Educational Media Reviews Online

In three short but compelling vignettes, award-winning filmmaker Jesse Epstein exposes those who manufacture the artificial beauty our culture so desperately craves.

Turning her camera on a barber shop gathering in inner-city Brooklyn, Epstein’s subjects, self-assured that “girly” photos adorning the walls are realistic, are surprised to learn the pictures had been doctored. In Wet Dreams and False Images, a retouching artist demonstrates how it’s done, even to photos of perfectly normal women.

Going under the knife for the sake of job security is the subject of The Guarantee. Shown as a series of animated pencil drawings and narrated by a male ballet dancer who succumbs to pressure to get a nose job, the film illustrates that talent and skill are simply not enough to make it as a performer.

34 x 25 x 36 peers into the work of mannequin sculptors who characterize their art as “playing with people’s minds as to what the ideal woman is.” Comparable to idealized religious statuaries, the mannequins are crafted to represent society’s idea of perfection at the time.

Practical and helpful, bonus footage gives ideas on how to use the film as a teaching tool for youth.

Screened at numerous film festivals, Body Typed won awards at Sundance, Newport International, Rooftop Films, Luna Fest, and Chicks With Flicks. It was also a “top video for young adults” on the Amercian Library Association’s Young Adult Library Services Association list. PBS aired “34 x 25 x 36” on its POV documentary series in 2009.

Recommended for academic and public libraries, Body Typed is an excellent instructional and discussion resource for communication, media, psychology, and gender curricula.