17 Female-Centric Themed Documentaries That Everyone Should See

#1). THE HUNTING GROUND

From the crew that made THE INVISIBLE WAR, comes a jarring exposé of rape crimes on various U.S. college campuses, institutional cover-ups, and the harrowing social toll on victims and their families. The film follows rape survivors as they endeavor to further their education while pursuing justice, facing brutal retaliation, harassment, and resistance every step of the way.

#2). THE INVISIBLE WAR

An unprecedented investigative documentary about one of America's most shameful and best-kept secrets: the rape epidemic within the US military. Today, a female soldier in Iraq and Afghanistan is more likely to be raped by a fellow soldier than killed by enemy fire.

The film reveals the systemic cover up of the crimes against female American soldiers and follows their struggles to rebuild their lives and fight for justice. Featuring frank interviews with high-ranking military officials and members of Congress that reveal the combinations of circumstances that exist for Rape Culture to thrive in the American armed forces, its history of cover-up, and what can be done to bring about long overdue change.   

#3). SEXY BABY

Aptly titled SEXY BABY paints a particularly disturbing portrait in regards to Winnifred, a middle school student, amidst the rise of a new sexual landscape via the cyber age. 

The documentary focuses on other individuals and topics, but the most intriguing aspect are the trials and temptations that the contemporary tween faces thanks to unchecked corporate media that creates hypersexualized youths all in the name of profit.  It begs to question if what is truly being exploited are the minds and souls of America's children, not just their bodies.  It's a film that left me feeling sorry for 21st century parents.

#4). MISS REPRESENTATION 

An analysis of the Hegemonic society that utilizes the media as a gender engineering tool and how this sets into motion the subordination of women in American culture that perpetually undervalues women as individuals in both the political and social arenas.

#5). THE MASK YOU LIVE IN 

By the makers of MISS REPRESTATION, this is an excellent juxtaposition film that examines if American masculine culture is not only actually toxic for boys, but ultimately for everyone.  Suggesting that American male culture forces boys to suppress their humanity, making many of them dangerous.

#6). INDIA'S DAUGHTER

A harrowing examination of the New Delhi, India bus rape, this BCC special was banned in India.  Very tactfully done and not sensationalistic, most telling is the stemmatic violent misogyny that an insulated patriarchy is not only capable of but is capable of justifying - no matter how irrational.  

#7). MONDAYS AT RACINE

On the third Monday of every month, sisters Cynthia and Rachel open their Long Island, New York beauty salon to women undergoing chemotherapy. The sisters are determined to give women who are losing their hair, eyebrows and eyelashes a sense of normalcy and dignity in a traumatic and uncertain time.

In this Oscar-nominated short film, Director Cynthia Wade examines what hair means in American culture, and reflects on issues of womanhood, marriage, and survival.

#8). PINK RIBBONS, INC.

A brilliant film about how breast cancer has become less about finding a cure and more about "pink ribbons" becoming an industry.  It actually gets pretty revolting and most likely will infuriate you, as it should. Especially in recent lieu of VICE basically making a public service announcement with their special report KILLING CANCER.  Any free thinker that regularly questions the status quo establishment truly needs to see this documentary.  

#9). BREASTS: A DOCUMENTARY 

Even though this is from 1996, it's just as relevant for today's viewer.  The fetishizing of the female breast in American culture is challenged by twenty-two women (ranging in age from 11 to 84), with 41 breasts, talking candidly about their breasts, mainly topless. They speak out about adolescence, bras, commercial images of women's bodies, having breast implants or, in one case, a breast reduction, health problems with silicone, doctors' exams gone awry ("I think you have a throat infection, let me examine your breasts"), breasts as power tools and as objects of pleasure, cancer, living with mastectomies, and the effects of time and gravity. Humorous, straightforward, and reflective, it's a classic.  If you can find it.

#10). PRIVATE VIOLENCE

A feature-length documentary film and audience engagement campaign that explores a simple, but deeply disturbing fact of American life: the most dangerous place for a woman in America is her own home. Every day in the US, at least four women are murdered by abusive (and often, ex) partners. The knee-jerk response is to ask: “why doesn’t she just leave?” - PRIVATE VIOLENCE discredits the brutality of this logic. Through the eyes of two survivors, we bear witness to the complicated and complex realities of intimate partner violence. 

