Things To Do: America the Beautiful at Cinema Village
Cinema Village
22 East 12th St., New York
Special Q&A's with Darryl Roberts and Gerren Taylor
Friday - Sunday, August 1-3
$5.50 - $10.00
More Info
America the Beautiful (which we'll have more on next week) isn't a perfect documentary; nevertheless, it's certainly an important and affecting look at the toxic beauty culture that women face in this country. Filmmaker Darryl Roberts dissects the world of media, advertising, plastic surgery, eating disorders, and toxicity in makeup, tying all of these disparate elements together with the story of Gerren Taylor, a twelve-year-old supermodel. He had lots of access to Taylor, and it's devastating to watch as this beautiful, innocent girl, filled with the brio of youth—who still plays with Barbies—walk into the minefield of high fashion, only to be cast out and left in a pile of self-hatred, because her teenage hips made her "obese." Taylor, now eighteen and appearing on BET's Baldwin Hills, will be appearing at weekend Q&As along with Roberts. Beautiful deals with a difficult topic that's easy to write off, but Roberts' gentle, persistent approach and Taylor's sad experience make for an edifying work.
