She's Beautiful When She's Angry (2014) was directed by Mary Dore.
This is an important documentary movie, because it concerns itself with the feminist movement in the U.S. in the late 1960's and into the 1970's. I lived through this period, so I was familiar with much of the material portrayed. However, today, 40 years later, many people may not realize that what we take for granted had to be fought for meeting by meeting, petition by petition, publication by publication, and demonstration by demonstration. This is an important lesson, especially for people who take what the feminists accomplished for granted.
The film has several premises, and I agree with all of them. One is that women's rights were won by struggle, not given. Another is that you never "win" the battle for any civil rights, including rights for women. Everything you win can be taken away or pushed back, so the struggle has to continue today and, sadly, always.
Another important historical point is that feminists didn't speak with one unified voice. As within any movement, there were disagreements and hostilities. Many of the women who had high profiles in the feminist movement were White and relatively privileged. What about poor women? What about women of color? Women of color had to fight two battles--to be recognized as equal to men, and recognized as equal to White women.
Even in the discussion after the movie, some people felt that the comments made by other people denigrated their own work. It's hard to achieve your goals, and to keep a movement unified, or at least not totally fragmented.
It was interesting to hear interviews with high-profile feminists like Susan Brownmiller and Kate Millett, but the interviews with lesser-known feminists were fascinating as well.
The documentary footage was well chosen and illustrated the topics discussed by the women being interviewed. Production quality was high.
This movie is worth seeing, and I recommend it. We saw it on the large screen at the excellent Little Theatre in Rochester, NY. However, it will work very well on DVD.
This is an important documentary movie, because it concerns itself with the feminist movement in the U.S. in the late 1960's and into the 1970's. I lived through this period, so I was familiar with much of the material portrayed. However, today, 40 years later, many people may not realize that what we take for granted had to be fought for meeting by meeting, petition by petition, publication by publication, and demonstration by demonstration. This is an important lesson, especially for people who take what the feminists accomplished for granted.
The film has several premises, and I agree with all of them. One is that women's rights were won by struggle, not given. Another is that you never "win" the battle for any civil rights, including rights for women. Everything you win can be taken away or pushed back, so the struggle has to continue today and, sadly, always.
Another important historical point is that feminists didn't speak with one unified voice. As within any movement, there were disagreements and hostilities. Many of the women who had high profiles in the feminist movement were White and relatively privileged. What about poor women? What about women of color? Women of color had to fight two battles--to be recognized as equal to men, and recognized as equal to White women.
Even in the discussion after the movie, some people felt that the comments made by other people denigrated their own work. It's hard to achieve your goals, and to keep a movement unified, or at least not totally fragmented.
It was interesting to hear interviews with high-profile feminists like Susan Brownmiller and Kate Millett, but the interviews with lesser-known feminists were fascinating as well.
The documentary footage was well chosen and illustrated the topics discussed by the women being interviewed. Production quality was high.
This movie is worth seeing, and I recommend it. We saw it on the large screen at the excellent Little Theatre in Rochester, NY. However, it will work very well on DVD.