Bring managers into view – Page 3

“Mardi Gras: Made In China“
A documentary film directed by David Redmon for Carnivalesque Films.
Trailer and pay-per-view stream embedded above. Search online for streaming availability here.

During the Mardi Gras celebrations in New Orleans, USA, a tradition has emerged in which women who bear flesh have strings of plastic beads thrown at them to wear. Filmmaker David Redmon films this revelry and travels to Fuzhou, China to meet the ‘easy to control’ women who make those beads. He films their high speed, low wage, work and returns to New Orleans to show this footage to drunken revellers. He’d done the same thing in Fuzhou, showing the factory workers how the beads they made were ‘consumed’. The film connects women in China making plastic beads for women in the USA to wear, but under very specific, throwaway circumstances. So what were their reactions to seeing these hidden relationships? How did they make sense of this? Or push it to one side? Or find it funny? What happens when labour exploitation meets carnival excess? Where did these beads go afterwards? Who cleaned them up as trash? Why were they sent to US military personnel in Iraq in care packages? And did those factory workers really tell the director that their jobs were fun and well paid? Who can you trust to translate what people tell you? All of these dramas generated heated debate. Not least about trade justice activism like this being a ‘buzzkill’. But what’s the way forward? The film doesn’t suggest one.

Page reference: Grace Chu, Stephanie Hong & Jasmine Lee (2014) Mardi Gras: Made In China. followthethings.com/mardi-gras-made-in-china.shtml (last accessed <insert date here>)

Estimated reading time: 53 minutes.

followthethings.com
Fashion | Health & Beauty

SHOW CAPITALIST EVILS

START SOMEWHERE DIFFERENT

START WITH A PARADOX

FIND A CHARACTER

FOLLOW THE PEOPLE

INCLUDE SUFFERING KIDS

BRING MANAGERS INTO VIEW

“Girl Model: The Truth Behind The Glamour”
A documentary film directed by David Redmon & Ashley Sabin for Carnivalesque Films.
Trailer embedded above. Available in full on Kanopy (with institutional login) here. Search Google for other streaming here and purchasing opportunities here. Website including ‘take action’ advice here.

How do 13, 14, 15 year old girls from Novosibirsk, Siberia end up on the pages of fashion magazines in Japan? Filmmakers David Redmon & Ashey Sabin follow 13 year old Nadya Vall who is scouted in her bra and pants by former model Ashley Arbaugh who finds her look ‘extraordinary’. Nadya wants to live the glamorous life in Tokyo that Ashley’s modelling agency could provide her with, and could earn much-needed money for her family back home. But the reality she experiences in Tokyo is starkly different. She is lonely, hungry and broke. What is it about Japanese fashion culture that values skinny white blonde blue-eyed Europeans teens? Especially as it dehumanises them, treats them as commodities, when they become part of it. Ashley knows she works in a parasitical industry and is conflicted. ‘Girl Model’ is an exposé of its creepiness and exploitation. It’s uncomfortable viewing for its audiences (to put it mildly), and for the people who feature in it. Some of them say that it’s not an accurate portrayal. Nadya calls co-director Redmon a ‘sexual predator’. But is this true or is it what you would have to say if you wanted to continue working in the industry? Models working around the world recognised themselves in the film and shared their experiences online. The film became a rallying cry and campaigning tool to push for change in the industry. It had a powerful impact and features on our site because, here, it’s the workers are the commodities and their supply chain stretches from Sibreria to Japan.

Page reference: Adele Hambly, Elaine King, Andy Keogh, Camilla Renny-Smith, Ed Callow, Joe Thorogood & Vicky Alloy (2025) Girl Model: The Truth Behind The Glamour. followthethings.com/girl-model.shtml (last accessed <insert date here>)

Estimated reading time: 118 minutes.