'If I Stay': The Melodrama Of Purgatory

Looking at the films Hollywood has been spurting out these days for the young adult crowd, it seems that the hip thing for kids today is the concept of the “lure of death.” First it was the “Twilight” series, about one girl's twisted fascination with a dead vampire, then came “The Fault In Our Stars,” which portrayed the all-too-wise awareness of existence versus non-existence of cancer-ridden kids and now comes “If I Stay,” about a young comatose girl who is trying to decide if she should remain in the corporeal world or just move on to heaven.

Surely being remotely suicidal, morose and depressive have always gone hand in hand with adolescence, but when did it become this romanticized?

Clearly aimed at young shy girls who yearn for the most popular kid at school to fall in love with them, “If I Stay” has a tendency to overvalue teen romance a bit more than it should, and the film almost comes to the point of being anti-feminist. Just imagine, you're a talented musician and you've somehow managed to get into the most prestigious music school in the United States -- Julliard -- but you have doubts because your narcissistic boyfriend doesn't want you to leave for another town, afraid that he can't manage a long-distance relationship. Talk about male entitlement! Nevertheless, leaving this small note aside, let's start digging into this saccharine shock of a melodrama.

Sixteen-year-old Mia (Chloë Grace Moretz) lives in Portland with her Iggy Pop-loving younger brother and her über-cool parents Kat (Mireille Enos, giving her best to the role and succeeding) and Denny (Joshua Leonard). All Mia wants in life is to be a professional cellist; she is in love with classical music and practices her cello day and night. At first, we are told that her parents were not very fond of her passion, since her father used to be a punk-rock singer who raised Mia in rock bars. But once the couple understands that the girl has extreme talent, they support her endeavors and do all they can so that she has a happy life full of emotional and intellectual nourishment. These parents are just too good to be true: They're so cool that they tell Mia to get a boyfriend.

One day at school, Mia has a meet-cute with Adam (Jamie Blackley), a senior who has a rock band of his own that has started to become popular in Portland's music scene. Adam is swept away by Mia's raw talent, genuineness and introversion while Mia falls relentlessly in love with his impulsive, extrovert and suave ways. These kids are both musicians, yet we are constantly reminded how they are so different from each other because of their different music. Mia has difficulty fitting into Adam's social circle but Adam is immediately liked and taken under the wings of Mia's parents and their alternative friends. The breaking point comes when Mia's aspirations for Julliard, located on the other end of the country, transforms Adam into a needy fit and eventually causes him to dump the girl, because he just can't stand the idea of a “Skype relationship."

Then a horrible car accident takes away the lives of Mia's parents and leaves her in a comatose state. As Mia's astral body wanders throughout the hospital, observing her grandparents and family and friends visiting her unconscious body, she starts having flashbacks about her past year and tries to decide whether she should die or live. How can she continue her life without her lovely family or Adam? Luckily, Adam finally comes to the hospital and even composes a song for Mia, confessing that he could never forget her and wants her to “stay” with him in the living. One can assume that amongst the flood of tears there will be the necessary emotional catharsis required by the genre, in which Mia will prioritize true romantic love over all.

The problem with this film is its languorous style and overwhelming use of a soppy atmosphere where every character is super cool and nice -- especially Mia's circle. After a while, one becomes tired of watching so many wise, super-thoughtful and articulate individuals who look like they belong in a guide to ethics book as opposed to a movie. Nevertheless, Moretz's screen presence is engrossing enough to carry the story on her shoulders and no doubt she will have a huge influence on teenage girls as romance film characters go these days: Shy but talented girl of hidden beauty manages to become the center of attention.

Emine Yıldırım (Cihan/Today's Zaman)