By: debbie lynn elias
America – a country that boasts 5% of the world’s population but 40% of the world’s advertising. America – a country that pushes beauty for profit with such greed and need that the price tag is now not only measured in dollars and cents, but life and death. America – country where its residences spend more than $12 billion (yes, billion) a year on cosmetic surgery. America – a country that is so obsessed with “beauty” that as early as 10 and 12 years old, girls plummet into depression and suffer with low self-esteem because they aren’t “beautiful.” It has been said that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. With AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL, writer/director Darryl Roberts now questions those eyes and what exactly they behold and why.
How does one tackle a project as ambitious as this? For Darryl Roberts, it begins with Gerren Taylor, who at age 12 was hitting the catwalk with such style, attitude and maturity, many believed her to be the next great supermodel. But, a 12 year old girl is still only a 12 year old girl inside and when she began losing modeling jobs because her size 2 butt was deemed “too big”, Gerren disappeared from the limelight and into a self-imposed loathing of her “ugliness”. Gerren, ugly? Not to other 12 year old girls or even 30 year old girls or guys. But to the media and fashion industry, one inch too much of what they deem the “perfect” size made Gerren unacceptable, wrecking just more psychological havoc on not only pre-pubescents across the country, but on women in general. Roberts follows Gerren on her meteoric rise to the top (with her ever present frustrated demanding wannabe model mother who clearly wants to live vicariously through her daughter, in tow) and her crash back to reality.
As Roberts inquisitive narration serves as a haunting background to the visuals at hand, he follows a natural transitory thread moving from Gerren Taylor and the modeling industry to media to make-up to advertising to dating services to plastic and cosmetic surgery, exposing horrific ideals along the way as America obsesses about beauty and being “beautiful.” Unfortunately, Roberts goes for broke trying to cram in everything but the kitchen sink when it comes to “beauty” thus pushing us into overload. However, his logic and thought pattern progression flows nicely.
Interspersing some beautiful, and not so beautiful, film footage with interviews and rapid fire “beautiful” montages of “beauty”, Roberts gives equal time to all points of view in all the topics he addresses with some surprising revelations. Interviews with average girls are disheartening as each is mired in a lack of self-esteem because they don’t look like a magazine cover. Guys are obsessed with the T&A factor and one is so bold throughout the his interview so as to pride himself in that emotional shortcoming, reveling in his obsession with big breasts and his idea of the “perfect 10″ woman. (He is living proof that men can be morons.) Interestingly, there are some modeling agency owners with a heart who believe a child is a child and should not be thrust into a grown-up world (no matter how hard a mother may push) and who are quite concerned about age appropriate representation of beauty. On the other hand, we hear from disinterested magazine editors who aim only to “give the public what it wants” (and who, on being pressed by Roberts, skirt the question of who determines what the public wants and who determines what to give them) as well as perhaps the most mercenary, hateful, mean-spirited, greedy example of the worst of humanity, Jill Ishkanian, formerly with US Weekly, who relishes exploitation, deceit and manipulation of the American public and blatantly admits to not caring about what happens to those she uses and abuses because, after all, it makes her rich. (How Roberts restrained himself from lunging across the desk to choke off the words coming out of her mouth is still a mystery to me.)
Roberts hurls facts and statistics at us at a dizzying pace, many of which deserve more attention that this film has time to give. For example, the cancer-causing ingredient phthalate, which thanks loopholes in the FDA, are not included on cosmetic labels because in certain combinations they are deemed “trade secrets.” Breast augmentations in teenage girls – which are being performed with full parental consent and encouragement – is at an all time high of nearly 4,000 last year alone. Despite the multitude of facts he does provide, I believe the film warrants more facts and figures on the cosmetics industry as a whole though. The film seems a little light on information in terms of dollars, the percentage of advertising that deals with beauty directly, even a spin on why ads deal with “beautiful people” and there is a definite shortage on psychiatric/psychologic opinions and analysis of what’s going on.
And folks, Roberts doesn’t just concentrate on women. Oh no, he provides footage, facts and figures about the vanity in all you men out there, not to mention, DOGS that are receiving testicular implants. (Yes, dogs.) Where does it all end? Sadly, Roberts shows us where America’s obsession with beauty ends; on the operating table, many times with unqualified practitioners performing surgical procedures with devastating results.
Roberts has amassed and produced some fascinating material with this film, so much so that I would have liked to see him break this into 2 films – one on Gerren Taylor and the modeling industry, and the other just on America’s obsession with beauty through cosmetics and surgery as promulgated by the media. Although Roberts incorporates early newsreels of cosmetic ads and Estee Lauder herself, he misses the boat by not having a history of where the obsession with beauty started; what is it that started man’s obsession with beauty as society now deems beauty (size 2 and vacuous) rather than “beauty is in the eye of the beholder” and that eye looks beyond the surface. What turned beauty into an industry? What made men obsess with the vacuous flawless size 2?
Visually, the film is quite appealing and engrossing as is Roberts’ narration which is very “man on the street” in its approach and timber. He himself is very affable and likeable. Interesting and educational, AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL glosses the surface of what I see as the potential for an entire HBO or Discovery Channel series. Touching on the tip of an iceberg, AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL takes you to the precipice with its thought provoking commentary on our society and then keeps you hanging on long after you leave the theater and walk to your car looking at all the beautiful people.
Written and directed by Darryl Roberts. Rated R. (105 min)
