"Miss You Can Do It"

Miss You Can Do It, 2013

Dir.: Ron Davis

Prod.: Ron Davis

"Accomplishment begins with two words: 'I'll Try'" - Abbey Curran

I hate beauty pageants. I've expressed my very obvious disdain for them when I reviewed The Good Mother. I feel like they're antiquated, useless and promote the wrong kind of values. I'm especially against child beauty pageants. Do I need to go into why? Google "child beauty pageants" and you will see picture after picture of very young girls in overdone hair and make-up far too old for their faces, spray tanned, false eyelashed, plumped, corseted, wearing high heels, doing sexy dance moves...it makes me gag.

Why? Why are we doing this to these little girls? Don't they know that perfection is not the only thing in this world?

But I think I've finally seen a beauty pageant that is worthy of the word  "beauty".

Abbey Curran, Miss Iowa 2008, began the Miss You Can Do It pageant in 2005, and this documentary follows its eighth season. It's geared towards little girls as young as four years old who have special needs. Abbey herself was diagnosed with cerebral palsy at the age of two, and became the first woman with a disability to enter Miss USA. Her cerebral palsy effects her legs and can walk unassisted, but during pageants walked with an escort.

Abbey in the Miss USA pageant in 2008

"Having a disability doesn't make me different," she said during a pageant interview in 2004. "It just means I have to overcome more challenges."

As for the pageant itself, one of the pageant coordinators says, "Miss You Can Do It is about seeing the beauty behind the challenge."

Abbey pays for the entire pageant herself - they have no sponsors, no financial backing. Everything from throwing pizza and cupcake parties for the contestants, to the professional hair and makeup each girl receives, to the trophies given out to every single girl who competes comes from volunteers or from Abbey's own pocket.

Among the contestants are: Meg and her adopted sister Alina, who both have Down Syndrome; Delaney and Teyanna, who each have different types of cerebral palsy (Delaney's is spasmodic, Teyanna's is seizures); Tierney, who has Spinal Muscular Atrophy, a progressive muscle weakening disease; Ali, who has spina bifida, which is a disorder that causes the spine to not be fully formed during development in utero (at age six,she has had nine surgeries); and sisters Tasha, who has cerebral palsy, and Kenna, who has a cognitive disability that affects her memory. 

There's an interview process before the pageant, and it takes into account the different types of disabilities there are. There are two different interview rooms: one for those who can talk and one for those who have difficulties speaking. Miss USA 2008 and Miss America 1975 are on the panel of interviewers. They ask them questions like, "What's your favorite color?" and "Do you have any pets at home?"

Each girl gets a chance to show off their personalities. Alina, age four, whose father describes as "a fireball", spends most of the interview playing with the boom mike and then tries to make off with a magazine that Miss USA has on the table in front of her. However, she is quickly distracted by a lollipop. Ali talks about how much she loves Mustang convertibles and sings a Justin Bieber song. Delaney, who is ten, and one of the judges discuss their favorite High School Musical characters (Delaney is also the cutie featured on the movie poster):

Here, I did you a favor so you don't have to scroll back up :D

The most meaningful interview is twelve-year-old Teyanna. The judges ask her about an essay contest she'd won. The topic was about people with disabilities. She reads some of her essay to the judges: "The meaning of being disabled is not having any power but I have the power to do anything I am willing to try."

Teyanna modeling her sportswear during the pageant

As for the actual pageant itself, there are three categories: sportswear/casual wear, formal wear and interview. Nobody, not a single girl, goes home empty handed, and there's an award for everything: Best Formal Wear, Best Sportswear, Best Interview, Miss Congeniality, etc. The girls are thrilled to be going home with a trophy.

Abbey says, "It's not about outfits, it's not about the hair, it's about the girl on the inside...it's truly going to make a difference in her life."

