Misbehavior shines a light on one of the many Women’s Liberation Movements of the 1970’s. With the backdrop of the Miss World pageant we get a glimpse at both sides of the aisle. This is not just an in-your-face declaration about the evils of patriarchy, but actually balances that stance with arguments from other women who felt that liberation was not the path to equality. With a stellar cast and witty writing this is an enjoyable film to watch and one that will have you applauding at the end. (more commentary below)
Misbehaviour opens in select theaters nationwide and on VOD everywhere September 25, 2020 from Shout! Studios.
Synopsis: Keira Knightley and Gugu Mbatha-Raw lead an all-star cast in this charmingly provocative true story of how two very different groups of women made their voices heard in the fight for equality.
In 1970, the Miss World competition took place in London, hosted by US comedy legend, Bob Hope. At the time, Miss World was the most-watched TV show on the planet with over 100 million viewers. Claiming that beauty competitions demeaned women, the newly formed Women’s Liberation Movement achieved overnight fame by invading the stage and disrupting the live broadcast of the competition. Not only that, when the show resumed, the result caused uproar: the winner was not the Swedish favorite but Miss Grenada, the first black woman to be crowned Miss World. In a matter of hours, a global audience had witnessed the patriarchy driven from the stage and the Western ideal of beauty turned on its head.
(continued) I was delighted to find out that this was actually based on true events. Racism and sexism were rampant in the 70’s and I can only imagine that to be a woman of color would be doubly hard. The beauty pageants were under scrutiny not only for how the portrayed women but how they alienated those of color. The 1970 pageant – after much pressure from media and organizations – decided to be a bit more diverse. They brought in two candidates from South Africa; one white and one black. This was a major step due to the horrific apartheid taking place in that country at the time.
Sally Alexander (Keira Knightley) was married with a young daughter. She was fighting hard against sexism by educating herself and trying to get a seat at the table in the world of academia. Jo Robinson (Jessie Buckley) was taking a more hands on approach with graffiti slogans, marches, and a fist raised at the establishment. They found common ground in their passion and joined forces to create a movement that made headlines – literally – across the globe.
The film also gives a fait amount of dialogue from the women of the day who were content with their role and place in society. Many of the women in the pageant were upset with the Liberation Movement. Sally’s mother (Phyllis Logan) was very vocal about the dangers of such changes. Granted we should all rally around the Sally’s and Jo’s of the world, but at the same time it was interesting to hear the different perspectives. Gugu Mbatha-Raw plays Miss Grenada. She and Sally have a very powerful and thought provoking conversation near the end of the film. It was one of my favorites of the story.
Bob Hope (Greg Kinnear) plays a large part in the film since he was the special host of the 1970’s pageant, and due to the USO tours there was not a bigger name in show business at the time. It seems old Bob was having some problems as well in the area of sexism. I am not sure how much of this is factual and how much is fiction. I will say that to be a powerful, white, male in a time when there was no such thing as boundaries the odds are not in his favor.
I give this delightful and enjoyable film a solid B for bravery. Capturing all of the issues the 70’s had in the arena of race and gender is impossible. This one does manage to give us a small glimpse and does so with smart dialogue and smart directing.
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