Lovely and Amazing Film Review

The film Lovely and Amazing follows the women in one particular family. The four women it follows are a mother and three daughters. All the women are trying to find a "place" in the world and better themselves while they are at it. The film shows the struggles that each woman goes through on a daily basis and how that affects their lives and their family's lives.

The first daughter in the film is the youngest daughter named Annie. Annie is adopted and the only African American in the family. Annie struggles mainly with the fact that she is the only African American in the family. She struggles with the fact that she is also a heavier set girl. Annie struggles with her weight and has an unhealthy view of food. She eats things because she doesn't think they are unhealthy when I really feel that the director is trying to show that women that struggle with their weight have a legitimate problem...it can sometimes take them over. Annie is a binge eater that will go through a bunch of food in sitting. She is in denial with the fact that she is doing this to herself. We also see Annie trying to fit in to her white family by straightening her hair as well. Annie shows just how hard it can be for the outsider...even in their own family.

The second daughter in the film is the middle daughter named Elizabeth. Elizabeth is an aspiring actress that seems to have things going pretty well for her...or so it seems. Elizabeth struggles with her own self image. She is skinny and pretty...but just not sexy enough to get the roles she wants in films. She struggles with herself to try and conform to what that industry wants without losing herself in the process. Elizabeth begins to sleep with an actor that she auditioned with who said she wasn't sexy enough for the role. In one scene that sticks out in my mind she asks the guy to look at her naked and tell her everything that is wrong with her body. The actor does and Elizabeth leaves seeming like it did not upset her that much. Elizabeth shows that even women whom seem to have everything going well for them still have self image issues that need to be worked out.

The oldest daughter, Michelle seems to be the one with the most problems. She is married and has a daughter of her own. Michelle does not work but does try to make some money by doing crafts and trying to sell them; although nobody seems to want to buy the things she makes. Her husband and her argue quite a bit because she does not have a job. Michelle finds a job at a photo development store and begins to like a young man she works with. Michelle begins to have an affair with this young boy (I say young because he was all of maybe 17). Michelle copes with her insecurities about her body and herself by sleeping with a young boy. In the end it did not help her with her self image because she ends up getting arrested for statutory rape.

The mother of the film, Jane is the real reason that her three daughters are so messed up. She is a wealthy woman that has done the best she can in raising her children. I do not quite know if she was married but she does seem to have had it pretty rough. She decides to get liposuction because she thinks that if she does she will be more lovable by the men around her. This of course does not work.

I did like the film. The director used a tone of seriousness as well as humor to get the audience to understand that every woman...no matter her age, is subject to the pangs of low self body image. It shows that women deal with this in very different ways. We need to be aware that we too will one day (if you haven't already) have to deal with our own worries about the way we look. The majority of women are not happy with how they look and the movies shows some extreme yet normal ways of dealing with this harsh reality.