BEAUTY IS FILM DEEP
Behind ‘Misbehaving’ a powerful message
Actress Gugu Mbatha-Raw had no use for beauty pageants, until she stepped into the swimsuit — and mind — of a real-life winner.
Mbatha-Raw stars in In “Misbehaviour,” out Friday, which provides a peek behind the curtain of the 1970 Miss World competition, and the gender- and race-based politics it highlighted, particularly as a target of the women’s liberation movement.
Mbatha-Raw, of “Black Mirror: San Junipero,” plays Miss Grenada, Jennifer Hosten, who captured the crown.
“I was relatively judgmental myself about beauty pageants coming into the research and speaking to Jennifer, and understanding from other women who’ve won those types of competitions,” Mbatha-Raw told the Daily News from Atlanta this week.
Hosten, now 73, was an aspiring broadcaster at the time of the pageant and she went on to become a trained psychotherapist and Canadian diplomat.
“Really understanding how grounded and smart Jennifer is and what she chose to do with her life afterward I think helped shift my perceptions,” said Mbatha-Raw, 37.
In the film, Mbatha-Raw’s chatacter remains gracious and poised no matter the digs thrown at her by ignorant, if not wholly prejudiced, fellow contestants.
Keira Knightley plays Sally Alexander, a divorced mother trying to shield her daughter from a sexist and misogynistic society while attempting to balance school, activism, and a plot to upend the competition, as hosted by American comedy icon Bob Hope, played by Greg Kinnear.
After Jennifer’s monumental win, she crosses paths with Sally, who ensures her the women’s liberation movement is not fighting against those competing for the Miss World title, merely the idea of reducing women’s worth to their body parts and pitting them against one another.
Jennifer counters that her winning could inspire little girls who look like her to view themselves in a different light and believe they can achieve things that haven’t necessarily been made available to them.
Anyone who follows the “Loki” star on Instagram knows she has much to say about ab the ongoing racial in-juustices in the U.S. and beyond. y
On Blackout Tuesday in June, J when people posted a black square on the platform to o highlight the plague of raacism following the police killings k of George Floyd and Breonna B Taylor, MbathaRaw R wrote: “Listen, Learn, Amplify. A Black Lives Matter .”
The “Miss Sloane” star has si ince shared her touching portraits p of both Taylor and Floyd, F the proceeds for which went to the Equal Justice Initiative, Black Lives Matter, The Bail Project, and Movement For Black Lives.
Though “Misbehaviour” ta akes place half a century ago, th he “Summerland” actress noted that the themes and is ssues it’s fueled by are relevant v as ever in 2020.
“For me, I think that just makes the work more invigorating to be a part of, if it fe eels relevant to the culture th hat we’re in,” said MbathaRaw. R “And I think there’s so many ways to express your activism, be it through film or art, or many, many, many mediums that you can contribute to the conversation.”
“Misbehaviour” hits select theaters and Video on Demand Friday