Over the last few years, the world has seen beauty pageants come under more and more scrutiny, with society realizing that perhaps having scantily clad women trot out on stage to be judged by people is not the best idea in the world. Well, in the new film “Misbehaviour,” we see that back in 1970, social issues played a big role in the Miss World competition, but society was just in a very different place to recognize it.
As seen in the trailer, “Misbehaviour” tells the two very different stories and has them collide at the 1970 Miss World competition. The first story is led by Keira Knightley and follows a group of young feminist women hoping to derail what they think is a completely sexist affair. Happening at the same time is a story led by Gugu Mbatha-Raw, which shows how representation can be an empowering thing, as the actress plays one of the first Black contestants in the competition.
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The film stars Knightley and Mbatha-Raw alongside Jessie Buckley, Greg Kinnear, Lesley Manville, Keeley Hawes, Rhys Ifans, and Phyllis Logan. “Misbehaviour” is directed by Philippa Lowthorpe, who is probably best known for her TV work on series such as “The Crown,” “Three Girls,” and “Call the Midwife.”
“Misbehaviour” arrives in select theaters and VOD on September 25.
Here’s the synopsis:
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 favourite 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.
