Society has unspoken expectations for everyone, especially women. We’re expected to dress in a certain way, do our hair and makeup, be less aggressive with men. Then there are expectations for things that are difficult or impossible to change; women should have certain body types, observe a specific religion, be able-bodied. If you don’t match these criteria, you’re “the other.”
This round of VOD and web series picks features projects exploring “the other,” presenting characters grappling with how society sees them. “Blue” follows two high school students with birth defects who hide their differences from the rest of their community. “Interior Teresa” is about a teen girl who starts to have strange visions while stuck cleaning her church. Documentary “The Illusionists” explores beauty standards imposed around the globe and how they’re created. Finally, “Resistance: The Battle of Philadelphia” suggests that, when left unchecked, society’s unspoken rules and expectations can lead to dystopia.
Here are Women and Hollywood’s latest VOD and web series selections.
VOD
“Blue” (Short) – Directed by Ashley Eakin; Written by Ashley Eakin and Noelle Liljedahl
“Blue”
“Blue” is a short film about two high school students with birth defects — blue markings — on their bodies. As the only ones with the markings in their community, they initially hide their physical differences from the rest of the world, including each other. Because of the standards set by society, they believe that their markings make them imperfect and unworthy of attention. Both teens long to look like the people they see on social media, people with “perfect” bodies, people without markings. Ashley Eakin, the director of “Blue,” calls this the “illusion of perfection”; people presenting a version of themselves that aligns with societal beauty standards.
One day, the characters meet, breaking into dance. For once, because they’re allowed to care about something other than their looks, they are finally able to be vulnerable. Eakin, who also has a physical disability, uses this sequence to critique the unspoken ways culture influences the way we present ourselves.
“Blue” has screened at several fests, including the LA Shorts Film Festival and All Voices Film Festival.
Watch “Blue” on Amazon Prime.
“Interior Teresa” (Short) – Written and Directed by Meredith Alloway
“Interior Teresa” is a short film inspired by the story of Saint Teresa of Avila. In this telling, Teresa is a teenage girl stuck cleaning the sanctuary of her church. When she starts having strange visions, a boy also on cleaning duty helps her realize what they are and how they might be connected to him.
Not only is Teresa black, already the “other” because of her race, she also has doubts about her faith. The film presents multiple questions about Teresa’s faith: Is God communicating to her through her visions? Why does He do what He does? Instead of succumbing to the societal expectation of presenting faith as an either/or issue — something that is real or is not, period — both Teresa and writer-director Meredith Alloway are unafraid to show that they don’t really have all the answers.
Plus, the narrative gives Teresa power, something our society tends to deny young women. “I discovered Saint Teresa of Avila and her first vision from God,” Alloway recalled. “It was erotic, mystical, and incredibly intriguing. To me, she redefined everything for herself, including the innate sensuality and power of spiritual connection.”
“Interior Teresa” has screened at Indie Memphis Film Festival and Sidewalk Film Festival, among other fests.
Watch “Interior Teresa” on Seed&Spark.
“The Illusionists” (Documentary) – Written and Directed by Elena Rossini
“The Illusionists” is a documentary examining beauty standards around the globe, from Harvard to Tokyo’s Electric Town to the halls of the Louvre, in order to dig into the way industries like advertising and cosmetic surgery bombard us with images that validate only a very particular kind of beauty — images that ignore reality and cultural differences.
Featuring interviews with magazine editors, sociologists, scientists, and activists from around the world, the film asks viewers to question their own ideas of what “beauty” means and where these ideas are coming from. More often than not, they’re coming from unspoken expectations in different societies; the expectation that women will look young, will wear makeup, will be thin.
Writer-director Elena Rossini was inspired to make the film because, “Everywhere, there seemed to be an obsession over female youth and beauty, and about a very specific body type that excluded 99% of the female population. And so I started asking myself: who profits from this?”
“The Illusionists” was selected by IndieWire as its “Project of the Day” and also won “Project of the Week” by popular vote.
Watch “The Illusionists” on VHX.
Web Series
“Resistance: The Battle of Philadelphia” – Created and Directed by M. Asli Dukan
Set in the not-so-distant future, “Resistance: The Battle of Philadelphia” portrays a community fighting the government-corporation in power. Militarized police and surveillance technology managed by the Cornega Corporation are a constant threat, but five characters unite to resist violence in six nonlinear episodes that eventually join together for one coherent narrative.
Starring a mostly black cast, creator and director M. Asli Dukan — in the vein of storytellers such as Octavia Butler — uses science fiction to make a statement about our own world. Instead of unspoken rules or invisible laws governing the way people interact with each other, the Philadelphia of “Resistance” uses force and fear to control people, serving as a metaphor for many contemporary, all-too-real societies.
“’Resistance: The Battle of Philadelphia’ is an attempt to make a politically adept and socially relevant near-future web series steeped in the futuristic mechanisms of speculative fiction, but essentially about the world we live in today,” Dukan explained. “More and more, our society teeters on the edge of a structural implosion – driven by white supremacy and plutocratic forces who continue to appropriate more of the resources, power, and the future from the commons.” She continued, “But even in the face of this pending calamity, historically marginalized populations are stepping forward and putting themselves on the line, to reclaim their humanity and their human rights.”
Watch “Resistance: The Battle of Philadelphia” on its website or YouTube.
