Miss representation is a film that does not say anything that people who were interested in feminism did not already know before but yet still sends a powerful message. Just the other day I was asked why the media should change when they are making so much money off of the objectification and stereotypes of women and this film shows viewers exactly why. This movie highlights what an extremely powerful and dangerous tool the media is in how young women come to view themselves and their standing in the world. This documentary shows multiple examples of how women are portrayed in extremely sexual ways almost to be viewed as objects, and when they are not being treated like sexual objects they are being treated with extreme violence in the media. This documentary not only highlights how fictional female characters are being portrayed but also how some of the most powerful and respected women today, such as Hillary Clinton, are completely ignored for what they have accomplished and instead just ridiculed for how they look. Some of you may be wondering what the big deal is that the media portrays women this way and this documentary will serve you well because it shows that the media's representation of women directly effects not only how other people treat women, but also how young women come to look at themselves, and also feeds directly into what women are taught to value about themselves, looks over brains. The media may not be the only thing that feeds into the constant degradation of women but this movie illustrates to the viewer that changing the way that women are represented could be an important first step in the fight for equality.

This film is meant to address the social distortion present in media as it affects women. I feel this doc fails to point out that this happens to youth in general, not just women. Secondly, it should have been stressed that such a focus on sex & marriage leads to increased teenage pregnancies, which, in turn, contributes to young delinquency and uneducated adults having children who will not attend college or even finish high school. Unfortunately, the majority of this doc consists of a woman obviously reading a print out of monologues in a dull, lifeless monotone. Several speakers chastise the media for reflecting the low number of women working in big business and politics in movies, but most of the thoughts presented are fragmented or inappropriate to the topic. These women say such things like 'Women should be politicians so other women will want to be politicians.' 'Women are never leaders and men don't want us to be. Just look at Star Trek.' These statements seemed to defy the fact that England had Queen rulers for over a century and that Star Trek is and always has been a show that shatters social boundaries, and the different seasons have seen Famale captains, doctors, Science officers, ensigns, engineers, psychologists, and a plethora of other positions. It seemed like this documentary was more interested in talking about hurt feelings than any serious issues. It's as if they interviewed the absolute dumbest women available and said, 'Talk about how movies make women look bad,' then showed 15 min worth of UNSCRIPTED REALITY TV clips while the interviewees stumbled through cliché after cliché, generally never making a solid point, cohesive statement and/or expressing conclusions related or even relevant to what was just said. 'I hate bikinis on TV, so I became a politician after a particularly moving episode of Murder She Wrote.' Lastly, some of the issues blamed on media aren't real issues or controlled by media. Why aren't there more women politicians? Same reason there aren't more women trashmen, fisherman, hunters, mechanics, mathematicians, Footballl coaches or construction workers: Most women are uninterested in such professions. Equally interesting is the idea that men are expected to work successfully at a job that isn't embarrassing, or that the media tells youth to hump like rabbits, accumulate debt & go to jail in hopes of turning us all into consumers rather than producers. Monetary slaves providing a financial battery to the rich. Another point left out is that when the youth have teen pregnancies, who will work? Man or Mother? Usually the man, so it is not more surprising to see more men at work than it is to see wives staying home. I feel that this film is highly destructive to the cause it's attempting to address.

Excellent documentation about how women are seen in society. I know it's unfair to judge any media or source based on it itself, but from watching numerous documentation of the same subject I would consider this to be one of if not the best documentation about women in society. It addresses female stereotypes in society, which is so overlooked today. I am shocked that this documentation only has a rating of 6.9 when I came to IMDb. To be honest (and not trying to be rude, I know not everyone is the same or have the same ideas) but I assume most people that gave this film a good rating were female, and the men probably rated it quite low.What is more disturbing than others (mostly men) speaking out against women who don't look a certain way are the silenced thoughts created from the portrayal of the media to every single person in society.I strongly recommend this documentation.

This documentary doesn't break new ground for people already interested in the issues discussed, but I think that it gives a good perspective on why the representation of women in media is so important in our society, and why the way women are often portrayed is damaging - to media consumers of all genders (ie. all of us).I especially liked the focus on how female stereotypes in media affect young girls' self-esteem and ultimately their chances of growing up to be leaders. Obviously the documentary was US- centric, but these problems exist pretty much all over the Western world, where girls see very few really good role-models in mainstream media and where the few that exist are always heavily scrutinized and criticized.Since media has changed so much in the past 20 years, I agree with what was also said in the movie: That media literacy, the ability to understand media as products (created by humans with their own biases and agendas), has become almost as important as the ability to read. After all, these days it's pretty much impossible to shield children from harmful media messages, so it's vital that they have the tools to deal with those messages. This is true not just for girls, but also for boys.