MISS REPRESENTATION

US, 2010, 85 minutes, Colour.
Directed by Jennifer Siebel Newsome, Kimberlee Acquiro.

This is a strong documentary film about women, women’s issues, men’s issues with women, and, from the title, the media representations or misrepresentations of women.

The director and her team were keen to make this film, especially because at the end, the director gave birth to a daughter – and was concerned about her life in a chauvinist world with crass misrepresentations of women.

The theme of the film is familiar but it is an interesting 90 minutes with a wide range of images, many of them quite disturbing, even disgusting the strong point is made.

Along with the images, there is great concern, even crusade about the representation of women. it is very much a documentary of talking heads, with a great number of women, and several men contributing. There are many very articulate women advocates from a range of organisations. There are several American women who stood for politics – and, in the light of later years and Hillary Clinton’s campaign for the US presidency, strong opinions from Hillary Clinton as well as footage of her campaign in the 2008 presidential election. There are also quite a number of talking heads from the arts, some with great prestige like Geena Davis, and Jane Fonda, drawing on their experience of film and television as well as their social concerns.

Their comments and the juxtaposition of the talking heads with so many images has a cumulative effect, especially with the crass objectifying of women, sexuality, nudity, sexual violence. And, once again, there is a concern for the impact on children and the sexualisation of children at younger and younger ages.

While there are many similar films on this theme, this is a useful 90 minutes to visualise and dramatise the key issues.