3/23/2023 0 Comments Over the edge![]() ![]() Incensed by the police shooting of a popular local lad, the town’s youths commit to an anarchic plan. ‘The Rec’ faces closure, even demolition the town’s adults are more concerned with improving the resale value of their identikit apartment blocks and condos than providing recreational space for their delinquent kids. But even this safe haven has come under threat. The local youth hall – a bomb-shelter-like construct that resembles a giant, upturned pig sty – is the only place they truly call their own. There’s nothing better to do, then, than to drink beer, shoot pool, play records, and “get stoned 24 hours a day”. And house parties are raided tirelessly by cops hellbent on cramping their style. In the fictional settlement of New Granada, a planned community on the edge of the Colorado dustbowl, a group of scruffy, directionless teens in dungarees, bandanas, and crop tops find themselves in a world with no care for their needs. Here’s a breakdown of why it’s an occasion worth skipping school for – whether “the man” gets it or not. On May 31, 2021, Arrow Video gives Over The Edge a long-overdue re-release, bringing the anarchic fervour of a delinquent teen society to the high definition present for the film’s first-ever Blu-ray release. The film would find fandom in everyone from Kurt Cobain to Harmony Korine, inspiring teen movies of the 90s such as Kids, and even Richard Linklater’s Dazed and Confused. In the years since its cauterised release, Over The Edge would reach cult status courtesy of word-of-mouth reputation and late night TV screenings. Over The Edge, by all rights, would capture the minds of disillusioned kids across the whole country – until it was abruptly pulled from theatres over fears it would spark a wave of violence. It was only the second feature to be financed by Orion Pictures – who later cemented their legacy with The Terminator, Platoon, and The Silence of the Lambs a tale of teen angst, small-town boredom and living for today. At any rate, I quite enjoyed reading On the Edge and I recommend it for all young adult readers and sailing aficionados.In 1979, a low budget teen drama based on a spate of juvenile crimes in California wrapped production. A reflector of the real world, one supposes, where a woman’s worth needs to be constantly proved (or is questioned), while that of a man’s worth (in many cases) is taken for granted. ![]() While Inanna Publications considers this a feminist novel, Emma still has to prove her worth to men and has to disguise herself as a boy for parts of her journey to lessen any suspicion of a young girl sailing on her own. In this regard, the book is a bit of a travelogue, and educational as well about the historic lock system and of sailing in general (the MacGregor boats are equipped with a motor for navigating the locks and rivers). ![]() Set on a sailboat, Emma’s journey of discovery does not take place by land-based research and combing through birth records but begins on crossing Lake Ontario, entering a foreign country (illegally) navigating the interconnecting canal system and locks in upstate New York as well as open sailing off the east coast of the U.S. On the Edge is a novel of a young person determined to take matters into their own hands to find out the truth, solve some family mysteries and to discover her birth parents. There are a few mysteries to be solved as she sails The Edge single-handed from one map point to another. Other times, she is alerted to a disaster before she crashes on the rocks. She gets strange notes and even has her anchor cut at one point. Along her journey though, she feels that she is being watched. She has heard that her mother may be in the Bahamas and is determined to sail there on her own to find her. This doesn’t stop her from listing it as “for sale” and when Emma discovers the advertisement, she escapes the farmhouse and makes tracks for The Edge. Her Aunt Petra is not pleased with this news and is determined to sell the boat, although legally she cannot. One day, the elderly Jess passes away, and Emma finds out to her disbelief that The Edge is now hers, along with a substantial amount of money in a trust fund. Emma appears to be a natural sailor as they cruise Lake Ontario. Her only reprieve from her confines is when she gets to have a little time with an older woman named Jess, who owns The Edge, a 25-foot MacGregor sailboat. her mother handed over care of her to them when Emma was only a little girl. Fourteen-year-old Emma (short for Emerald) is living an overly-restrictive life on her Aunt and Uncle’s farm near Kingston, Ontario. ![]() Ontario author Lesley Strutt’s novel On the Edge is part of Inanna Publication’s Young Feminist Series, and is an adventurous read for all ages, especially for those who like sailing stories. ![]()
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