Misbehaviour is not a perfect movie, but it does its job of highlighting the oversexualization and mistreatment of women.
Misbehaviour is a movie about the protesting of the Miss World 1970 competition. This is based on true events, and brings to light the mistreatment and oversexualization of women. It is all about the Women’s Liberation Movement and so as a woman and a mom of two girls I was very excited to check it out. Did it exceed my expectations? No. Did it meet them? Not really. But it did get the job done, despite its imperfections.
Most of the acting was fantastic. For me, Keira Knightley and Gugu Mbatha-Raw stole the show for multiple reasons. Of course, Jessie Buckley, who I just watched in I’m Thinking Of Ending Things, was fantastic as well. I am ashamed to say that it took me way too long to figure out who she was and where I knew her from.
A major downfall casting wise is Greg Kinnear as Bob Hope. He certainly isn’t a likeable character in this film, but he is a bit TOO likeable — if that makes any sense. I wanted to hate him, I should have hated him, but his performance just falls a bit too flat to make me care either way.
My biggest issue with this movie it seemed almost a little bit too fun. Yes, there were certainly some moments where I cringed and looked away. The most cringe-worthy one being when the contestants were told to turn around so the judges could have a look at their backsides. And then stood that way for what felt like forever.
Another cringe moment is when the woman who helps to organize the competition mentions that it is not only about beauty and the man butts in saying “and swimsuits“. He even mentions that they must be “untouched” in order to enter. Yuck. It was also a little shocking to me when the women were introduced along with their measurements. Not cool, yo.
Overall though, I felt like in order to be 100% on the protestors side, I needed more moments like that. I suppose part of the reason I wasn’t as outraged as I expected to be is because the movie did such a good job of showing the other side of the argument. And I don’t mean the men’s perspective.
Two Perspectives
One of my favorite things about Misbehavior is that they show the perspective of the woman on both sides — the ones boycotting and protesting the Miss World pageant, and the contestants of the pageant. We get the women who are sick of being treated like objects. Those who are divorced are looked down on. They are told they cannot get birth control, or even bank loans, without their husband present (and without his permission).
On the other hand, the women who are entering the Miss World 1970 pageant are, more or less, not doing it to be ogled. Not at all. They discuss how the money could help them and their families out. How this win could put them ahead with their schooling, or careers. And the African American women just want little girls who look like them to know they are beautiful too. Yeah, that part got me right in my heart.
Overall Thoughts
Misbehaviour is not perfect. Unfortunately it likely won’t make any audience feel strongly about either side’s point of view. However, it does its job in bringing light to what happened during the Women’s Liberation Movement and the protest of the Miss World 1970 pageant. Had that not happened, I am not sure I would have the rights that I have today. Sure, we would have likely eventually gotten there, but who knows.
It hits close to home knowing there are a lot of protests going on around the country — around the world — right now. And when they show the real women who are featured in the film at the end, it made me tear up. Do I think this is worth a watch? Yes. Just don’t set your expectations too high.
About Misbehaviour
A group of women part of the Women’s Liberation Movement create a plan in order to disrupt the 1970 Miss World beauty competition in London.
Stream Misbehaviour on September 25th!
Tessa Smith is a Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer-approved Film and TV Critic. On Camera personality and TV / Film Critic with 10+ years of experience in video editing, writing, editing, moderating, and hosting.
2 Comments
thanks for giving us such a good article.
Nice review. This film came out March in the UK!
Greg Kinnear as Bob Hope was perfect because Bob Hope was a misogynist and he portrayed him well.
You kept referring to the black women: Miss Africa South and Miss Grenada as African American, when they are not. One is Grenadian and the other is African, specifically, South African. Only Black Americans are referred to being African American. Black people are not a monolith.