“I won’t be around much longer.”

A classmate said that to me in junior high. I never knewn her, never even spoke to her, but something brought her to mention that to me. Threats like that were made every day by kids in junior high, so when were they supposed to be taken seriously?

“Thirteen” takes on adolescent questions like these. Even in the wake of other troubled-teen films, “Thirteen” is remarkably fresh. It had me identifying characters as people that I once knew, bringing up memories that I nearly had forgotten.

Tracy (Evan Rachel Wood) is a 13-year-old straight-A student in middle school. Like most other 13-year-old girls, Tracy longs to be popular, wanting to hang with Evie (Nikki Reed, the film’s co-writer), the coolest bad girl in her school. Tracy musters up enough credibility to accomplish this, mainly by stealing a wallet. Then the downward spiral or trouble begins.

It would be easy to laugh at this film on paper; as it seems riddled with blatant clichés and way over-the-top behavior. In reality, many teens with troubles seem to focus on one stimulant, like huffing or stealing, while these girls are seen doing nearly every stereotypical bad thing imaginable. It’s as if the filmmakers wanted to cover all of the bases for shock value purposes.

However, I believe that first-time director/co-writer Catherine Hardwicke wanted people to identify with these characters. By showing them participating in so many horrid activities, it forces audience members who once experimented with some of these dangerous habits to remember how it felt. At that age, every moment seems like an eternity, and every decision feels so important. One bad move, and your life is over!

Hardwicke’s camera works like a time machine, taking the audience back by literally flying all over the place. It’s constantly scanning the scenery, zooming in on billboards, tattoos and body parts. By doing this, the audience feels the constant bombardment of stimulation felt by teens.

Also, notice the color saturation that slowly fades throughout the film. By the time Tracy hits rock bottom, the color is all but gone. Her eyes, at one point a blazing bright green, are now nearly black. Hardwicke’s extensive background as a production designer no doubt came in handy here.

But one of the most disturbing elements of “Thirteen” is its R rating. Sure, by all rating standards, it certainly seems warranted. The film is extremely graphic when it comes to drug use and sex. Still, it doesn’t make much sense when the 13-year-olds facing these tough situations are kept out of the theater. This logic implies that they must wait until they are a much more “mature” 17, and by that time, it might be too late. Why not allow teens to view a film that deals with teen issues?

After the film, I wondered if my junior high classmate could have identified with “Thirteen.” I wonder if any film possibly could have stopped her from killing herself. Then again, she never would have had a chance; at 13, she wouldn’t be let into the theater.