Of course, I am not going to give away the ones who take away the big trophies. I'm going to let you watch and discover for yourself. Because honestly, though I pretty much cried my way through this documentary, I had a huge smile on my face. Director/producer Ron Davis does a wonderful job at letting the pageant unfold, at capturing the indomitable spirits of the contestants and the wonderful stories all the parents - and Abbey's too! - bring to the table. To them, their children are beautiful. But now it's time for those girls to believe it themselves. There is so much beauty in this documentary - from the contestants themselves to their wonderful parents to Abbey's kind, generous spirit - that it can move you to tears. That is why this really is a beauty pageant.

"Love, Marilyn"

Love, Marilyn (2012)

Dir.: Liz Garbus

Prod.: Stanley F. Buchthal, Liz Garbus, Amy Hobby

"She came to us in her mother's doubt, and leaves in misery" - Norman Mailer 

Marilyn Monroe. 

Just the name conjures up so many pictures and sounds that it is almost a sensory overload. The pouty lips, the come-hither eyes, the curvaceous hips, the shapely legs. The husky voice. The trademark blonde hair. Her iconic films: Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, The Seven Year Itch, Some Like It Hot (my personal favorite). Her infamous marriages to Joe DiMaggio and Arthur Miller, the suggested affair with JFK.

What can be said about Marilyn that hasn't been said before? Over one thousand books have been written about her, written by friends, lovers, historians, famous novelists. She's been portrayed in movies by Ashley Judd, Poppy Montgomery, Michelle Williams and Naomi Watts. She's inspired plays and musicals (not to mention is the basis of the fictional musical "Bombshell" in the now-defunct television series Smash. And before you ask, yes, I watched the shit out of it). But where is Marilyn's voice? 

Fifty years after Marilyn's tragic death, two boxes were found in storage: boxes full of journals and diaries, letters and poetry, all written in her own hand, in her own words.

Love, Marilyn is a brilliant and moving documentary by Liz Garbus that takes all of Marilyn's personal documents and poetry to use as a backdrop against the life story of one of the most beloved women in Hollywood. Reading the words of Marilyn are contemporary actresses - Uma Thurman, Glenn Close, Evan Rachel Wood, Marissa Tomei, Viola Davis to name a few. Not only do they just read her words, they emote. They speak as though these are their own words. The emotions show on their face - pain, glee, excitement, anxiety. They inflect their speech to reflect Marilyn's writing - sometimes flowy and relaxed; other times frenzied and spasmodic. 

Lili Taylor reads Marilyn's hastily-written down instructions on how to cook a chicken (no, seriously)

Elizabeth Banks reading one of Marilyn's typed letters to her acting coach Lee Strasberg:
"There is a future, and I can't wait to get to it."

Other voices from those who knew and loved Marilyn fill in more narration, giving more background, a different perspective, are also used as narration. Adrien Brody speaks as Truman Capote, who observes Marilyn's darkest periods. Jeremy Piven portrays Elia Kazan, one of Marilyn's dearest friends. Ben Foster as Norman Mailer provides the frankest views. 

The best part of Love, Marilyn was actually getting to know her - not the dumbo bimbo, sexpot gold digger that she often portrayed in her films. No, that was an act. We get to know Norma Jean, the smart girl (and I mean smart, with an IQ of 168), who read a book a day, and knew how to play the Hollywood game to get on top. 

Do you know how Marilyn Monroe went from a two-bit B-list typecasted celeb to the superstar we now know her as? By not being sorry for any fucking thing. 

You see, in 1949, Marilyn took some nude photos for a calendar (WARNING: BOOBIES AHEAD)

See? BOOBIES!

Now, these pictures resurfaced in 1952, when she was under contract with 20th Century Fox. The studio was humiliated. They told Marilyn to deny that she took those photos, to say that this was just some unfortunate girl who happens to look like her.

Marilyn did exactly the opposite. When asked about the photos, she owned up to it. She claimed them. Therefore, she became the predecessor of a sexual revolution ahead of its time. By owning up to the nude photos, Marilyn's stock soared. She became a real star. 

Her diaries reveal that she hated being a star. She writes often about how tired she is, how she wishes she was dead. How she has an image to uphold. That's all she was - an image. She invented her way of breathless talking, the wiggle in her walk, how to use her entire body to convey sex. One particular diary entry muses over death by suicide by jumping off a bridge. She contemplates jumping of the Brooklyn Bridge, but decides not to because the view was too pretty. If she was going to jump from a bridge, she writes, she would have to find one that was ugly and with no view. But then again, she considers, she'd never seen a bridge that wasn't pretty. 

