As documentaries have increased in popularity in recent years, we've seen Michael Moore and Al Gore take on the health care industry and global warming, respectively. Now, it's director Darryl Roberts' turn to take a swipe at a nationwide evil: America's idea of and emphasis on beauty.
“America the Beautiful” looks at the multifaceted, billion-dollar beauty industry and leaves no stone unturned. Roberts interviews everyone from the plastic surgeons of “Dr. 90210” and “Extreme Makeover” to the toxicologists behind potentially poisonous cosmetics and perfumes.
At one point, Roberts points the finger at the media while speaking to a classroom in Vancouver, Wash. The class has a “wall of porn” for particularly overtly sexual print advertisements. He also interviews magazine editors from Seventeen and Cosmo Girl, among others, who show their true colors when they admit that the bottom line is making a buck.
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“America the Beautiful”
Rating: R
Running time: 1 hr., 45 min.
Opens: today
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“We're corrupting more and more people to care about this stuff,” an
US Magazine writer says.
Roberts covers such topics as celebrity obsession and capitalism. His most interesting subject, though, and the singular thread throughout the film is Gerren Taylor. She's a 12-year-old from Los Angeles working her way onto the modeling scene. Roberts focuses on the girl not only because of her captivating journey, but also because, in his view, a 12-year-old hanging around large quantities of alcohol and half-naked beautiful people twice her age is the epitome of the danger America's beauty ideal has fostered.
Some segments of the film are humorous and only skin-deep. For example, Roberts interviews three twentysomething guys without a clue about the deep insecurity of women over their physical appearance. He also goes along on a plastic surgery consultation with a woman who wants to have her private parts reconstructed to resemble those of the women in Playboy.
On the other hand, Roberts slowly but surely digs beneath the surface of this superficial industry, resulting in some deadly serious moments. One, when former television anchor Mary Nissenson discusses an eyebrow lift gone wrong and the constant pains and aches she has dealt with in the many years since. Another moment, the most heart-breaking, comes when he interviews a couple who lost one of their daughters to bulimia.
Roberts' too-often wry narration mimics that of Michael Moore, but that doesn't detract from the power of the subject matter.
“America the Beautiful” is also sometimes extremely difficult to watch, as when chronicling women, such as “First Wives Club” author Olivia Goldsmith, who have died during plastic surgery, or explicitly showing procedures.
In the end, though, these graphic scenes elevate “America the Beautiful” from mere film commentary to an important sociological statement.
Kate Stanhope is a Union-Tribune intern.
