Abe Sylvia talks about Dirty Girl. “It’s 1986 and I am standing in the quad at Whittier Middle School in Norman, Oklahoma. I am overweight, closeted, and harboring secret dreams of maybe, one day, becoming a dancer. I had big dreams for myself, but back then, I was doing my best not to be noticed, waiting for the holy horror of lunch period to end. When a tornado touched down in the form of “Dirty Debbie”.
Debbie was 16 and still in the seventh grade. In the words of Joan Jett she didn’t “give a damn” about her “Bad Reputation”, so much so, that at that very moment she was literally streaking across the quad with her shirt completely open, her ample rack bouncing for everyone to see. She was grinning from ear to ear and laughing like a deranged hyena. I do not know how Debbie found herself in this situation. Was she fleeing a groping boy? Taking someone up on a dare? Or, in that moment, did she decide this place was too boring and she was going to shake things up a bit?
Whatever it was, Debbie was thoroughly enjoying herself… unlike the rest of us. She liked being that girl. In this town where boys like me were discouraged from being our true selves, there was Debbie, the epitome of reckless abandon. She was debased, but evolved; undeniably broken, yet somehow complete… and I loved her. I have no idea what became of Dirty Debbie, but I hope she is happy, and I hope she likes the movie I made about our imaginary friendship.”
Story of Dirty Girl
Danielle is the dirty girl of Norman High School in Norman, Oklahoma, circa 1987. When Danielle’s misbehavior gets her banished to a remedial class, she is paired on a parenting project with Clarke, an innocent closet-case with no friends. Danielle is determined to get to California to find the father she’s never met, and Clarke is desperate to escape being sent to military school by his homophobic dad. Together, the mismatched misfits light out for California, and discover each other and themselves through a funny and serendipitous friendship.
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