Born Innocent

Linda Blair is a great actress.

probably because i had seen it years ago and just really wanted to see it again. after ordering and watching it, i remembered how cheesy it was. perhaps because i am a Linda Blair fan and wanted to just own it for the sake of owning it, but after now watchign it again, years later, i probably won;t bother watchign it again

A harsh look at the realities emotionally injured juveniles face while incarcerated. This is NOT a campy women’s prison flick, but a serious look at what happens when youth are entrusted to a state system that tends to lack the compassion and resources to help those in need.

Some spoilers here. This is a depressing depiction of a reform school for girls where any expressions of compassion or kindness are snuffed out. Linda Blair does a good job portraying the young girl who is sent here only because she repeatedly runs away from home. It's easy to see why she became a runaway when she is given a chance to return home and we see her dysfunctional family. The saddest part is when her forlorn hope for some kind of normal life with her brother is crushed. Food for thought here, but don't watch this if you like happy endings.

I watched this movie when it first came back and recently purchased it on DVD. I am agest older now and appreciate the deeper elements to the story... Linda Blair gives a heart breaking performance and sensitive portrayal as the adolescent who is a victim from beginining to end! she can't fight the system no matter what she does.. no one wants her, not parents, they are involved in their own dysfunction, and her brother who has started his own family.. the music score is perfect and the theme keeps haunting your memory... Chris, touches you deeply.. and you feel for her plight. Also another performance from Joannna Miles limited by the system that and the term she uses is hard hitting- " warehouse" help me to save just one, she says to the other teacher, but to no avail...she is a victim of the system.. it is a sad story that grips your heart. these girls will teach you a great deal!

I found this movie gripping from beginning to end. Linda Blair proves herself as an excellent actress, and this is a very adult film for a television movie from back in the seventies. I think it made a great comment on the system for it's time (juvenile detention center) and also showed seventies life realistically- it shows real hairstyles and clothing from that time period, and even showed 14-year-old Christine smoking a cigarette with her mom, when smoking wasn't a crime and was actually socially acceptable.

Keeping in mind this was the kind of sensationalistic rebellious teenage movie of that time, with its graphic content and psychological warfare in a girls' juvenile facility, you can understand why it was on the highest rated TV movies of the year.Linda Blair's character is compelling enough despite the cheesy storyline, and the sub-par acting. However, the theme of this movie is in line with what's probably still happening in juvenile facilities, where young people are essentially jailed and contained and rarely taught what one would learn if in a loving and tolerant environment.It's not a must-see, it's more of a curiosity.

I was really lucky to be able to find a new copy of this movie on VHS. I remember it well from it's first broadcast in 1974 on NBC, and all the controversy it generated due to [a rape] scene. This scene was edited from reruns, but is in tact on video. Linda Blair plays a teenage runaway that ends up in juvenile hall due to her parents request & constant running away. It was made during an era on Network TV when they were trying to convey a message in the movies they broadcast. The fashions, the hairstyles and the classic acting by Linda Blair, make this a must own for anyone that appreciates the classic made-for-tv movies of the '70s.