I’m Taller than the Tall Girl: A Movie Review

Stand up straight. Walk tall. No slouching!

This energetic command by Fareeda, the protagonist’s best friend, is probably the most-spoken advice given to us tall girls by our loved ones. No slouching means standing confidently and tall instead of trying to be something that you’re not – a normal height. Standing tall as a woman over 6 feet requires powerful self-love against the bombardment by others who make you feel like a freak every day. In Tall Girl, a new movie by Netflix, a 6-foot-1 teenager struggles to find self-acceptance and learn that she is more than just a tall girl.

Before its release, Tall Girl faced some backlash for centering on the adversity faced by a pretty, white, cis-gendered, straight, wealthy girl who is also in the top one percent of women’s heights. Well, those Twitter critics seeking to invalidate her struggles must be short. The very first scene of Tall Girl shows how even though she’s bringing the privilege of skin color, looks and intelligence to the table, when she stands up, height erases the attractiveness of those privileges. At 6’2″ I know from experience that my height is the best predictor my interactions with strangers – before my race or class. “How’s the weather up there?” is a sneer that I’ve heard hundreds, if not thousands, of times in my life. I’m constantly alienated by this comment and reminded that I don’t fit in. What’s worse – because my height is considered a privilege, strangers carelessly comment on how tall I am and expect me to receive it as a compliment. Newsflash – any comment that brings attention to how someone is outside of the norm – because of race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, weight, or height – is othering and offensive! Being on the margins, a statistical outlier in any extreme, is not a privilege in society. 

Like Jodi, I grew up with a school filled with kids taking small digs at my height (microaggressions) and I also dealt with persistent bullies like Kimmy and Schnipper who would berate me daily with insults, nicknames, and instigated conflicts. People attack tall girls and make them feel afraid to be seen. The saddest line of the movie came when Jodi explained to her family why she stopped playing piano: “When you’re good at something people tend to want to watch you do it and I don’t need to give people another reason to look at me.” I wonder how many women today have stunted their growth from worry over being seen as too tall. Would we have more tall dancers, singers, actresses, or professionals if more tall girls felt confident to take the stage or raise their hands in class and be seen for their talent and intelligence?

It could have been me hiding in the back of the class, afraid to stand out. In fact, it probably would have been me if I hadn’t had an unexpected conversation that changed my self-perception and altered the course of my life. Instead of Kimmy’s hurtful movie line, “You’re the tall girl, you’ll never be the pretty girl,” a popular girl in class came up to me in the final days of middle school and asked, “Robyn, you’re smart, pretty and nice. Why don’t more people like you?” 

That question hit me like a pile of bricks. I had so much going for me. Why was I letting haters bully me for being tall and erase the rest of my identity? No, I had control over how I see myself and how I invite others to look at me. I was transformed, like the main character, into “Face your fears, Jodi. Going after what you want, Jodi. Look at me ’cause I look good, Jodi!” I entered high school determined to be happy every day. That happiness helped me to grow less shy in class, extracurriculars, and building friendships and gave me the confidence to set goals for myself.

That change of perspective also made me confident in my standards for a boyfriend and I was not going to settle for some short guy, even if that meant I would be single all through high school. I was single and I don’t regret it. 

I am upset that Jodi ends up with the short guy (Dunkleman). I am especially upset at how that short guy manipulated the tall guy (Stig) into betraying Jodi because he wanted her for himself. (He orchestrated the whole thing and then is celebrated as the hero! What?!?) Is the writer suggesting that guys should be rewarded for sabotaging the relationships of their friends? Moreover, by pairing Jodi with the short guy it extends the common misconception that tall women only refuse to date shorter men because they’re too embarrassed to draw attention to their heights in public. Tall Girl missed a huge opportunity to destroy that misconception and show that a confident girl/woman can have a type and a taste for taller men that’s fully formed by her own interests, not the gaze of others. Allow us to say that we’re incompatible with guys that have to step on milk crates to kiss us!

Overall, I am glad that Tall Girl was made and I hope that people who watch it will have a few takeaways:

• It is not okay to say “How’s the weather up there” and otherwise alienate tall people by drawing attention to our heights.
• You can be tall, smart, talented, caring, creative, and all of the things. Height is not your only identity.
• Don’t let anyone make you feel prejudiced because you have standards for the men you date.

Oh, and stand up straight. Walk tall. No slouching!