Blog #4

I saw the documentary, "Miss Representation", which was about stereotypical media representation of women and the impact it has on women of power, in regards to beauty, sexuality, violence, body image, and power positions. “Miss Representation” was edited so well. The cuts were strategically placed in a way that it made you think of the contrast between images. For example, there would be an image of a scantily clad actress and then one of a female politician or activist. The combination of sound and picture really help the documentary garner support for its cause. While various negative media images of women are shown one by one on the screen rapidly, jarring music is played that really excites and makes the viewer angry. This really makes the viewer question why we have such limiting portrayals of women in the media. Newsom’s relationship with her subjects is not shown in the documentary, but the comfortable and personal nature of the interviews shows the shared interest of filmmaker and subject. There is no "right" place to cut or not to cut as the filmmaker makes those decisions as to what feeling they want to portray in their film. For "Miss Representation", the cuts are more obvious because the filmmaker has to make it clear that there is more than one, (hundreds, thousands) of media images that effect girls and women in a negative way. Expert commentary from people in the media like Margaret Cho was a great bonus to watching this documentary. Cho gave her personal experience with being told by network executives that she was too fat, and being anorexic. “They ended up canceling the television show and replacing it with Drew Carey, because he’s so thin,” she said sarcastically. Seeing this contrast between what different sexes get away with is important for the documentary in order for some viewers to understand the double standards women face.