Girls Rock!

As Jack Black explains in School of Rock, rock music is about sticking it to The Man. That takes on a wider meaning when the sticking is coming from young girls. In this documentary about a music camp in Portland, Oregon, where, according to the New York Times’ Jeannette Catsoulis,

100 delirious 8-to-18-year-olds — many of whom have never touched an instrument — are encouraged to make noise and “take up space.” For one earsplitting, consciousness-raising week, they form bands and write songs while watchful counselors — volunteer musicians from bands like Sleater-Kinney and Gossip — provide expertise, mediate meltdowns and reassure the strugglers.

The movie shows how rock music can help girls tell their own stories and discover who they are, free of cultural expectations and limitations. And that they really can rock out!