Documentary: A Girl Like Me

twitchy · January 26th, 2007, 03:05 PM

Fascinating little (under eight minutes -check it out!) documentary about attitudes towards standards of beauty among young black girls. Watching the doll test was quite sobering.

A Girl Like Me

7:08 min
Youth Documentary
Kiri Davis, Director, Reel Works Teen Filmmaking, Producer

Winner of the Diversity Award
Sponsored by Third Millennium Foundation

ABOUT THE FILM

More About A Girl Like Me from Director Kiri Davis

For my high-school literature class I was constructing an anthology with a wide range of different stories that I believed reflected the black girl’s experience. For the different chapters, I conducted interviews with a variety of black girls in my high school, and a number of issues surfaced concerning the standards of beauty imposed on today’s black girls and how this affects their self-image. I thought this topic would make an interesting film and so when I was accepted into the Reel Works Teen Filmmaking program, I set out to explore these issues. I also decided to would reconduct the “doll test” initially conducted by Dr. Kenneth Clark, which was used in the historic desegregation case, Brown vs. Board of Education. I thought that by including this experiment in my film, I would shed new light on how society affects black children today and how little has actually changed.
With help from my mentor, Shola Lynch, and thanks to the honesty and openness of the girls I interviewed, I was able to complete my first documentary in the fall of 2005. I learned that giving the girls an opportunity to talk about these issues and their experiences helped us all to look deeper and examine the many things in society that affect us and shape who we are.

The film:
http://www.mediathatmattersfest.org/6/index.php?id=2

AliceInWonderland · February 5th, 2007, 05:11 PM

I'll try to watch this one at home! thnx twitch!!

WickedHo · February 11th, 2007, 01:43 PM

My mom sent me an email of a news report about Kiri Davis. I'm surprised there aren't more than 1 posts on this thread about the documentary! Maybe it belongs in politics? That's where I'm gonna go post my thread about the news story. Cuz yours, twitchy, is the actual documentary, n'est ce pas?

twitchy · February 11th, 2007, 04:14 PM

Oui, I have included the link. I was totally blown away by this. I think it really needs to be seen. WATCH IT PEOPLE! The hesitation of the child when choosing the doll that looked like their own colour broke my heart. Kiri Davis is a remarkable young filmmaker.

Natee471 · February 12th, 2007, 07:31 AM

These young girls do this because when they turn on TV everything from BET, MTV, television shows and movies... They always show light skin women being the beautiful, desired one. Most hair advertisments are aimed towards making (white women's) hair 'straight silky and managable.' They'll show how a woman had curly hair and hated it, then WOW they managed to "tame it"... I think that's just as sad. It lowers these young girls self esteem in the process. Those are outside influences importing negative inferior imagery into those children's lives.

Children are shown these negative Black images everyday. Once they walk out those doors every image thrown at them will tell them they are ugly and less than. It's my job to make sure they know they are more precious than platinum. My mother always taught me that all black people no matter what complexion were beautiful and with that so are white people.

Now, We're living in a country that still puts European beauty on a pedestel and bombards us with that same image and expects all other ethnic women to play "catch up" and conform to that. And it's not going to change.

Parents need to teach their children their afro-hair and dark skin are NOT inferior to others and they're beautiful. You can't appreciate the beauty in others while still loving yourself if you've never been taught how to. If your mother does not explain to you your uniqueness in this beauty obsessed culture, then I guess you will grab a white doll and turn up your nose at a black one.

AliceInWonderland · February 12th, 2007, 02:12 PM

Quote:

Most hair advertisments are aimed towards making (white women's) hair 'straight silky and managable.'

i know its so ridiculous and ugly - our society sucks!

Mira · February 12th, 2007, 10:36 PM

Yeah, because if hair is allowed to just go curly, they sell waaay fewer products.

AliceInWonderland · February 13th, 2007, 01:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mira

Yeah, because if hair is allowed to just go curly, they sell waaay fewer products.

thats a very good point too! its absurd really.

I've personally given up on straightening my hair with any products or tools after I lost most of it to a relaxer

and now I'm like "Fuck It!" so i have wild lion's hair; deal with it People! Wild and crazy is beautiful too!! Plus my big hair makes my body look smaller in comparison