Mollie, overwhelmed by the recent loss of her husband and the responsibility of being a single mother, drowns herself in despair and alcoholism. At the beginning of the film the audience views Mollie as a weak character who runs from her problems and usually ends up at a bar. In one scene, a Hispanic man hits on Mollie and calls her an Indian whore. Upset and enraged, she returns home drunk to her three children who are angered by her drunken display. In another scene when Mollie announces that she wants to move, Alice refuses and Mollie hits her, only to end up at a

bar again. Mollie’s transformation comes when she starts attending Alcoholic Anonymous meetings and meets a man named Sherman who expresses interest in her. Although Mollie is displayed as a character who is only happy when there is a man in her life, Sherman does help Mollie overcome her alcoholism and general rage towards life. Her complete transformation occurs when Justine dies. This shows that Mollie’s life had to hit rock bottom before it could get better. In the scene at the end of the film when Steven and Mollie begin talking again, she tells him that the worse has happened, and asks, “What more could happen?” After Justine’s death, Mollie becomes more of a mother who is calm and kind, rather than drunk and enraged like at the beginning of the film.

Another character who experiences transformation is Justine who changes from extremely bad and rebellious to a sensitive and sensible character. In the beginning of Grand Avenue the audience sees Justine drunk and dancing at a party, and then having sex in the back of a car. Justine challenges all traditional roles of a woman and uses her sexuality as power. For example, when she is to meet with the girl whose boyfriend she slept with to fight, Justine spends time to make herself look good beforehand. The first sign of Jus

Some topics in this essay:
Justine Alice, Grand Avenue, Aunt Nellie, Alcoholic Anonymous, Steven Mollie, Avenue Alice, Alice Mollie’s, Northern California, Santa Rosa, Native American, grand avenue, beginning film, justine alice, scene mollie announces, mollie justine, beginning grand, audience views, justine’s death, individual battles, contemporary american, mollie justine alice, contemporary american society, beginning grand avenue, american society,