Warning: Interview contains spoilers.
My Summer as A Goth is a modern day coming of age, romantic comedy-drama with elements of the ‘80s while addressing the timeless issues of alienation, fitting in, personal growth, manipulation and dealing with major loss.
Directed by Tara Johnson-Medinger, the films the product of a 10 year vision finally coming to dark life with help from a terrific multi-generational cast and dedicated crew. Natalie Shershow brings Joey Javitts to life in her portrayal of the mid-teen dealing with life after her father’s death, a strained relationship with her mom [Sarah Overman], spending a summer with her free-spirited grandparents and the attention of a mysterious local goth kid, Jack Levis/Victor.
It’s The Breakfast Club with gothic charm for today’s generation. Or if Tim Curry’s Rocky Horror character was a teenager and Lydia was the main character in Beetlejuice. Though made for the modern day millennial it does pay homage to ‘80s and a vintage My Fair Lady mention.
The actors were legit teens Medinger says. “We were committed to working with actual teenagers. All the young people cast were 16-20.” They wanted authenticity in casting. “We were committed to working with teens going through a teenage experience. It was important for us to have that authenticity moment in their lives.”
They were committed to educating the cast on gothic culture, “We had Jillian Venters the force behind Gothic Charm School based out of Seattle. She came down and worked with the cast, talked through all the questions they had in terms of goth culture and community.”
Involved early on, before casting, “She helped with character specifics and how to bring forth the portrayal of living the culture as teenagers and was an incredible help also consulting on our makeup, hair and script. She was in the process a long time with us and has a really great cameo at Pandora’s party.”
The film rode the line between cute and serious but not stereotypical for today’s generation. “That’s what my hope is. It’s a teenage coming of age story nestled in goth culture. We wanted to pay respect.”
My writer and producer, Brandon Roberts and I grew up in the ‘80s in the Salem, Oregon scene hanging out with all the wierdos, and found each other.” There’s some gentle kidding but nothing is made fun off. “We also paid reverence to the beauty of the dark side. It kind of honors that.”
Jack Levis played Victor, “Reaction to him is very polarized. You either like him, love him, or really don’t like him. He’s definitely a narcissist but there’s something about him that’s very attractive. Very opposite of who she’s been hanging out with and her quote normal life. Before she goes to live with her grandparents in the summer, her community is very different. She wants to explore something new and Victor offers that to her.”
The movie plays with gender fluidity throughout in nuanced ways with identities, wardrobe, makeup and accessories. “I think there’s a lot of play in gender sexuality and presentation in the community as a whole.”
There’s a short funny scene early on where Victor tells two nuns they look great in black. “If you look closely, you’ll see me. I play one of the nuns. She says what the hell? If you blink or turn away you’ll miss it. My hope is that people will watch this many times to catch all the subtle humor and deeper moments.”
Though Victor’s a controlling narcissist with sociopathic tendencies he has limits. The scene in the mausoleum where they’re making out could’ve gone violent and dark when Joey says she wants to wait. Though the idea of date rape was there, Medinger says the feel of the movie didn’t dictate that direction. “He’s a jerk but he’s not gonna go that far. He respects her decision. It’s more of a reflection in today’s youth, no means no. He backed off, but continued to push. It’s something we talked to both actors about.”
The grandparents often steal the scenes they’re in. “We wanted to have a quirky grandparent couple as a springboard for Joey’s experiences putting a long leash on her in terms of guidance. Like Maude from Harold and Maude. That free spirit and understanding of what Joey’s going through. People of that age group, in the ‘60s having their own renaissance, and exploring things infused into Margaret and Joseph.”
At first Joey’s horrified by their behavior as they do their normal thing, “Joey’s being inserted into their world and they’re not gonna stop living their lives now that their grandchild was there.”
At first her attitude was a bored, rebellious grieving teen that slowly warms up to them reconnecting with the fun side of herself. She’s given the opportunity to breathe, dealing with her father’s death and the strained relationship with her mother. “I feel for her mother Carrisa, who’s also grieving and parenting as a single mom. Parenting is challenging anyway. Adding, being a busy, working mom, a touring dark romance novelist, then all of a sudden losing your partner, facing your own emotions in this situation.”
One of the quirkiest scenes in the movie was drag queen bingo, “Poison Waters is a very popular drag queen in Portland. I’ve known him for years. They have their own drag queen bingo, they host. There was a lot of improv working with them. The actors had a great time. It’s a nice little surprise.”
Victor uses the term WOB, wearers of black. Medinger says there was an article in 1988 in the Stateman Journal in Salem describing the downtown kids that hung out in coffee shops and walked the mall as WOB’s. “Not sure if a journalist coined the phrase but we brought it into the film. It’s a really fun description.”
The soundtrack features music from current goth bands including extra help with musical connections from Darkswoon who appeared in the movie. Though giving nods to the ‘80s was cool, modern music was crucial to the story.
