That Girl

Natalie Portman's character in Garden State is kooky! She's unpredictable! She loves indie music! She dances adorably by the fire! Whee!

But I'm getting a bit tired of the sweet, goofy girl-child thing.

This is not to slight Ms. Portman-- only the script's approach to her character. This character is clearly designed to affect Zach Braff... to bring him back to life, as it were. She needs to be in this movie, and she needs to be loveable. And, in fact, she needs to be extra-fun because she's compensating for a protagonist who's virtually sedated for the entire film. There's so much weight placed on her time on screen. I see why she's such a big character...

...but couldn't she have been a real person, and not just a collection of baubles and trinkets? 'Cause once the novelty of her kookiness has faded, won't Zach be even more depressed than before?

We get no real sense of her character, only her characterization: the trappings of character. Who is this person underneath the helmet? If we don't believe that there's something complex under there, then we can't buy Zach's transformation. The whole thing topples like a very pretty house of cards.

And keep in mind, dear writers, that at least half the target audience of a film like Garden State is women. And while Nat may make young (okay, all?) men swoon, female characters like this drive some of us crazy. Many of us (many women, as well as men, I expect) see a character like this and just think-- God, in a couple of weeks, it's gonna be a real chore to be around her. And when That Guy-- you know, the hero-- falls in love with colourful sprinkles, we lose a whole lot of respect for him, and the world of the movie.

People who try real hard to be wacky in the real world are annoying. Same goes for the big screen. Discuss amongst yourselves.