Keep your laws off our bodies - Free The Nipple film review and relevant discussion

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Sexualising of women starts from the moment we begin our lives, the ridiculous dress codes at school. Skirts too short, bras too visable, shirt too tight – according to the middle-aged teachers it’s “too distracting to others”. The bra, an item I was introduced to at 11 is now considered a necessity. WIthout wearing one would be a shock, a horror. Oh no, a nipple! This is the basic concept of ‘Free The Nipple” a drama, almost documentary style film directed by Lina Esco – an up and coming director, actress and activist. She also stars as one of the two ambitious females who hope to decriminalise female nudity, trying to free the nipple. Also while trying to make it legal for women to go topless. They round up a group of women who are willing to risk their finical stability, their reputations and criminal records to make them and the next generation of women free and most importantly equal.

We cut straight to the action that utterly reflects the title, half a dozen women running in New York city stripping their tops off, freeing their beautiful nipples. Contradictory to the title the director does not show their nipples at the beginning, but are blurred out, through pixels. This is a purposefully ironic choice made by Lina Esco to display the restrictions placed upon the female body, specifically the breasts. We only see the breasts once the main protagonist herself accepts the idea of nudity and her own body confidence.

“Keep your laws off our bodies” is a key line included in Hunter Richards’ screenplay that makes the audience aware of the restrictions to their bodies. These laws are made by people ‘protecting’ them…more like restricting. The size of female breasts determines the slur placed upon you: Pancake, whore, slut, tart, nun, frigid. One thing ‘Free the Nipple’ does extremely well is the lack of discrimination of body types, all shapes, all sizes, all races are displayed; sending a vital message to viewers, that every boob, nipple, body is beautiful and most important valid.

This film was actually shot in 2012, yet no one would release the film. This actually started a fire within Esco, who started the campaign. The film is based in New York where being topless has actually been legal since 1992. The incorrect arrest of Phoenix Feely in New York for showing her breasts got her wrongly arrested – this event is shown in the film – yet did not stop police restricting women from showing their bodies.

The film was shot on many cameras including iphones to professional cameras, displaying the slight documentary feel, but also the independent roots which this film flourishes from. Sundance Selects picked the film up for North American release and is responsible for its popularity, but also negatice attention. Imdb rated ‘Free The Nipple’ 3.8/10, while metacritic rated it 33%. The general response to the film was overwhelmingly negative, but not for the cinematic techniques or acting choices, but the subject matter. The female breast, something we are all used to as a baby, at some point in our lives becomes sexualised and taboo. Yet despite the negativity ‘Free The Nipple’ has continued to burst, more than ever.  This is an example of the power of people, celebrities such as: Khole Kardashian, Miley Cyrus, Rita Ora, Lena Dunham, Cara Delevingne, Kendall Jenner, Willow Smith and many more have increased this movement, thus increased the campaign.

Not only power of the people, but power of the internet. Free the Nipple really displays the influence and capability of social media. Love it or hate it, but the internet has pushed this movement years ahead if the tablet in your pocket and the wifi signals you desperately want at every restaurant wasn’t invented. In 2014 facebook allowed women to display pictures of their breasts while breastfeeding. This is a huge development for ‘Free The Nipple’, it’s a start, and that’s all it takes.  You type the hashtag in twitter and hatred and painful jokes will fill your screen. The hate is still here and I predict for many more years it will still linger.

My final thoughts on ‘free the nipple’ is it’s a true masterpiece that breaks downs walls of sexualising the female body and encourages the enjoyment of sex and body confidence. (Check out the amazing soundtrack too.)I do feel however this film is about 15 years too early. This cruel world has women wrapped around its finger. All it takes is a slight cleavage for a rapist to be freed from a sentence or a victim to be accused, as if it is their fault. Numerous people have the mindset, a mindset frozen in time which is unfortunately past down, creating the norm. The film itself acts as part of the campaign, breaking these barriers. This is how we break it down, we spread the word, we show our breasts. Out and proud, so please #FreeTheNipple.