good doc check out part 2

thoughtful and well informed look at the beauty industry and ideals in America and beyond

Interesting and sometimes shocking documentary, but on the whole there is nothing new or surprising here. The film covers a multitude of different topics without delving too deeply into any one of them or delivering any original insights. Still recommended as food for thought.

I saw this rare treat on Netflix. With an election coming up, the banality level is going through the roof. I'm one of those persons who urges voters to 1) become informed and 2) be discriminate in what passes as knowledge. This movie does not take sides, but in the scream loud nonsense and flat out lie until people believe you, the far right (even the close right) is winning hands down. However, the movie is none-too-gentile on the liberal psychobabble on child rearingâ"so don't expect your side to be handled "fairly" while the other side is righteously blasted to fire and brimstone. Some viewers will be offended by the violence as two characters--a middle age man and teeny-bopper --blast away the many ills and evil they find in contemporary society. (Where were these guys when I needed them when a person disrupted a movie with their cell phones?) However, the violence is more like a pointer in a presentation--"Look at this" --than the kind of violence in the blood baths found in horror films that have no message other than to scare dates into a clutching snuggle. Some who see this film will come away with "OMG, they shot a reality show star!" and others will think, "Not a bad idea..." The whole point is to look at what has happened to our culture, as smallness and meanness have replaced any kind of nobility and decency. (Even 'nobility' has come to mean 'entitled.') Just you wait, though. Some half-wit will claim films like this 'caused' the massacre at the Batman movie. They'll have missed the point entirely and perhaps belong on that list of contemporary shallowness in thought and deed.

All women should watch this. Wow. They really mess with our heads!

Interesting but still didn't manage to change my mind...

This is something everyone should watch. Especially if you have daughters or plan to have daughters. It informed me, it made me angry, but it also made me hopeful that I could be a different type of woman for girls to look up to.

There's some good footage in the clusterf*ck of material that went into this documentary, which couldn't decide if it wanted to be about a) the beauty standards of America, b) a twelve year-old making and breaking it in the fashion industry in a short time span, c) the struggle of people with dark skin to be accepted into the standard of how beauty is judged, d) the epidemic eating disorders e) false media representation defining the self-worth of girls in America or f) of the filmmaker representing himself as the humanitarian crusade of equality and acceptance in the aesthetic world. Some could say: hey it was about all of that, all of those ideas are interrelated. I still call it a clusterf*ck.

Very well done documentary. Goes into Americas obsession with the perfect looking woman. Seeing the 12 Year old model was shocking. All women are beautiful. Not just the models.

"America the Beautiful" does a good job giving a message about an epidemic that is taking place in the U.S. and in other parts of the world. It centers on a young girl aspiring to be a model, and who eventually does make it, focusing on the sacrifices and hardships she has to overcome as well as those around her. In the meantime, there are also interviews done with magazine writers and editors who advertise beauty products, fashion designers, psychologists, plastic surgeons, and other people that have something to do with the "beauty world." I like how they did this because it broadens the view on the topic and gives more insight and information; however, some of the opinions are too exaggerated or hard to agree with. Technically, the documentary is not that great. I caught the boom mic on the camera once, some angles were just bad, and it seemed like sometimes some scenes were way brighter or darker than others. I understand it is a documentary and there are different environments involved, but this is essential and important as well to have a bigger and stronger impact. The point is that more and more girls (and boys as well) feel pressured to look "perfect," often times endangering their health, relationships, sacrificing their youth, etc. It will be a battle to fight the media influencing them on doing this, but then again each person is responsible for their actions, so in my opinion, the media shouldn't be blamed. Each person has an option to be beautiful however they want; in the end, they know the risks and consequences. If you or anyone you know is suffering from anorexia, bulimia, or depression, seek help. You are beautiful.

This was a great documentary! It really explores the issues that America faces with beauty. It covers so many different topics, and each one is an eye opener.

A GREAT documentary that told me things I already knew but alot of things I didnt know as well (Dogs getting plastic surgery?!) I'd recommend anybody & everybody to go see it once or twice.Does America have an unhealthy obsession with beauty? YES we do!

An eye-opening and mature documentary about our country and the rest of the world's fixation on beauty in the form of perfection. Touching on subjects such as teen models being brought into a world far beyond their understanding, being robbed of a normal childhood to the elitist nature of those who focus everything on the exterior, rather than what matters on the inside. Hair loss solutions and their ruthless, belittling marketing techniques are also visited.

I real eye opener about our society and its obsession with fashion, products, modeling, and looks. The film covers stories from a 12 year old girl unable to model because she was told her hips were too wide, to a woman fired from a casino job for refusing to wear make-up. This one's a real shocker and a must-see.

An eye opener. Proving further our insane obsession with beauty to the point of perfection, not in being the perfect you, but as in the non-achievable photoshoped, plastic surgery, anorexic beauty that our culture has created a mold for aka Barbie-ish.

Crappy documentary. It’s about body image in America, but the actual filmmaker is out of his depth and isn’t a great editor. When he inserts himself into the movie, it’s weaker for it. At one point, he is trying to make a point about our society’s vapid standards by judging the reception his profile gets at BeautifulPeople.net, a site that is basically an online country club version of Hot or Not where people only gain membership if the existing members think they are sufficiently hot physically. He is an obese man with head shaped like a rounded rectangular, but he describes his build as “Athletic,” and is surprised, or fakes surprises, when his profile gets rejected as not hot. These are self-selective beauty snobs, what kind of commentary or insight does that give the viewer on American society as a whole? None. The core of the movie raises similar questions. He follows Gerren, a 12yo with a body of an 18yo, who is the toast of NY fashion week 1 year and then is actually too large for most of the high fashion circuit two years later. Again, that’s not commentary on American society as a whole, but on the bubblish world inhabited by the women and gay men who design and consume high fashion. Later he uses the words of a bi-polar beauty quack to make his point, but then leaves in an uncomfortable confrontation the bi-polar man has with a black model he wants to make whiter. It made for “drama,” but it was more screen time that did not service the actual thesis of the film. And he leaned on a lot of interviews with a random bunch of bro before hoes type of d-bags in a living room, whose relevancy was never made clear.

I highly, HIGHLY recommend everyone watch this documentary. It's on Netflix Instant Queue, so go now. It's not the best documentary out there, but the content is very interesting and it really shows how much emphasis we as a country put on looks, and what effect that has on us as individuals and as a culture. There's a lot of really great interviews, stories and information, some of which are enlightening and some are a little bit scary. Go check it out.

Very good documentary! I love how he touched on so many aspects of beauty in American culture such as modeling, makeup, eating disorders, children, etc. Kind of depressing to think that we are raising a society of girls that don't value their individual beauty and only want to meet a narrow standard...

Women, watch this. Men, watch this. Most of this show is pretty heartbreaking and begs a lot of questions from us as Americans and as human beings. Do you know what phthalates are? There's plenty of information on them and more in this video.

I guess I am on a documentary kick, I love that a man did this film. Thanks Darryl Roberts. My thought when watching is "how do I protect my kids, a daughter from the pain of feeling less and a son from valuing a ridiculous disgusting image of womanhood?" No 온라인카지노추천 I guess :) The Mom of the 12 year old super model by the way needs to have her daughter taken away from her. Gross!