America the Beautiful revisited

Since my last post talked about a new documentary being filmed on eating disorders and self mutilation, I thought I'd briefly mention again America the Beautiful. I wrote about this film back in April here.

The film has already been shown in Chicago with good response as well as the Minneapolis "Emily Program," a comprehensive treatment program for eating disorders. It will be making its premiere in New York on August 1, 2008. Then it will be heading to the west coast at the end of the month. After that, it's premiering in a number of other large cities around the country. To find out more locations, look at their website America the Beautiful documentary.

In May, Roger Ebert reviewed the film, saying that the film "carries a persuasive message." Another article in the New York Sun also talks more in detail about the film as well as interviewing the director.

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I'm finding it highly interesting that within the last few years there seems to have been an increased number of films out about body image, eating disorders, and the beauty industry. I think it's very telling of the state of society in general. Even with all the studies out on these topics and the efforts made for awareness, I think there is still the question of WHY. Logically, the answers are there with contributing factors of nature and nurture. However, the reasons still seem to plague people. Beyond that, researching, observing, and evaluating effective treatments is still a pressing issue that warrants more attention.

Better the devil you know

Better the devil you know is a title of a new documentary about adolescents (up to age 19) and mental illness in a psychiatric residential setting. The creators, Stacy Pearsall and Alice Brooks are both documentary filmmakers who want to look at adolescent girls and the impact of eating disorders, self-mutilation, and body modification.

Although the filmmakers were inspired by Lauren Greenfield's Thin, there will be differences in their film. One noticeable difference they say is that, (from website)

"This film will not show triggering behavior, because between THIN and the popular A&E reality series INTERVENTION, there’s enough graphic representation of ED and SI behavior available to young girls already. This is not to shy away from the reality of the conditions, but to glorify recovery instead. Although relapse is certainly part of EDs and SI, it is not the story we want to tell. This is a story about finding a new, positive obsession to replace the old, negative one. It is only when this happens that one can really be 'cured.'"

Another difference is that participants will be given super 8 cameras which are small, inexpensive, easy to use cameras that were popularized in the 1960s and 1970s, especially for home made type movies. The filmmakers feel that this will allow the girls to manually and digitally edit themselves, thus showing what they want of their own, unique story.

Filming will begin in November 2008 at Providence Hospital in Anchorage, Alaska.

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I think this could be an interesting film, especially since the the sensational factors will be removed. Though emaciation, purging, relapse happen, there is just a lot more to eating disorders and mental illnesses than the mere physical nature and behavior. I'm sure there will be a lot more questions as the filming gets underway, especially with the use of solely adolescents and their "mental health" in making decisions such as being in a film. Many may feel it is exploitative, while others not so. In this day and age, it seems par for the course and something the filmmakers will have to defend.

I guess my hope is that this will be a fresh, new, different take on those struggling with eating disorders and self mutilation. I applaud the fact that cutting will be represented as I think it often gets neglected and is misunderstood. We'll have to wait and see how the film pans out. I get excited about new films on mental illnesses, but at the same time am afraid of being disappointed as well. Let's hope this film gives voice to those suffering and will be helpful to the public.