In Zara Woolf’s latest production, she tackles something fictional characters have faced through her short films, and that’s how women are often only looked at through their beauty or society’s opinion on their lack of. The Beauty Problem is a short documentary that combines the personal stories of a group of women working in the creative industries and how their appearances have possibly affected their careers.
You can’t escape the influencers on social media from trying to persuade you to plump up your lips, shave every hair from your body or dress for the male gaze, so this short documentary comes at a wonderful time. It truly worries me how 13-year-olds no longer go through an awkward, blue eyeshadow period, and instead see models online look a certain way so spend their teen years trying to achieve that similar glow. Woolf has clearly spent time researching and understanding the current beauty landscape on social media that heavily affects its viewers. Whether skincare routines or diet videos, beauty is more than surface level, and Woolf intends to investigate as much as she can in the short runtime.
Even though the target audience seems to be Gen Z and younger, it’s wonderful to hear the words of two older women who unapologetically talk of their time acting and how the industry hasn’t changed that much over the years. It’s depressing that women have been lined up over the years and told ‘no’, based on only looks, but it’s also refreshing to begin to understand where these societal standards stem from and how we can begin to counter them. Our mothers and their mothers before them pass down words of wisdom, but often meet us with resistance and confusion, feeling bullied rather than seen. It can feel that beauty only exists at face value, what everyone sees, but the documentary allows us to understand that beauty includes our mindset, our feelings, and it can’t be changed overnight.
My favourite contributor was the personal trainer. Even though we didn’t dive into science, she reminded us that our bodies are important vessels that we need to protect and love. No matter how we feel about them, we can’t change them if we don’t feel beauty in ourselves at every stage. Her viewpoint away from the creative industries was integral at showing we don’t need to change ourselves just because it feels like one industry is saying to do so.
Comparing this production to Woolf’s previous films, it’s great to know that this documentary style project gave more freedom in the storytelling process. You can read Zara’s full interview with Close-Up Culture here. In scripted content, we follow the story that we’re told, whereas in unscripted, the audience are presented with an idea that can be built on and interpreted in many ways. I think The Beauty Problem works perfectly in this genre, giving us a base to think about our own lives and actions going forward. Using homey settings and casual outfits, we’re able to see women relaxed and welcomed to talk about their feelings, and I hoped they felt beautiful doing it.
The Beauty Problem is streaming now on Prime Video and Discovered.TV