In Miss Representation, there is an emphasis on the medias ability to diminish the accomplishments of many political figures including Sarah Palin and Hillary Clinton. I was personally infuriated by the clips they put together showing how men would portray women as “bitches” or “ditzy” to make them seem like they weren’t capable of taking part in the decision making that goes into running a country. Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin are two very intelligent women with a better education than most politicians can say (Hillary Clinton attended Yale Law school). The fact that the media attempts to shut down these politicians because they are female and make it seem like they aren’t strong enough to run the country is just absurd.

I thought that the terrorism aspect of this movie was very interesting. You almost want the terrorists to succeed so that Algeria will be free from the French, but in the same sense it mirrors passed incidents that have destroyed many lives and caused death all over the world. I tried to look a little further into the films history and how the terrorist aspect was perceived back when it was released. I found that theaters all over France that attempted to show the movie were bombed and viewers in Italy were attacked over this controversial film. Many times people don’t realize how influential a film like this can be. Many people argue that the Middle East learned how to produce terror from Algeria.

This article is a really interesting read telling how accurate Pontecorvo’s depiction of this movie was, how it affected the world, and how it mirrors the world today:

http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/culturebox/2003/08/the_pentagons_film_festival.html