An Education

I've been meaning to watch An Education for quite some time now, so when I went to Netflix for a relaxing movie night, I gasped at the fact it was available for instant viewing. No decision necessary. Just hit play. The film tells the story of Jenny (Carey Mulligan) who is an intelligent potentially Oxford-bound schoolgirl, lost in the expectations of her demanding father. She lives for literature and dreams of going to Paris after school, where she "be French", will smoke, and wear black. Perhaps these seem quite simple and rather silly ambitions, but it is freedom that she truly lusts for.

With a chance encounter with a mysterious older man, she gains freedom, or at least more. She is introduced to a beautiful life lived by her interest, David, and his friends Helen and Danny. Their age difference is less discouraged than simply a matter of gossip. England is blessed with more freedoms when it comes selection of sexual partners in terms of age, or so they tell me. David woos Jenny with his world, or what appears to be, which includes fine art, music she dreams of hearing, and a trip to Paris. Along the way, she "evolves" into a woman, abandoning her lifeless hair and uniform for glamorous up-dos and lovely dresses, the uniform of a Sixties socialite. She is being educated by scholars of life—hard knocks beyond withheld. With all of life's beauty, she gets swept up and seems to forget about herself. Her straight-laced English teacher, Miss Stubbs, is one of the few that pushes her to snap out of it, to little success. She is actually one of my favorite characters, because a passionate spirit emerges from a steely shell. An independent woman and an English teacher no less and I'm in love. Needless to say, the plot thickens. By the end of the film, Jenny has learned more than she could ever expect, but I'll just let you figure out exactly what that means.

My hopes were not let down with this film. It's both a beautiful and thought-provoking film, for which I'm thankful for. I probably watch brainless movies too often. Carey Mulligan is adorable and nothing short of incredibly engaging. I am eager to see where her career will go (A Vogue cover has already happened). Anyway, I'm off to bed. I'll be having sweet dreams of British accents, French records, and traveling to Paris with that seemingly-batty old English teacher. Kiss kiss.

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