Their experiences challenge entrenched and misleading assumptions, providing a lens into a world that is largely invisible; a world we have locked behind closed doors with our silence, our laws, and our lack of understanding. You will become immersed in the lives of several other women as they attempt to leave their abusers, setting them on a collision course with institutions that continuously and systematically fail them, often blaming victims for the violence they hope to flee. The same society that encourages women to seek true love shows them no mercy when that love turns dangerous.  The film poses questions that hold the potential to change our society: “Why does he abuse?” “Why do we turn away?” “How do we begin to build a future without domestic violence?”

#11). ABOUT FACE: SUPERMODELS THEN AND NOW

I personally enjoyed this documentary mainly because it's about the experience of extremely high profile beautiful women and how they went from being naive young women to aging older women.  It's interesting how women almost have an abusive relationship with their own bodies and it is very insightful on that topic which many men and younger women who capitalize on their looks fail to completely grasp and accept. 

#12). VICE: THE JERSEY SHORE OF ENGLAND

Anything VICE makes is amazing and hard-hitting, this relatively short documentary (which I believe is part of their Fashion Week Internationale series - excellent in its own right) shows the absolutely disgusting and self-inflicting dangers when it comes to obtaining "beauty".  There is a tan obsessed woman who injects herself with questionable chemicals that make her physically ill.  'Nuff said.

#13). PLASTIC DISASTERS 

This is definitely a terrifying and depressing watch.  But anyone considering plastic surgery should view it and hopefully seriously reconsider getting plastic surgery done.  

Cosmetic surgery is absolutely unnecessary in most instances and can easily be botched as this documentary portrays.  You're better off accepting your appearance as is, after-all it's just a stupid human suit that we're donning.    

I can't find a trailer for this film on YouTube, but you can read more about it here.

#14). AILEEN WUORNOS: THE SELLING OF A SERIAL KILLER

Poor Aileen Wuornos.  I've been wanting to do a full-length blog on her for awhile.  She was unjustly demonized for the sake of media frenzy.  Granted she may have killed some men, but she argued vehemently that in many instances it was in self-defense and did not receive a fair trial.  A truly tragic character, Wuornos was perhaps molested into madness and was tragically murdered by the state of Flordia. 

May she rest in peace, as there was none for her in this world.  

#15). CAPTIVATED THE TRIALS OF PAMELA SMART

This is another American woman that did not in any way shape or form receive a fair trial.  The 1995 movie TO DIE FOR was based on this true life story, however, TO DIE FOR was based on the media portrayed "truth" that was twisted repeatedly and sensationalized.  Pamela Smart wasn't the evil temptress mastermind she was erroneously painted as being.  It just goes to show how the media machine loves to spin a narrative for viewership and obfuscate the truth.  

  

#16). BLUE VINYL 

Insightful, informative, hilarious, inspiring, and terrifying, BLUE VINYL will forever change the way you look at vinyl no matter what color it is.  

  

#17). GOOD HAIR

Chris Rock said what inspired him to make this film was one of his very young daughters inquiring if or complaining about how she didn't have "good hair" - a beautiful tribute born of a father's love for his daughter, Rock's documentary might be about hair, but it'll hit you right in the gut.  It will definitely expand your world perspective and will most likely leave you breathless, awestruck, and even angered.    

IN CLOSING:

This list was composed as in a mainly male dominated and male-centric world, female-centric stories struggle to be told.  By no means is this a comprehensive list, there's plenty of other documentaries out there that also shed light on the "female mystique" but these tales are a bit more poignant and varied, and can be enjoyed by anyone.  These films are educational and enlightening.  Happy viewing!    

Understanding Charli XCX's "Famous" Music Video - (A Review, So ***SPOILERS***)

Charli XCX's "Famous" is track #9 off her album 'Sucker'.  

(Maybe Beta Kitten programming *is* real...). 

The lyrics at first sound like any other contemporary sexpot-as-pop-star whining about alcohol over-consumption yet making it sound absolutely glamorous.  So had I heard the song on the radio, I would have never taken the time to look-up the masterful art piece which is the music video for "Famous" as directed by Eric Wareheim.  Luckily I was exposed to the music video prior to the lyrics--albeit the lyrics themselves aren't too bad (once read)-- and my mind was effectively blown.

