Miss Representation Review

    I was really looking forward to seeing this film (see previous blog post: “Miss Representation”). I;m going to be really honest. I did not really like the director’s way of storytelling. The film was mostly interview-based, but it frequently had cuts to montage scenes of near or mild pornographic images. For a film so adamantly against such things, why did I see more of those images in one film than I have accidentally run across on the internet in the last 5 years? I know, they may have been going for the ‘shock factor’, but after the opening scene, I felt there was no need for it. They were saying it was so bad, yet showing their viewers those same images! Not cool. Overall, nothing was confusing, however, I think it may have helped to have interviews with real women who had struggled with issues, rather than to just interview every famous woman.
    I care about this subject, and the director did present many important points. However, I do not feel I was made to care more as the film went on--the amount I cared about the subject was a result of my own opinions, and not hers. I think that, in an attempt to make people care more, the director used the inappropriate images because if the audience was against such things, then they would surely have to realize that they were of her same mindset, too. I feel that she did not need to to so hard to get people to believe that what she said was important, it just is--fact. Alternatively, I think that some of the most effective scene, for me, were ones where they showed video featuring real women in the public eye (like Katie Couric), and the appropriate, yet not overly stiff, way they present themselves. It was a nice way to really see what they were saying we should strive to be.
    I felt as if the director was trying to manipulate a bit. For example, they focused a LOT on the small number of women in power-position jobs. They kept saying who and it was that women didn’t have more of those rolls. I agree that any discriminate is wrong, however, I feel they COMPLETELY ignored a VERY important point. A lot of women have families on the side, and do not want to have such a huge job, OR they quite the workforce to be mothers. If both those kinds of women are removed from the mix, then yes, there are less even wanting power positions--but that messes with her statistics. She completely ignored that some women just want a small job, or just want to be a full-time mother. This is also interesting for her to leave out as she said she was making this film for her own young daughter.
    I think the film brought up some very important and fair points, however, as the movie progressed, I did feel as if the director did not present every aspect of what she was talking about, and instead provided a some-what narrow view.
    Some important points worth talking about were realized in this film, but I unfortunately must admit that I feel they missed out on talking about all women (with varying desires for jobs), and further rejecting the images (which they presented all too often) that they said they were so horrified at.