The experiences of womanhood have been increasingly accounted for in film-making in the past decade – but to what extent is truthful representation lacking? When it operates within the premise of a westernised setting, a perspective is often left out: women of colour.
However, Chinese-Australian Film-maker Amy Wang demolishes this pattern in her new Independent film ‘Slanted’ which was showcased at this year’s Sydney Film Festival, mirroring her own experience as a woman of colour growing up in Australia. Slanted follows Chinese-American 17 year old Joan Huang, played by Shirley Chen who undertakes ‘radical transformation surgery’ to change her race from Asian to White to achieve her dream of being prom queen.
Film Still from Slanted; Source – Fangirlish
Tag along, as I explore how the satirical film offers a rare, progressive and educational approach to the portrayal of womanhood in film-making.
THE PRAISE RECEIVED:
The film has received praise amongst viewers, with news headlines comparing it to the 2004 film ‘Mean Girls’ and the 2024 Oscar nominated film ‘The Substance’. After watching Slanted, and as a fan of The Substance, I would argue that Slanted should stand alone. Instead of solely critiquing patriarchal beauty standards, Wang also highlights how the discriminatory intersection between race, gender and class can lead to intensified consequences.
REVIEW ON ROTTEN TOMATOES; Source – Rotten Tomatoes
As Joan cleans mansions to help out her dad and is embarrassed to open her lunch box filled with traditional Chinese food at school, she watches her white peers become nominated for prom queen and parade around in expensive outfits and fancy cars. Here, we are presented with the intersection of different aspects; how race and class both place a barrier on Joan’s desire to be prom queen – a desire enforced by patriarchy.
CRITICISM – IS SLANTED STEREOTYPING WHITE WOMEN?
The film begins with Joan as a child who learns that she needs to be two things to be given the time of day: White and Blonde. We see white models on billboards and her bedroom is filled with posters of white celebrities. Whilst searching for reviews, I noticed criticism from viewers that claims Wang’s portrayal of a ‘popular influencer’ and previous prom queen, Olivia Hammond, stereotypes white and blonde women as ‘bitchy’ because she judges Joan for her lack of whiteness.
However, I would argue this is not the case. Satire operates to shove in our faces an exaggerated and new-founded version of what is already so clear some are unable to recognise due to social conditioning: the permanence of whiteness in the patriarchy. Wang criticizes beauty standards through the metaphor of ‘prom queen’ and the burning desire associated with it, which demonstrates how women are mainly valued for their physical appearance. Furthermore, when the male surgeon addresses why he got the surgery, he claims he got it for increased job opportunities, yet Joan is only there to be what she believes is only beautiful. This limitation to beauty reinforces that all women are victims of patriarchy.
However, if I kept writing about how Wang’s criticism of patriarchy still caters to white women, then I would be the one centering whiteness, which defeats Wang’s message.
IS WANG’S USE OF PROSTHETIC MAKE-UP A METAPHOR FOR BOTOX?
As Joan becomes white, she changes her name to ‘Joe Hunt’ (played by Mckenna Grace) and becomes noticed by the ‘popular’ girls and obtains attention from boys. However, not long after, her skin begins to drastically droop downwards as a side effect of the surgery. Wang demonstrates the pain inflicted on women and people of colour in the pursuit of a beauty standard (unless for health reasons) that proves to be unattainable and unsatisfactory, showcasing how beauty expectations can thrive on the dehumanisation and uncomfortability of the oppressed. According to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, between 2019-2022, botox increased by 73%, overwhelmingly by women; Wang is referencing how the plastic surgery industry is subject to technological developments which aim to create and adhere to new levels of unattainability. I began to ask myself: Could racial transformation surgery one day be possible? And how many people would actually get it?
WHAT WANG IS TELLING AUDIENCES ABOUT RACISM:
I think it is rather clear that Wang is warning audiences about how the advertisement of a defining societal standard can divert individuals away from their culture and lead to an abandonment of morality. We see Joan hide any evidence of her culture at school and betray her best friend who is also a woman of colour, so she can be endorsed by Olivia for prom queen. Yet she begins to realise the beauty of her true physicality being intertwined with her childhood, identity, familial ties and culture – by pretending to be someone else, she loses parts of herself. As someone who hasn’t experienced this, Slanted serves as an important reminder of how white women can uphold racial prejudice and often fail to advocate for the intensified discrimination endured by women of colour.
‘IF IT’S NOT INTERSECTIONAL, IT’S NOT FEMINISM’
Additionally, the surgery begins to become increasingly popular amongst people of colour, which I suggest could act as a metaphor for the approximately 29% of non-white voters according to exit polls, who voted for Trump in the 2024 presidential election – could this be a product of internalised racism or a lack of access to education due to political class differences/subjugation in westernised nations? To what extent are they aware that this agenda is harmful? Slanted poses so many questions.
WHAT CAN WE TAKE FROM THIS? WHY SLANTED MUST SECURE DISTRIBUTION DEALS:
Truthful and centred representation of issues faced by women with multiple minorities have often been excluded in traditional Hollywood media, which has led directors to pursue these topics independently. While writing this article, I tried researching films that have placed a focus on intersectionality, however, the few films that came up were quite unknown, independent and received little attention. Slanted emphasises that it is important we promote intersectional feminism and representations in films – so let’s give the film the positive attention it deserves online so it can secure further distribution deals and serve as an entertaining yet insightful piece across wider audiences.