Dark satire and a black mirror effectively drive extremely complicated social issues home and harken upon a time when music videos could actually, you know, mean something.  Most articles on the internet are not dissecting this music video the way it deserves.  Disappointed by the lack of examination or meaningful critique I'm going to muster up some courage today and provide an analysis, but all of my philosophies pale next to the original inspiration and brilliance of "Famous".

Short and potent, the music video opens on a carefree maybe teenager, maybe 'tween, maybe 9 year old girl bee-bopping around her bedroom.  She's got pigtails and a--let's be clear here--S&M choker necklace on.  Everything in her life is magical.  Her enchanted objects, i.e. cell phone and tablet, distract her from the real ills and evil in the world.  She is purposely sheltered.  Embalmed in pink.  Emotions as emojis.  The enchanted objects loose power twice, each time they do she looses the protection they lent from the shadows in the closet and the monsters under the bed.  They come at her as gangsta ghouls of men and kidnap her. 

The media she was engaged in watching before getting snatched wasn't so very enlightening however, she was completely in rapture of celebrity worship, granted in this instance for Charli XCX, but it easily could have been supplemented by any star popular among the youth.  She was taking a bunch of selfies, posting them on public online networking sites, probably oblivious of security settings emulating her star.  Being famous vicariously.  Through her chosen decor and few shallow texts, it becomes obvious these are her only interests, being sexy and being famous. 

 (Is that a stuffed unicorn on the bed???).

Sound familiar or like anyone you know?  If you can say yes, then you should be sad.  For at least a little bit.  If you have a daughter and recognize these symptoms, please stop this Princess Bitchface from fully devolving for the sake of all humanity.  Some of you may think I am joking.  But I most certainly am not.  Stop it.  Stop.  It. 

Anywho she gets kidnapped by humanoids that look like a vanilla geriatric version of the Insane Clown Posse.  These must be the moguls of industries: the music industry, the advertising industry, the fashion industry, the sex industry, even the banking industry.  They all have a S&M tinge to them and are pretty creepy.  Our girl really isn't that thrilled to be there in this completely white room, where a music video of her star is playing.  This music video is composed of lies and illusions.  The skulls are glamoured into smiley faces, the exorcist looking chick is her beloved star, in reality, not looking so lovely:

But our chick has a dead battery on her phone, so she can't partake of the glamour.  It's here in the white room we see actual little girls, also wearing variants of S&M chokers and you get the feeling they've been kidnapped too.  And it is a fairly uncomfortable feeling.  You've got a couple of self absorbed freaks in the back ground, where you see the madness that years of celebrity worship and emulation have caused.  Chemical bleaching and tanning of the body.  Complete denial over the aging process, as if age were merely a state of mind that doesn't necessarily require any dignity.  The freaks are taking stupid selfies with stupid selfie sticks completely devoid of the saga of meaning.  Emojis decorate their selfies because in order to have emotions, one must first have a soul, but these are trite people that lack substance and therefore soul.  These freaks never learned to self-actualize because they're too busy trying to be Marlyin Monroe and George Hamilton.  

This dying of the batteries appears to be a direct allegory for loss of power.  Our girl certainly doesn't have any.  She is uncertainly and unquestionably navigating the world laid out before her, which turns out to be an un-world.  Reality doesn't really exist.  Even when she's disgusted by the creepier clowns, she barely shrugs them away in learned compliance.  These old white men ghouls seem to run and ruin everything in this music video.  In a white room, like your minds are being white-washed.  You loose site of universal purpose in lieu of placing an over importance on material appearance.  The aspirations of the mind are lost to the baser instincts of the body.  The girl with her loss of power, no longer can glamour away her reality, she sees the ugliness and warping of the world.  

While stumbling around for an electrical plug she comes upon a door that will not allow her to pass until she's seen the advertisement.  This is the most terrifying aspect of the music video because it's real!  This already happens!  Think of anything you've ever done online that required you to wait until you were subjected to advertising against your will on a topic you have no power over which of choosing.  Creepier though is the data mining being done on your browsing habits so advertising can be tailored to your expressed interests via various algorithms, thereby further warping your version of reality!       

