She’s Beautiful When She’s Angry, a reflection on (sometimes radical) feminism from the late 1960s through the mid 1970s, offers no shelter from the difficulty of its crusade. Even the title is up for discussion. Is the phrase quoting a put-down? A shooing-away from a patriarchy that ignores the indignation of half the population, reducing legitimate grievances with a sexist remark? Or is it a straightforward celebration, in which action and agency are bundled with sensuality and self-love? The answer, of course, is yes on all counts, and this diversity of thought, while often difficult to manage, is part of what made the feminist movement a success.
It’s also, alas, part of what makes this a somewhat less than successful film. There’s a difference between making an effort to be inclusive and hurling everything against the wall to see what sticks. There are so many voices commenting on the heyday of “Women’s Lib” that this movie, from first-time solo director Mary Dore, has no anchor. Instead, there are waves of nuanced points of view, all aimed at larger goal of equality – but often clashing with one another at the same time. If you aren’t already a scholar on the time period, good luck keeping track of who represents which group, and what that group’s key position paper is.
Maybe that doesn’t matter, as the thrust of She’s Beautiful When She’s Angry is a well-deserved appreciation of these women and the remarkable way in which they changed the world. Though framed by Texas’s recent setbacks regarding reproductive rights, this film implores everyone to take a moment and recognize the battles that have been won – and to listen to the still-quite-alive elders who did the fighting.
Cross-cutting with old footage, Dore juxtaposes her current interviews with remarkable moments of street theater, protests, and political speeches. A great many of these feminist leaders’ ideals sprang from disappointment with the activists of the New Left – the celebrated anti-war hippies who would have their “chicks” lick their envelopes and heckle them with crude, sexist remarks when they dared to take the podium. (Had social media been around, surely some of these gents would have raced to tweet “#NotAllSDSChapters”.)
Among the subjects interviewed are the authors of Our Bodies, Ourselves, the landmark text that grew from the work of students who accrued information that wasn’t readily available to them. You’ll also hear from veterans of the Jane Collective, a Chicago-based underground abortion service that used Partisan tactics to help women in need. Much attention is given to the special struggles of African American women, particularly those in radical groups whose male leaders had eschewed birth control for political purposes. There is also friction between lesbian splinter groups and visible forces (like Betty Friedan) who felt the need to keep them in the closet “for now”.
Despite the desultory nature of the film, it is sure to hammer home some key points. Sexual harassment is taken seriously as a crime because of these women. Accusations of rape, while still woefully swept under the rug, are given more credence than they once were. And abortion on demand is still legal in the United States, even if forces are making the practice increasingly difficult.
She’s Beautiful When She’s Angry is a great movie for liberals who want to feel good about themselves without getting too upset. It never suggests resting on your laurels, but it does offer room for a victory lap. But I’m a man. A great number of the people in this film would politely but curtly tell me my opinion isn’t exactly what’s needed here. I’m not going to fight them on that.
