Friday, August 1, 2008

R

Some language, including sexual references

Documentary

Eve Ensler, Paris Hilton, Anthony Kiedis, Darryl Roberts, Jessica Simpson

Darryl Roberts

Darryl Roberts

AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL is a socially probing documentary which explores the question "Does America have an unhealthy obsession with beauty?" Filmmaker Darryl Roberts journeys into the psyche of celebrities like Paris Hilton and Jessica Simpson, athletes like Reggie Theus, industry professionals such as Jill Ishkanian from "US Weekly," Ted Casablanca from the "E! Channel" and the American citizenry to determine the roots of this superficial obsession.

Pop culture celebrities like Britney Spears and Madonna have become the poster girls for most of the social woes of our youth! Is it there fault that millions of people are obsessed with their looks and lifestyle? Are they really that beautiful in the first place or does the media aid their beauty through hype and repetition? Plastic surgery, once considered an upper class phenomenon that was primarily isolated to California, Texas & Florida, has through the recent influx of "self-improvement" reality shows caused the popularity of cosmetic surgery to transcend economic boundaries. Beautification "quick fixes" have risen to epidemic levels. America the Beautiful takes a look at an extreme example of a self-destructive, "over-the-top," "quick fix."

The ubiquitous deceptions, by advertisers and the media, that thin, beautiful models set the standard to which all women must aspire, has been identified by some as a primary cause of low self-esteem and the meteoric rise in clinical depression in women. To demonstrate this deception, Roberts chronicles 12-year-old Gerren Taylor's journey from an unknown, innocent adolescent to supermodel, providing an insider's perspective of Gerren's personal struggles and successes along the "right of passage" to gracing the catwalks of Marc Jacobs, DKNY, Tommy Hilfiger and similar mega-designers. Gerren experiences that the same beauty that attracts some people to her is the very attribute that repels others.

By juxtaposing his personal obsessions with beauty with those of people like Martin Short, Michael Beach, Mena Suvari, Anthony Kiedis, Tisha Campbell and Aisha Tyler, Roberts illustrates that to varying degrees we all fall victim to this superficial social phenomenon.