Squrpleboy Review of Shattered Innocence

Shattered Innocence (1988 TV Movie)

She's Growing Up...And Growing Away...

[7/10 · 17 January 2002]

(*SPOILERS*)...Those are lines repeated more than once by (the superb) Melinda Dillon, who plays the mother of a young girl (Jonna Lee, as Paulina Anderson) who falls into a devastating life of drug addiction and pornography, which leads to her self-induced death. My first thoughts upon seeing this film 14 years ago, on TV, were with regards to the level of difficulty, and subsequent success, that the producers/director must have had in making a movie about pornography without the ability to use nudity, coarse language or explicit scenes and situations that make up the core of a pornographic film. That is no small feat in itself. Add to that the morbid nature of the entire storyline; the rapid decline of a young life through the aforementioned vices (which is based on a true story), and being made specifically for television audiences, and I am surprised that this film got made at all. But it was made well. Tastefully, with humanity, and completely free of exploitation. The acting is very good, with actress Melinda Dillon (most recognized as the mother from A Christmas Story) giving a stunningly frustrated and distraught performance. Jonna Lee also does well to give us a sense of the innocent, starry-eyed and naive teen who, so soon and so sadly, becomes self-destructive, emotionally and morally devastated, and completely lost in a world of corruption. Only the father seems somewhat uncharacteristically unfettered by his daughter's lifestyle, which doesn't really ring true for any father with daughters, that I've ever known. At times the story slips into scenes of melodrama with soap-opera style images and situations, but that is forgivable over-all. The period fashion (early 80's) is dated (and seems especially funny- looking today, in 2002) but absolutely perfect with regards to the timeline of the story. And the various settings and decor reveal both a rural Kansas home-spun comfort and the Hollywood Californian high-life of excess. Upon seeing this film again just last night (thanks in part to the "on TV, schedule links" found on this site) I was first struck by my disbelief in the probability of the main character, or any of the other porno actresses/models portrayed in the film, as being seen as physically stunning women. But to correctly remember the American porno, or even modeling, business back in the early 80's, before excessive silicone implanting, collagen injecting and wide-spread plastic surgery use, one must remember that a woman WAS judged beautiful based on her natural features and attributes, not to mention actually being expected to "act" as well as perform sexually in the films. This only leads one to imagine an even harsher world for girls in pornography today (and is evidenced in the fact that several others have also taken their own lives since this story originally took place). I highly recommend Shattered Innocence as a good Made-For-TV movie, created before the "onslaught" of such made the genre a joke of sorts, and as an intriguing story and picture on the whole. I also might mention that admirers of the big-screen films "Star 80", "Hardcore" or "Boogie Nights" (in particular, the comparison between the Adult Film Awards ceremony in Shattered Innocence and Boogie Nights is interesting) might like this film, or vice versa 7/10 Sad, but worthwhile watching.