luludavis Review of Pretty Things

Pretty Things (2005 TV Movie)

Awesome Documentary marred by Filmmaker's Agenda

[8/10 · 27 August 2005]

Filmmaker Liz Goldwyn has done a fantastic job in helping to tell the stories of these interesting women of the Burlesque art form. Unfortunately the film is marred by the Ms. Goldwyn interjection of her own personal pseudo-feminist agenda. The high points of the film are diverse stories told by an array of very different personalities such as Zorita and Lois De Fee. The low points are when the Ms. Goldwyn decides to let us in on her own personal triumphs and failures as a female in search of confidence and personal expression. As a personality, Liz Goldwyn is no match for these older seasoned women who have lead "real" lives as opposed to the life of an unfulfilled person who is on the outside looking in. The finale drags the whole movie down. If Ms. Goldwyn was attempting to contrast the personalities of these hard-scrabble broads with her own whining, self-indulgent, psycho-babbling self she sure did succeed. If I could cut out the parts where Liz Goldwyn talks I would. The result would be an awesome documentary about smart, confident women who survived in a harsh world by using their instincts instead wallowing in academic, navel-gazing.