watch.
American Teen. Dir. Nanette Burnstein. Perf. Hannah Bailey, Colin Clemens,
Geoff Haase, Megan Krizmanich, Mitch Reinholt, Jake Tusing, Ali Wikalinska.
A&E Indie Films, Paramount Vantage, 2008. Online Streaming.
This documentary walks through the life of a few high school seniors in Warsaw, Indiana. It takes a look at common pressures and self-image issues common in high schools today. This movie has received some negative reviews about being dramatic, but I can honestly say this movie portrays my own high school experience fairly well. Drama was the center of everything.
*Dreamworlds 3: Desire, Sex, Power in Music Video. Dir. Sut Jhally. The Media Education Foundation, 2007. You Tube.
This documentary recounts the history of the use of women in music videos and the resulting gender casting. This documentary contains very graphic images, considering the music video industry tries to pretend that women are basically sex toys.
Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work. Dir. Ricki Stern & Annie Sundburg. IFC Films, 2010. Live Streaming.
This documentary follows the now 76 year-old Joan Rivers and her battle to accept changing times and the inevitability of old age and its affect on people in showbiz. This watch is both very honest and very amusing, but rated R for language and sexual jokes.
*The September Issue: Anna Wintour & the Making of Vogue. Dir. RJ Cutler. Actual Reality Pictures, 2008. Live Streaming.
This was a GREAT documentary showing such tangible contrast between Vogue's main editor, Anna Wintour, and Vogue's Chief Artistic Director, Grace Coddington. This witting, entertaining documentary is interesting from start to finish and reveals the struggle within the fashion world of straight-forward, idealized, impossible beauty vs. natural, imperfect, lush, complex beauty. I very highly recommend this film.
Straightlaced: How Gender's Got Us All Tied Up. Dir. Debra Chasnoff.
GroundSpark, 2009. Public Viewing.
This documentary explored gender roles and how they affect us as a society. One of the most jarring moments was when a gender-queer person that didn't relate to male or female roles walked through a store and pointed out how gendered everything is. I never realized how almost everything related to luxury, grooming, clothing, etc is marketed to a specific gender. Food never popped up, and I think it's one of few things that typically isn't gendered through packaging and design. This film also gave several examples of people that were straight, gay, lesbian, cross-gendered, gender-queer, tomboy, and metrosexual and showed how constricting it can be to have such rigid stereotypes for males and females. It showed a good point of view on how clothing, in particular, as well as actions and interests are very gendered and this can have a really negative effect on society. All these stereotypes heighten prejudice in our society.
Very Young Girls. Dir. David Schisgall. Showtime, 2007. Live Streaming.
This documentary gives an inside look at the very real problem of prostitution of minors in New York City. This rude awakening of a documentary shows how pimps manipulate young girls into believing they can find true love in the 'family' environment these men provide. The psychologically misconstrued version of love these girls experience is very difficult to leave, but and organization called GEMS is doing everything they can to try to provide a home and support for these girls. Warning: not rated, but does contain foul language.
Geoff Haase, Megan Krizmanich, Mitch Reinholt, Jake Tusing, Ali Wikalinska.
A&E Indie Films, Paramount Vantage, 2008. Online Streaming.
This documentary walks through the life of a few high school seniors in Warsaw, Indiana. It takes a look at common pressures and self-image issues common in high schools today. This movie has received some negative reviews about being dramatic, but I can honestly say this movie portrays my own high school experience fairly well. Drama was the center of everything.
*Dreamworlds 3: Desire, Sex, Power in Music Video. Dir. Sut Jhally. The Media Education Foundation, 2007. You Tube.
This documentary recounts the history of the use of women in music videos and the resulting gender casting. This documentary contains very graphic images, considering the music video industry tries to pretend that women are basically sex toys.
Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work. Dir. Ricki Stern & Annie Sundburg. IFC Films, 2010. Live Streaming.
This documentary follows the now 76 year-old Joan Rivers and her battle to accept changing times and the inevitability of old age and its affect on people in showbiz. This watch is both very honest and very amusing, but rated R for language and sexual jokes.
*The September Issue: Anna Wintour & the Making of Vogue. Dir. RJ Cutler. Actual Reality Pictures, 2008. Live Streaming.
This was a GREAT documentary showing such tangible contrast between Vogue's main editor, Anna Wintour, and Vogue's Chief Artistic Director, Grace Coddington. This witting, entertaining documentary is interesting from start to finish and reveals the struggle within the fashion world of straight-forward, idealized, impossible beauty vs. natural, imperfect, lush, complex beauty. I very highly recommend this film.
Straightlaced: How Gender's Got Us All Tied Up. Dir. Debra Chasnoff.
GroundSpark, 2009. Public Viewing.
This documentary explored gender roles and how they affect us as a society. One of the most jarring moments was when a gender-queer person that didn't relate to male or female roles walked through a store and pointed out how gendered everything is. I never realized how almost everything related to luxury, grooming, clothing, etc is marketed to a specific gender. Food never popped up, and I think it's one of few things that typically isn't gendered through packaging and design. This film also gave several examples of people that were straight, gay, lesbian, cross-gendered, gender-queer, tomboy, and metrosexual and showed how constricting it can be to have such rigid stereotypes for males and females. It showed a good point of view on how clothing, in particular, as well as actions and interests are very gendered and this can have a really negative effect on society. All these stereotypes heighten prejudice in our society.
Very Young Girls. Dir. David Schisgall. Showtime, 2007. Live Streaming.
This documentary gives an inside look at the very real problem of prostitution of minors in New York City. This rude awakening of a documentary shows how pimps manipulate young girls into believing they can find true love in the 'family' environment these men provide. The psychologically misconstrued version of love these girls experience is very difficult to leave, but and organization called GEMS is doing everything they can to try to provide a home and support for these girls. Warning: not rated, but does contain foul language.
read.
*Eldrige, John, and Stasi Eldridge. Captivating: Unveiling the Mystery of a Woman's Soul. Nashville: Nelson, 2005. Print
Captivating was the book that truly began my interest in why women around my age have such a struggle finding themselves valuable. The book really legitimated a lot of the doubts I have about myself and it revealed though processes that I thought only I experienced. Captivating took a deeper look into why women struggle so much with wanting to feel beautiful and how American culture usually leads a woman to either implode in self-doubt believing that they don't deserve to feel beautiful or worthy, or become a tough and hardened shell that doesn't often open up, and usually plows over other individuals without much empathy or understanding. This book was eye-opening for me and gave me a fresh look at the women around me that are in pain. This book started a deep desire within me to share with other women that they are beauty and they have a uniqueness about them that is irreplaceable. If you're looking for answers or looking for validation on what is "normal" or "typical" for a woman to think, I highly suggest this book. I actually highly suggest this book to every human living in America right now.
Captivating was the book that truly began my interest in why women around my age have such a struggle finding themselves valuable. The book really legitimated a lot of the doubts I have about myself and it revealed though processes that I thought only I experienced. Captivating took a deeper look into why women struggle so much with wanting to feel beautiful and how American culture usually leads a woman to either implode in self-doubt believing that they don't deserve to feel beautiful or worthy, or become a tough and hardened shell that doesn't often open up, and usually plows over other individuals without much empathy or understanding. This book was eye-opening for me and gave me a fresh look at the women around me that are in pain. This book started a deep desire within me to share with other women that they are beauty and they have a uniqueness about them that is irreplaceable. If you're looking for answers or looking for validation on what is "normal" or "typical" for a woman to think, I highly suggest this book. I actually highly suggest this book to every human living in America right now.
