Alice Oscura – Featured Writer
Writer’s Note: I dedicate this review to my Mom who taught me that you can be a strong woman without letting go of any of your delicate qualities, and still be a supportive wife…without backing down on your beliefs.
🎶 “I am woman, hear me roar, in numbers too big to ignore” music 🎶
Helen Reddy – I Am Woman (1972)
Most of us ladies out there absolutely know what it is like to be passed over because we are female. It happens in our day to day life, our careers and yes unfortunately sometimes even in our marriages. But thankfully we have come a long way in getting our voices to be heard. Although the fight is still ongoing, we have made many advances thanks to the many, many strong women who have come before us, decided that enough is enough – we deserve equality and we have a voice that needs to be heard no matter the platform.
One such lady is Australian born singer, actress and activist Helen Reddy. She was born into a show business family and took that brave step to go to America as a single mother to make it on her own. This movie shows us her journey to not only fame and fortune, but how she helped change the face and attitude towards the feminist movement and how she survived the ups and downs of marriage to an addict whilst raising two children.
The biopic I Am Woman, directed by Unjoo Moon, features actress Tilda Cobham-Hervey as Reddy, and she is almost a dead ringer for the singer. The hairstyles and costumes for the different eras covered, the late 60s, 70s and 80s, were spot on. I was absolutely captivated by her fashion sense that matured as she got older and yet stayed super trendy. Her story is relatable even though she became a celebrity because of her lifelong support female activism.
Helen’s song “I Am Woman”, which was released in 1972 on her debut album “I Don’t Know How to Love Him”, became the enduring anthem for the women’s liberation movement which is also known as the second-wave feminism that lasted roughly two decades and managed to draw attention to domestic violence and sexual violence in any form. Its powerful lyrics have become women’s personal mantra reminding us that we are strong despite the pain that we feel, we push on despite our troubles and keep fighting to be recognised as equals in society.
Helen became a role model for many women of an era, women like my Mom who have since become mothers and wives and have successfully taught their daughters that it is not only important to become educated, but that it is okay to find that balance between having a family and career.
This inspirational film kindles the sparks to fan the flames of support for many women’s organisations and movements that can get swept under the rug due to bureaucratic red tape and public negligence due to people being caught up in our own lives, and forgetting the fact that if it was not for people like Helen, a lot of the rights and privileges that we enjoy today would not exist.
Rating: 7 out of 10
For my thoughts on the documentary Natalie Wood: What Remains Behind you can click here. And for more inspirational reviews you can follow Redmangoreviews on Facebook here.
Dark Alice has an old soul and a curious mind. I believe that anyone can be a hero and that the good guys should always win! I dislike cruelty to animals and think that they have far superior qualities to humans. My motto is there is no future without the past. I also have a weird penchant for Paranormal TV shows even though the slightest sound makes me jump.
I enjoy writing reviews and throwing in fun facts to peak the readers’ curiosity. My ultimate goal in life would be to become a published writer one day. You can find me as Dark Alice Reviews on Facebook, my Instagram is alice_oscura and my Twitter handle is @lise_veliz2. For more on me you can click here.