Wahoo! Another documentary!
Documentaries are cool for me, because I was way more into them than fictional cinematic pieces until recently.
And guess what? I’m into feminism too! So this was a no-brainer of a watch for me.
Firstly… sigh. Geena Davis is my hero. In fact, many of the actors who appear in this film are heroes of mine – Viola Davis, Taraji P. Henson, Cate Blanchett, Sandra Oh, Meryl Streep – but Davis is something else. I’m so glad she decided to fund this movie – even if she did hire a man to direct it, which completely defeats the point – but whatever.
Sadly, this is a documentary that is preaching to the choir once again. I can’t imagine that there are too many straight men who would choose to watch it on their day off, but it was nice to hear what I already knew straight from the mouths of actors, directors, and producers. The sentiment was nice at least.
Most intriguing is the section in which female directors speak up about how even they get undermined when directing. Like, dude, this ain’t your movie? Sit the fuck down. I didn’t even think that would be a thing, so the inclusion of this topic was eye opening.
There are a couple of shout-outs I want to get in here before I continue. Firstly, Rose McGowan! It’s so good to see you looking so well and having the opportunity to speak without anyone misconstruing your words! It is incredibly frustrating that Natalie Portman had the audacity to sit there and complain that she’d only worked with one female director in her life other than herself, yet the production company she physically owns has never hired a female director other than herself. McGowan recently pointed this out in an interview, and I have to say, I’m on Team Rose. I never thought I’d so strongly oppose Portman, yet here we are…
Second shout out goes to the powerhouse that is Reese Witherspoon. She has that valley girl persona that should make her exceptionally annoying, but she is simply the biggest boss out there. Not only is she a brilliant actress, she’s smart, she can hold her own, and she goes against the grain by actually hiring female directors within her company. In fact, the entire second season of super smash hit Big Little Lies was directed by a lady, so I just want to credit Witherspoon for playing a part in that.
I’m very aware that this post is less of a review and more of a relentless spewing of ”YAY WOMEN”. But I don’t care.
The fact that I have very little bad to say about it (minus the male director thing) surely means that I recommend it. Was it the most groundbreaking documentary ever? Nope, but it’s still a good watch if the politics of Hollywood and gender are your thing.
This Changes Everything is available on Sky Go/Sky Cinema.
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