An Education 2/10/10

Education remains one of the most important things anybody can do to make a name for themself. Yet it remains the single most stressful aspect of any teens life....if they truly care. Whats more is parents think that if their child does well in school it is a direct representation of them. So in the family portrayed in this movie we see parents who figure a smart girl with a good education can make the right judgements. Jenny is tired of being the perfect school girl and feels suffocated in her 60's suburban lifestyle. A father who only cares about when she brings home good grades and a mom standing by her father through everything doesnt make for a good upbringing. Which is why when she meets David a socialite who can provide her with the fantasy lifestyle she is brought under his spell. With the help of two other shady characters Danny and his mistress Helen, David can afford to take Jenny to jazz clubs and even to Paris. Turns out the lifestyle which seems like a dream to the young girl is funded by stealing artwork and moving black people into old people neighborhoods in order to buy flats cheap. At first, realization shocks her but being so crowded into a suburban straight A lifestyle keeps her from going back. Eventually she ends up sleeping with David and we see that this man has charmed and seduced jenny with promises of things and not with love. No one has obviously ever taught her of love though, instead marriage is brought up by her dad as a business proposal. This love affair between Jenny and David who is significantly older than her reaches a point of no return when he proposes to her without a ring but with desperation in his eyes. Most surprising is not that jenny says yes but that her parents encourage it even further. It isnt until she finds a mysterious group of letters in his dashboard that she knows the truth, David is married in a townhouse just around the corner of her neighborhood. This dashes every dream she has ever had....their chance encounters could be explained by close living arrangements and she had recently left school to be married. Now it seems as if she has nothing, she feels like a woman but is she really? Her dad seems almost as unhappy as she is, as if he knows that being a good father doesnt just mean encouraging perfect grades. An Education is a coming of age story that explains the importance of studies as opposed to depending on a man to make your dreams come true. When we hear that Jenny has gotten into Oxford pursueing her dream of reading english seems to be the best thing in her life and there is no doubt on her happiness. Being exposed to the real world at her age and in such a terrible way doesnt seem to bring her down in the end, but teach her a lesson that school will never teach.