Sunday, June 5, 2011

Miss Representation Movie

  I watched this movie over the weekend and was horrified at the truth that I was unaware of.  The movie doesn't seem to give a resolution to the problem of women being miss represented.  I wanted to put this blog out to see if I could get any comments or ideas as to how women can move ahead in this world without intimidation or criticism.  As a business owner I have become concerned about our future as women.  This is not a stand alone world,  this is a support one another world and something we need to take action on.
This movie takes me back to the days of The Wizard of Oz.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judy_garland#The_Wizard_of_Oz  This is what I found on this site.  After Shirley Temple was turned down this is what they did to Judy Garland:  Garland was initially outfitted in a blonde wig for the part, but Freed and LeRoy decided against it shortly into filming. Her breasts were bound with tape and she was made to wear a special corset to flatten out her curves and make her appear younger; her blue gingham dress was also chosen for its blurring effect on her figure.
Although, that did not affect the succuss of the show:The Wizard of Oz was a tremendous critical success, though its high budget and promotions costs of an estimated $4 million coupled with the lower revenue generated by children's tickets meant that the film did not make a profit until it was re-released in the 1940s.[29] At the 1940 Academy Awards ceremony, Garland received an Academy Juvenile Award for her performances in 1939, including The Wizard of Oz and Babes in Arms.[30] Following this recognition, Garland became one of MGM's most bankable stars.
And yet she wasn't good enough.  When I was a child watching this movie, I did not care what Judy Garland looked like.  I cared about the story.  What the story was telling me.  Is it good?  Or is it bad...The story was good.  So were all the people in the film.  I don't remember what they looked like.

This paragraph was taken from www.missrepresenation.org.

When  the new documentary film Miss Representation premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, audiences were riveted, and Oprah Winfrey acquired its broadcast rights. Writer/Director Jennifer Siebel Newsom interwove stories from teenage girls with provocative interviews from the likes of Dr. Condoleezza Rice, Lisa Ling, Nancy Pelosi, Katie Couric, Rachel Maddow, Rosario Dawson, Dr. Jackson Katz, Dr. Jean Kilbourne, and Gloria Steinem to give us an inside look at the media and its message.
As the most persuasive and pervasive force of communication in our culture, media is educating yet another generation that a woman’s primary value lay in her youth, beauty and sexuality—and not in her capacity as a leader, making it difficult for women to obtain leadership positions and for girls to reach their full potential.
The film accumulates startling facts and statistics that leave audiences shaken, armed with a new perspective, and asking the question, “What can we do?”


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gkIiV6konY  visit the trailer at this site.

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