Cannily scheduled for release at the time of year when gym applications and feelings of self-disgust reach their peak, this Australian documentary examines body-image issues, especially among women, and our inability to embrace ourselves as we are.
The film is both a critique and a product of the social media era, given that director-presenter Taryn Brumfitt first found fame when a pair of pictures – one showing her in body-builder condition, and in the other, naked and softened by child-bearing and contentment – went viral, earning both praise and trollish opprobrium.
Brumfitt sets out on a round-the-world expedition to understand the issues better, meeting assorted experts and opinionated celebrities such as Amanda de Cadenet and Ricki Lake, as well as a woman with a terrible eating disorder, a severe burns survivor and a delightful young lady whose hormone imbalance gives her a beard. It has an indisputably worthy message, and should be essential viewing for young people. Older, more jaded viewers may feel like we’ve been over this ground many times before – except, in the old days, we were a lotangrier about it all, and unafraid to use words such as “feminism”.
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