But the girl needs her fix.  Her very literal reality fix.  Most American's quality of life is so low we escape into entertainment, drugs, booze, sex, the internet, gaming.  We find unreality so much more appetizing then reality because we are in so much fucking psychic pain.  Many of us in physical pain as well.  We celebrate our lies.  We bask in our sins.  We're the boys that turn into donkeys in Pinocchio.  We're ostriches that stick our heads in our smartphones instead of the soil.  We engage in the abstract inner-space because the physical real outer-space, the IRL, feels like it's falling apart.  But I digress.  

Our chick finally gets in this pink partially phallic type of room and this scary looking fat satanic dude with selfie stick fingers is screaming at her, but he's got an electrical outlet for a belly button and you see her go internally, "ah fuck it, if this is what I have to do" and she finally plugs her phone in to get some power.  This electrocutes her.  She dies with a smile on her face and emoji blood pools behind her head.  The onlookers take photos of her and upload her image with hashtags.  She's just another way for them to get famous vicariously. 

So what does all this mean?!  It means our culture sucks, that is what all of this means.  It means Andy Warhol's prediction on everyone in the future getting 15 minutes of fame has finally come true but we should wonder at what cost.       

We don't have a council of philosopher kings debating the effects of new tech on the individual soul or collective society.

We just use it blindly, worse, we let our children use it blindly more often then not.  Our kids don't seem to get taught proper online security or etiquette very well.  Which duh, most kids are teaching their parents how to use new tech.  I can only imagine what it's like to raise a daughter in this age.  Wanting to protect her from online threats, and cyber stalkers, and ex-boyfriends hellbent on posting revenge porn and taking over her laptop with a remote access trojan.  That's seriously got to be terrifying!

And everyone trying to be YouTube famous.  As fame was the best thing ever.  Nothing is wrong with not being famous.  If you're not famous, you're something better--you are part of the glorious sonder. Rejoice in that.

I like to research odd topics for fun and one of them of late has been Beta Kitten programming.  If I'm going to write about Beta Kitten programming at length, that's better as a separate future blog.  But some of the imagery that was used in the music video and even for the album cover really reminded me of the story archs that supposedly reappear in many instances of Beta Kitten programming.  Like the Marylin Monroe wannabe, the cheetah print, the appearance of the clownish handlers, the balance of black and white...  In a nutshell, Beta Kitten programming is supposedly maybe happening in Hollywood, especially among child actresses and even actors, making them into sex trafficked children among the worldly elite that would pay top dollar for time spent with a famous beautiful child because Hollywood is run by the Illuminati brainwashing these girls that in turn grow up to effectively brain wash your daughters to be food for the sexually perverse and serial killers that roam the grounds that is America.  Beta Kitten programming has its roots in CIA Monarch Mind-control, and that's a fun rabbit hole to run down.  So I hope I haven't lost you.  I'm not saying it's real or that it's not real, I'm just saying the imagery reminded me of this topic and I was surprised it was so heavily alluded to in this medium.  Don't think that Eric might have been purposely going for that angle, but it's there all the same.

Which begs to question, why are we letting various industries have control over the minds of our children to the point where they lose touch with reality and have a host of mental, emotional, and behavioral issues?  And yes I know this is all anecdotal, because I'm not a scientist and lack facts, but this is what I observe happening.  It's like the women's movement never happened.  We're loosing our girls to alcohol too.  Research that because I'm ruining out of time but more young women are drinking then ever before and it is so much worse when women drink then men because biologically women are completely different.  Women have lower levels of water in them and higher concentrations of fat so we can't hold our liquor like men can, no matter how hard we try, we can't drink like a man.  If you do, it'll increase your chance of breast cancer.

So I liked this music video, not so much the song.  The song is terrible.  The lyrics are decent.  The lyrics are worth a read if you want to fully appreciate the imagery of the music video, it complements it nicely.  The lyrics are about being so fucked up that you don't care if you make a fool out of yourself in public and drunkenly fall downstairs while getting high because you want to party like your famous: "Now we're falling down the stairs, we act so shameless...Just like we're famous."         

But bitches you ain't famous, you're just alcoholics.

And maybe you're alcoholics....

          

...because you're not famous.

Trademark This Sick Beat

This Sick Beat
belongs to you, belongs to me.
This Sick Beat
is totally free from fee.
Trademark our speech and see
how swiftly we loose ability
to speak.
Because you cannot cap us
on
This Sick Beat