Film on portrayal of women and girls in the media up for Sundance award

Holy Must-See Movie.

Between what looks like a great round-up of commentators in the film (hi Jenn!) and the call for the use of media activism as a tool to combat the negative portrayals of women and girls in media, this looks like a very powerful documentary. And imagine if it won Sundance?

h/t to Jessica! Transcript after the jump.

The media is the message and the messenger and increasingly a powerful one.

In a world of a million channels, people try to do more shocking and shocking things to break through the clutter. They resort to violent images, or sexually offensive images or demeaning images…

When is it gonna be enough?

There is no appreciation for women intellectuals. It’s all about the body, not about the brain.

You all saw the photo from the weekend of Hillary looking so haggard and looking what — looking like 92 years old.

Breast implants — did you have them or not?

If you water-boarded Nancy Pelosi, she wouldn’t admit to plastic surgery.

The fact that the media are so derogatory toward the most powerful women in the country, then what does it say about media’s ability to take any woman in America seriously.

I have close friends who will go to the bathroom and put on like ten pounds of makeup, you know, and you’re at school to learn.

I remember in 5th grade I was worrying about my weight and now I’m in 9th grade and I’m still worrying about my weight.

As a culture, women are brought up to be fundamentally insecure.

Media creates consciousness, and if what gets put out there creates our consciousness is determined by men, we’re not gonna make any progress.

Little boys and little girls, when they’re 7 years old, an equal number want to be president of the United States when they grow up. But then you ask the same question when they’re 15, and you see this massive gap emerging.

We’re shortchanging voices that are urgently needed in public forums from ever getting to the table.

As the most powerful country in the world, if you’re not standing for the right values, the right principles — that’s a loss for the world.

You get a woman in the Oval Office, the most powerful person in the world, what’s the downside? You mean besides the PMS and the mood swings?

The media treats women like shit and it’s horrible and like, I don’t know we survive it, I don’t know how we rise above it.

You can’t be what you can’t see.

It’s extremely important for women to be writing their own stories, and giving them to people to really become emotionally impacted by.

The media can be an instrument of change, it can awaken people and change minds. It depends on who’s piloting the plane.