I spent a lot of time watching this film in a veil of mourning. I adore Marilyn Monroe, not just because of her acting, but because of her strengths and weaknesses. She is perhaps one of the most tragic figures of the modern age. She couldn't stay in relationships very long, they always ended in jealousy or sadness (Joe DiMaggio detested having other men looking at his wife, and stormed off the set of The Seven Year Itch when mainly male fans flooded the set to watch as her skirt billowed up). 

She was unable to have a child, having two miscarriages during her marriage to Arthur Miller. She struggled with insomnia and depression. She wrote letters upon letters to Lee Strasberg, her beloved acting coach. She was filled with doubt and anxiety, always wanting to be perfect perfect perfect all the time.

Every woman in the world wanted to be Marilyn Monroe, except for Marilyn Monroe. 

I feel like Marilyn is - was - misunderstood. She's often considered a dumb blonde or a bimbo because of how she was portrayed in her films, but it was clearly not the truth. Anyone wanting to get a better understanding of this beautiful woman who was only with us for a short time before her tragic death should see Love, Marilyn. Because her voice was the only one that hasn't been heard up until now. 

"Mine"

Mine, 2009

Dir.: Geralyn Pezanoski

Prod.: Alison Pezanoski-Browne, Erin Essenmacher and Geralyn Pezanoski

This will forever change our lives. As pet guardians, as parents, our lives will be forever changed – New Orleans resident. 

I avoided this documentary for the same reason when my mom brought home the DVD of Marley & Me, it sat unopened for nearly six months.

“Because, Mom,” I stressed when she asked me for the umpteenth time why we hadn’t watched it yet, “I know for a fact that I am going to cry uncontrollably.”

It’s like a sickness. I know that any movie or TV show involving a dog or the plight of a dog is almost inevitably going to make me cry. I have two dogs, a mutt and a terrier, who are my best friends (other than, you know, my fiancé). I don’t live with them anymore, my mom has them. When she told me she was moving to Arizona and taking the dogs with her, I began to cry. “Don’t worry,” Mom said. “We’ll still call each other and you can come visit anytime.”

“I’m not crying about that! I’m crying because you’re taking away my dogs!” I wailed, much to my mother’s chagrin.

As much as I cannot wait to adopt a dog of my own, I am dreading the process – there are so many dogs who need homes, so many that deserve loving families. How can I choose just one? On top of that, I work at an animal lodging facility where I spend eight hours a day, four to five days a week as a companion for dogs whose very rich owners have kenneled them while they go on business trips or vacations. I often find myself wiping away tears when I put them back in their enclosures, not wanting to hear their high-pitched whining as I lock their doors. Also, my fiancé knows better than to let me anywhere near an animal shelter or a pet store, because I will want to take all the dogs home. I'm also the type of person who will quickly change the channel in order to avoid watching the ASPCA commercials featuring all the moon-eyed dogs wanting a sponsor. Aaaagghhh my eyes are watering just at the thought of those damn commercials.

According to the synopsis on the documentary’s website (minemovie.squarespace.com), “Mine is…about the essential bond between human and animals, set against the backdrop of one of the worst disasters in modern US history [Hurricane Katrina].”

I was going to avoid watching this film as much as possible. Maybe save it as the last one off my list. But I didn’t want to postpone the inevitable. I found myself actually needing a good cry, so, I put it on.

The film opens to a montage of Hurricane Katrina wreckage from August of 2005. While rescue personnel were concerned with evacuating the people of New Orleans, the people were dismayed that they were being forced to abandoned their pets. Shelters were refusing to accept people with animals. Therefore, pet owners had no choice but to leave their beloved pets behind. After the city began to return to normal, pet owners were faced with the task of trying to track down their beloved furbabies.

