If you watched Sunday’s Academy Awards ceremony then you were witness to Hollywood's continuing shoddy treatment of women. From the lack of female director nominees to actresses being nominated for subservient roles (like servants and housewives) to Angelina Jolie making headlines with her right leg, Tinseltown has a lot of ground to make up when it comes to its representation of women.
Cue the aptly named documentary Miss Representation.
The film, which premiered at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival and was then broadcast by the Oprah Winfrey Network, has its Toronto premiere with a benefit screening tonight at the Revue cinema.
The doc examines how the mainstream media contribute to the under-representation of women in positions of power and influence in North America. Produced, written and directed by Jennifer Siebel Newsom, a former actress, the film also features Gloria Steinem, Jane Fonda, Rosario Dawson, Geena Davis, Katie Couric and Rachel Maddow in candid interviews.
We were fortunate to catch an earlier screening in December and were disturbed by the information offered in the doc. We don't want to spoil the movie, but here's a quick sample of the scary stats it parades:
- The United States ranks 90th in the world for the number of women in its national legislatures.
- Women hold only three per cent of senior positions in the U.S. mainstream media.
- 65 per cent of women and girls have disordered eating behaviours.
- American teenagers consume an average of 10 hours and 45 minutes of media a day.
Take it from us, after the screening, you won’t interpret the media’s representation of women the same way again. And that’s probably a good thing.
Revue Cinema, 400 Roncesvalles Ave., 416-531-9950. Feb. 28, 6:45 p.m.