Film rec: Girl 27.

[BlueIris]

Last edited Mon Apr 2, 2012, 08:13 PM - Edit history (1)

We've had threads about this documentary before (one was mine from the old DU boards.) It's about the 1937 rape of MGM extra Patricia Douglas and the cover up that followed.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Girl_27

It's a difficult film to watch, but provides insightful commentary on the Hollywood sponsored secrecy surrounding not just sexual assault but attitudes about sex and sexuality as well. It is also a sad portrait of the long term damage sex crimes can do, and has taken some critical heat for the filmmaker's allegedly "tabloid" pursuit of Ms. Douglas. (I didn't find the documentarian's approach to be exploitive; I think it came off that way because he was desperate to interview Douglas before her health deteriorated any further.)

Girl 27 also gives us an impressive overview at the power of the studio during the days of Old Hollywood. It was everything. The film makes it clear that the studio system's abuse of its power was just as bad as the physical and emotional abuse Patricia Douglas suffered. Rape is a crime of power and power abusers, after all, so I appreciate that the documentary included an accurate discussion of the world in which Douglas was attacked.

Highly recommended. I saw it two years ago and still think about it occasionally.

[seabeyond]

1. i would have to watch it and see

i have seen films were rape is represented as what it is. there is nothing glorified in the rape. and then i have seen very good film where they took a rape and sexualized it for male entertainment, when it should have been anything but.

i have never seen this film. i cant watch movies like this. doesnt do me much good.

but it sounds interesting.

[BlueIris]

2. Well, there are a lot of positive, hopeful elements to its stories, too.

Last edited Tue Apr 17, 2012, 04:52 PM - Edit history (1)

The daughter of Clark Gable and Loretta Young is in it, too, proudly proclaiming herself to be their child, after decades of denial from her parents about it. A family discusses their desire to totally support their children regardless of their sexual orientations. And Patricia Douglas and David Stenn form an amazing bond. Stenn went to enormous trouble to earn her trust, and to get her to talk about her experience. The film is worth watching for that story alone.

[seabeyond]

3. thanks blueiris. i will keep my eyes out for it. i dont turn the tv on often. nt

[MuseRider]

4. I just watched it.

Thanks for the rec on it.

Very sad story. Made me ill seeing what happened to her and how it changed the course of her life and her families lives.

I do not want to say too much since others will want to watch it.

I felt her pain in many ways and also her bravery and what it cost her. What a brave young woman she was and such a damaged older woman.

I honestly did not feel that the filmmaker was being exploitive either, in fact I found the relationship that developed something that seemed to bring her some joy. It was honestly about time someone was able to bring that to her.