A Girl Like Grace

I rate movies based on their ability to leave me with new questions. I left wanting to understand more about the mother (played by Garcelle Beauvais) - to deconstruct her if you will - from the fear she had about her daughter's sexual identity (what exactly was her underlying fear? why wasn't she more afraid of the fate her daughter would meet at the hands of sexual predators and/or men who might otherwise exploit her?); to the lack of what I'd like to call a maternal muscle; and, to her own inherited broken cycles of what love looks and feels like. I wanted to know more about how class and culture affected her capacity to render the kind of nurture and compassion that her daughter (played by Ryan Destiny) so desperately needed.

Ultimately, this was a movie about identity and beauty; how we see ourselves and the way we think the rest of the world sees us and/or the ones we love is absolutely critical to who we ultimately become.