98
2013
NORTH CAROLINA L I T E R A R Y RE V I E W
number 22
Courtesy of mary kate Monohan
MARY KATE MONAHAN: When I read it, I immediately saw it. It was so visual for me. I saw the first scene, and I saw this girl. I couldn’t figure out who she was talking to at first. I couldn’t figure out who the audience was. That came later. But the first thing I saw was this girl, sort of in a confessional type of setting, trying to explain something that she didn’t really understand. And, to me, if you’re talking about cinematic quality, that’s really attractive.
Liza, as you wrote this story, did it seem cinematic to you? LW: It did. But no more so than my work does in general. And I think because we’re in this culture, we tend to see things as visuals – because we watch a lot of TV and see a lot of movies. So I saw things like the school hallway, the classroom the girls sat in and then left when they weren’t feeling well. I saw the Star Market where Jill’s mother works. I saw the red barn in nearby Rockport, the one that’s so often painted and photographed that it’s now called Motif #1 and became a motif for the story. So I wasn’t surprised that Mary Kate would be interested in the story as a film.
There is also a cerebral quality to the story – a lot of interior monologue going on that almost defies translation into film. Did you see that differently, Mary Kate?
courtesy of mary kate Monohan
MKM: Yes and no. I think that was one of the hardest parts about making the film, though what’s really interesting is that the story’s written through the lens of a teenager. And it’s with the teenager mindset of: “Here’s a decision I’ve made, to get pregnant along with these other girls. And I’m conflicted about it, but I’m also writing from my opinion. And I am right.” And it’s so hard because it is a decision that is so easy to just look at and say, “Obviously, she’s wrong. Obviously, these girls are wrong. They’re not supposed to do that.” But somehow you want to defend the character. You want the characters to defend themselves, but you also want to show that the character is right. Because she feels that she’s right, and you want to write it as honestly as she would make it. LW: And if I can just interject here, that’s exactly the heart of the story – to take the situation so obviously problematic at best, that would be frowned on by everybody who says that’s just a mistake, a mistake, a mistake, and make it not one – to show why it isn’t for these particular characters. That is what makes this so inviting for a short story, taking one particular character and examining those choices through her lens, making the situation presented in a magazine personal.
LEFT TOP Jill, played by Madeline Mahrer, documents her life with her video camera for her unborn baby in the film adaptation of “Quickening”; Emily Pando and Jake Gleason also pictured in this still from the film
LEFT BOTTOM From the film version of Quickening, the friends walk arm in arm; the actors, left to right, are Madeline Mahrer, Emily Pando, Asha Cofield, Naila Cofield, Faren Clum, and Gabriella Meier