality for teenage girls. Trimark Pictures Daisy Eagan stars as Rosie, who wanders through the lonely backroads of the South in search of a better life in Mo Ogrodnik's "Ripe." Related Links: The Official "Ripe" Site