In one bedroom scene YouTube channels pop up on screen as Joey looks for makeup tips. They used, with permission, a lot of goth Youtubers and Instagram influencers worldwide including New Zealand’s, Black Friday.
On screen texts are also used in several scenes, “We framed the shots needed so we’d have enough room for them. I worked with an illustrator and animator to design the whole top credit sequence. We also brought that style into the texting and YouTube graphics. It’s all taken from Joey’s sketch books. That’s her past time. She sketches a lot.” Sketch books are timeless, technology can’t touch paper and pencil when it comes to that.
There’s an early scene with Victor reading outside of Joey’s window reminiscent of Michael Myers standing outside Laurie’s window in Halloween. “There’s elements of that, sort of a mystery person appearing sparking her curiosity, she gets distracted, looks out the window and he’s gone.”
The party scene when mom comes home and puts Victor in his place caused a major celebration off camera, “That was a big day as the anniversary scene involved almost every character in the film. It was a lot to chew on in terms of production. I remember the first take we had. We yell cut, the whole crew erupted, because she really takes him down. Sarah who plays Carissa, was just phenomenal as her mom.”
There’s discussion of taking those characters forward in another project for a deeper look. Whether that follows Joey’s life or Victor’s character is yet to be seen. “There’s a lot of pain covered in his persona. He’s a very troubled kid.”
A wide array of lifestyle stereotype’s are avoided from blood drinking, to cutting, to drugs and wearing pentagrams. “It’s not part of that world. Pen and Cob have veils of blood around their neck of each other. It’s more of a commitment. It was paying reverence to the darker side of life and the beauty that exists there.”
They were introduced to Shershow when she was 15.” We weren’t expecting to find our Joey that quickly. When she auditioned, Joey appeared in the room with us. She was there. It was a tremendous, amazing experience as a director to be like, this character just came alive. She wanted this role and she got it. She went deep exploring the character. That’s a lot for a young actor, to hold an entire movie.”
During auditions, some actors read from scenes while others came in character. “We had folks that weren’t goth, turn up dressing the part.” They had Shershow read against actors for chemistry tests. Levis auditioned with her and they knew they found their couple. “The same with the grandparents and mom, we wanted to make sure we were hearing Joey’s character with that potential other actor. That helped with a lot of casting process.”
The cemetery scenes were filmed at Lone Fir Cemetery in Portland. “They have an incredible mausoleum we used as a backdrop. There’s lots of old graves, they’re quite beautiful but still being used. It’s a place where people go to walk around or have a picnic. I like to revisit the spaces we filmed in.” The grounds weren’t lit at night so the crew had to bring their own equipment in.
Another scene that could’ve gone ‘dark’ was a party scene where an inebriated Joey could’ve gotten roofied. “As audiences we’re so conditioned that will happen. An interesting trope we need to break as storytellers. It can become a very lazy and easy way to show a characters damaged.”
Having Victor take advantage of her wasn’t necessary for the film to work. Medinger encourages writers and screen writers to think about those situations in terms of what they’re putting out there. There are different ways to show that journey. “I would encourage male screen writers to get the female perspective when they’re writing a female character.”
The film often asks, how far will Victor go, to get what he wants? “In the realm of comedy you have boundaries. We’re kind of a dramady, I guess. You can’t check just one category on IMDB. I choose to describe it as a coming of age story. I think it’s both. It balances comedy and drama.” She wants the audience to have a dual experience.
Was Victor ever genuine in his actions with Joey? “I think he was intrigued by her. It was a summer project and treats her very much as a pet. There’s things he was using Joey for in order to gain status in other relationships. There’s a very subtle moment when he does appreciate her. I think the loss of her could impact him very deeply. I do think he’s fallen for her in a way.”
Medinger would love the film to achieve cult status. “I think it’s possible, it has that sleeper potential. It went digital, we were hoping to go theatrical. Because of Covid we couldn’t. I want people to watch it over and over again and write all the inconsistencies on IMDB. We’ve had people do fan art for Joey and other characters.”
Medinger would be interested in a sequel exploring the life of several characters. “There’s folks that really love and identify with this film and there’s folks that it’s not their jam. It was a ten-year-journey. That’s a lot of my life dedicated to this. The cast and crew loved the movie and we were fully supported by the Portland Film community. A lot of friends donated their houses to be filmed in. The mausoleum was set up in my basement, a day of filming at the director’s house, recreating the interior. We did a lot of set dressing, painting the walls, etc. a whole day of filming.”
Joey has many voices of reason trying to guide her and help figure things out. Victor’s the only one telling her what to do.
The film debuted on Halloween 2018. Through 2019 they were on the U.S. film festival circuit, with 15 screenings, along with a UK goth festival.
It fits into the Halloween and fall season Medinger says, referring a scene mid-film, “You’re never too old to dance in a graveyard.”
