Screening of "Miss Representation" Looks at Women and the Media

By Camille Tucker :: 05/19/11

Watch the discussion panel on Vimeo

When you turn on the TV what do you see? Are women smart, confident, and influential? Or are they scantily clad, hypersexual, and catty? On Friday, May 13, an audience of 120 filled Travis Auditorium for a screening of Miss Representation, a documentary that ponders these questions.

Written and directed by Jennifer Siebel Newsom, Miss Representation begins with Newsom’s own personal struggles as an overachiever with hidden body and esteem issues. The film then broadens its scope to look at the ways in which the representation of women in the media has adversely affected the psyche of young girls.

Oscar-winning actress Geena Davis shares a personal anecdote about the time her children expressed shock at a TV actress who performed a rescue in a bikini. The film is full of such stories by some of America’s most influential women, including former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Senator Dianne Feinstein, activist Gloria Steinem, Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi, and author Jennifer L. Pozner.
 
Miss Representation sets out to prove that the media is the most powerful instrument of change or denigration. The film admonishes women to recognize their own self-objectifying and to play a stronger role in bringing about change.

Brehm Center Artist-in-Residence Lauralee Farrer, Fuller professors Rob Johnston and Linda Peacore, and student Jessica Knutzen joined Women and Gender Cabinet Vice President Jessica Robinson for a post-screening discussion. Johnston noted that at a place like Fuller, we are "preaching to the choir" regarding inclusivity and equality.

All agreed that individual churches must do more to nurture women in leadership, while Peacore commented on her own challenges navigating the role of professor and mother. One teacher in the audience lamented about the apathy she sees in female teens. Yet Knutzen reminded audience members that the film ends with practical ways to make a difference.

Clearly, the subject matter struck a chord. A group of Fuller students remained in the lobby of Travis for well over an hour discussing the film.

The screening and panel discussion were sponsored by the Brehm Center’s Reel Spirituality Initiative. For more about the film and helping to create a change in the images of women in the media, visit the film’s website.

Camille Tucker is a current Fuller student, screenwriter, and codirector of Reel Spirituality.