America the Beautiful

America the Beautiful is a documentary that magnifies the obsession with unattainable beauty and perfection that runs rampant in this country. The film opens shooting a tall willowy black model named Gerrin; whom has a giant forest of natural hair walking at a swimsuit show. The model after the show goes swimming with other models who are drinking and some are nude. Little do we know at first that this model is 12 years old and still in middle school. Gerrin is a wonderkind in the industry at 12, and rumored to be positioned to blow Naomi off the runway. Her walk is sexy and fierce, and she has lots of personality. Gerrin lives in California with her mother Michelle, and ex amateur model. Michelle wants Gerrin to excel in the industry so the following year, she takes her to New York for fashion week. She is seen and booked right away, and ends up landing shows for Marc Jacobs, B Michael, Tommy Hilfiger and others right away. As quickly as she is celebrated, the door is slammed on her a few months later because her mother has become quite pushy. No designer will book her now, and no agency will take her on in New York. The two pack up and head for Europe, first stop London. Gerrin books three shows, and two pay her in clothes. Gerrin and Michelle want to go to Paris next, but are warned that her 6 foot 120 frame will be too big to work there. They go anyway, and she is measured. Sure enough her hips are too big at 96cm. The largest you can be is 90cm. What is the reason for this small number? Designers don’t want to pay for extra yardage for fabric, so make the girls anorexic. Not only isn’t she ‘thin’ enough, but black isn’t popular in France for models anyway. When Gerrin gets home she’s going on and on about how she’s ‘obese.’ Not because she thinks so, evidently someone in Europe told her that she was obese. Gerrin seems quite ticked off by this, and goes over her body part by part showing that there is no way that she can be obese. She goes on to say ‘I hope I’m this obese when I’m 40.’ Never the less Gerrin goes on a diet to get smaller, and then complains about her ‘stretch marks’ and how she can’t wear a bikini ever again. The camera had to be right on her skin to see what she was talking about. The film covers about three years in her life and at the end of the film she is very withdrawn and adamant that she is ugly. “Period” as she puts it.

The film also visits, different cultures, and their views of beauty. Plastic surgery, the cosmetic industry, a site called beautiful people dot net, that decides if you’re beautiful enough to join based on your looks. The film also addresses the eating disorders that women get because of the impossible beauty standard, and how insurance will not cover treatment of these diseases, and how this must be changed. This film has many fascinating aspects that definitely get you wondering. Is it all worth it in the end?