Embrace Film Finally Gets Appropriate Classification

When us gals say we’re not skinny enough or we’re not going to the beach because of some stretch marks or we’re not tall enough, we’re not being over dramatic people. We’re actually voicing how 90% of women around the world feel about their bodies. The terrifying truth though is that majority of women hate their bodies.

Local Director Taryn Brumfitt’s message comes to life in ‘Embrace’, the documentary follows her journey from fitness model to mum of three to crying on her bedroom floor. Something had to give. For her, for her kids and for the strong, beautiful women of world. Taryn explained that, “people are looking in the wrong places to find acceptance and I was trying to give another perspective to say that self love and self-care doesn’t come in the form of a new diet or the latest fads… it comes from within. We can make the choice to Embrace it”.

This is an important and poignant film for everyone to see, but upon it’s initial release and initial classification as MA15+ this simply wasn’t possible, especially for teenagers. However, after several months in limited release the team has won their appeal to change the classification to M, which means the intended younger audience may now see the film without parental supervision.

The particular issue in the initial classification was the discussion of labiaplasty. As the director saw it, the discussion was informative, educational and damn important. However, the confronting nature of the conversation as well as the visuals included as part of the conversation were initially deemed unsuitable for younger audiences.

It begs the question why, in a world where teenagers have free access to Kanye West’s Twitter (or Donald Trump’s presidential campaign for that matter), should we be concerned with having a serious conversation about body image and self esteem