Mine focuses on five people and their difficulties with reclaiming their dogs in the aftermath of Katrina. There are also interviews with the dog foster parents, ASPCA workers and rescuers, and animal rights activists. Director Geralyn Pezanoski does a miraculous job recording the emotional pain, joy and outrage of all involved.

In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, and later Hurricane Rita, 150,000 animals died. Those that were found alive were rescued and shipped out. This project, known as Operation: Orphans of the Storm, sent 15,000 pets to 500 shelters across the US and Canada. They were all catalogued and listed on Petfinder, then word was put out that owners could find their missing pets online.

Rescuer Jane Garrison was met with skepticism when she told people she was going to New Orleans to rescue animals. She was asked, "Why are you saving dogs? Why aren't you saving people?" She was shocked when she saw footage of Katrina's aftermath and news crews were abandoning the dogs they filmed. She saw people being rescued off of building rooftops, and the dogs being left behind. She explains, "None of the groups were ready for the disaster of this magnitude...I couldn't get enough people down there each day...As long as you weren't from the area, you could come down and help." Cameras follow her as she and her team search neighborhoods. They find several houses were spray painted to let rescuers know that animals were inside. They discover dogs locked in cages, trapped in destroyed homes.

Karen O'Toole, another rescuer, says of the disaster: "I knew it wasn’t a matter of sending a check to the Red Cross. I thought I was watching a movie when I saw Katrina on TV. You couldn’t rely on the government in a disaster like this."

For what it's worth, many, many efforts were made for the sake of the animals. Temporary shelters sprung up. Every cat and dog found were given medical care, vaccinations and microchips. "The first priority was saving their lives," Jane says. "The next was finding their families."

Malvin, a man in his mid-eighties, left his miniature poodle Bandit in his New Orleans home when he was told to evacuate. He left Bandit with food and water and a promise that he would return in a few days. "When the levees broke," Cavalier says, "I thought, Lord have mercy. What about Bandit? Where’s Bandit?" After living as an evacuee for eight months in Houston, Malvin recieves his FEMA trailor, and, eventually the help of an organization known as Stealth - their mission being to reunite Katrina dogs with their owners.

When Linda was evacuated with her family, she left fifty pounds of food and lots of water for her German shepherd, Precious. She begged rescuers to save her dog, but her plea fell upon deaf ears.  

Victor returned to New Orleans to find his dog, only to discover he'd been adopted by another couple named Tiffany and Jeremy, who were told that the original owner of Max "didn't want him back." Of course, Tiffany and Jeremy are shocked to discover that not only did Max's original owner wanted him, but never consented to an adoption. A pet custody battle ensues, leaving both parties fighting to call Max theirs.  

Jessie, a hard working man, had to leave behind his four-legged son J.J. (which stands for "Jessie Junior") during Katrina while he and his family were evacuated, and has since spent many, many months trying to locate him, only meeting with dead ends, false hope and lies. 

Finally, we are introduced to Gloria and her Labrador Murphy, her best friend. Gloria was "forcibly rescued" from her home during Katrina, because she refused to leave Murphy behind and be separated from him. Rescuers ignored her requests to save Murphy. Her devoted daughter scours the internet, looking for her mother's dog in a chaotic aftermath. 

I initially wrote six pages, single spaced, on this film, but I’ve decided to cut it down to save me from myself. However, I am thrilled to report that in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, Congress passed the Pets Evacuation and Transportation Standards (PETS) Act, requiring states to accommodate pets in their disaster evacuation plans so that something like this will never happen again.

After the film ended, I sat on my couch, buried my face in a pillow and cried for a good five minutes. I cried for Malvin and Bandit; for Linda and Precious; for Victor, Tiffany, Jeremy and Max. I cried for Jessie and J.J.; I cried for Gloria and Murphy. I cried for the dogs that didn’t make it. I cried for the dogs that found new homes and were reunited. I cried for the owners who have lost their best friends. I cried for the fact that I could not hug my own dogs.

If you are a dog lover, a dog owner, a friend of a dog, I highly recommend Mine. Don’t be embarrassed to cry, seriously – even if you’re not a waterworks like me. These are stories that are altogether heartbreaking and uplifting, happy and sad.