My Scarlet Letter

Emily and her friends are anxious to leave the claustrophobic confines of their existence and are desperately trying to find a way to escape from their hometown. The idyllic panorama that stretches all around them is, in fact, a thin screen that hides the narrow-mindedness and the oppressive pettiness of their rural community. But when a car actually offers them the possibility of escaping, Emily understands that, whatever happens, she will always belong to this place.

"My Scarlet Letter began as a simple idea about small town, rural America seen through the eyes of its rebellious teenage subjects. I drew upon my experience of growing up in an insular farming community where my only contact with the greater world came through the two television stations that we could pick up without too much static. The story became more complex as I came to realize that memories of that time were bittersweet and that no matter how much I had put those experiences behind me I couldn't quite smother them in my adult city life. […] This place that I had run from was actually a part of me, had marked me and informed who I had become." (K.D. Carpenter)