Culture

Directed by Jennifer Siebel Newsom, (5/5).

Before you stop reading because you think this film looks like it’s only for crazy feminists, wait! It’s not. Miss Representation is a film that every person in the world should watch. An exploration of the impact of the negative portrayal and objectification of women by the media, Miss Representation is a very powerful documentary. While primarily focusing on women and the media, the film also exposes the utter perverseness of the media’s influence on society and the effects of the media on everyone, irrespective of gender.

The documentary examines the mainstream media’s influence on women’s mindsets through interviews with women in politics, the media and a group of extremely insightful teenagers, as well presenting mind-boggling statistics through well-crafted infographics.

As one high school student featured in the film sagely put it, “There’s no appreciation for women intellectuals. It’s all about the body, not about the brain.” Women must contend with the Achilles’ heel of their appearance; even if you have the brain and the body, you still can’t win. The film showed at least three clips of male news presenters referring to Sarah Palin as “prime masturbation material”, robbing her of any dignity in their eyes. Obama is pretty good looking, but would he ever be characterised as an object for the universal female wank bank? Probably not.

Ahh! So many problems! So depressing! In one way, I felt shocked and disillusioned watching Miss Representation. However, the most valuable defence against the power of the media is being aware of the messages they are trying to push, while at the same time being able to ignore them. We perpetuate negativity towards women by criticising ourselves and others, rather than being encouraging and supporting. Women are severely underrepresented in mainstream media channels – the lenses that women are viewed through are mostly in the hands of men. This is something we can change. We need to be more positive about women, and we need more women in the media to put a stop to the garbage being pumped out day after day.
 
To end on a positive/inspiring note, I will use the words of Katie Couric, CBS News Anchor: “The media can be an instrument of change, it can awaken people and change minds. It depends on who is piloting the plane.”