THE STORY – Through interweaving a wide array of archival footage, close analysis of the magazine’s most iconic cover stories and contemporary interviews with the women who made Ms. what it is, “Dear Ms.: A Revolution in Print” examines the magazine’s legacy, highlighting its most powerful moments while also poignantly reflecting on its well-intentioned mistakes.
THE CAST – Gloria Steinem, Patricia Carbine, Letty Cottin Pogrebin, Lindsy Van Gelder, Marcia Ann Gillespie & Susanne Braun Levine
THE TEAM – Cecilia Aldarondo, Alice Gu & Salima Koroma (Directors/Writers)
THE RUNNING TIME – 110 Minutes
“Dear Ms.: A Revolution in Print,” which recently premiered at the Tribeca Festival, centers on the now-defunct Ms. Magazine and its founders (including the legendary Gloria Steinem). The magazine was launched in 1972 by Steinem, Patricia Carbine, Letty Cottin Pogrebin, and others. It quickly became an essential part of the feminist movement, bringing forth complex discussions about once-taboo topics such as domestic violence and sexual pleasure. “Dear Ms.” is directed by three women — Cecilia Aldarondo, Alice Gu, and Salima Koroma — who each directed one part of the documentary, focusing on iconic covers and relevant topics throughout the magazine’s history. Like the publication itself in its heyday, “Dear Ms.” doesn’t shy away from more challenging and/or polarizing subjects, including how the magazine occasionally received backlash from those within the feminist movement. It’s an ode to the power of print journalism and a love letter to feminist icons like Steinem, Dorothy Pittman-Hughes, and others. It also features some unique stylistic choices that make the individual parts fascinating to examine. However, it covers too many important issues for a feature-length documentary and could’ve been better as a docuseries. It also includes numerous talking heads that may not have been necessary.
HBO Documentary Films’ “Dear Ms.” consists of archival footage (audio, photos, and videos), talking-head interviews with Steinem and others, deep dives into the magazine’s most notable articles, and more. One aspect that makes the documentary unique is how it emphasizes the magazine’s mistakes, especially during its earlier years, despite its good intentions. For example, celebrated author Alice Walker was once on the magazine’s staff but eventually left, despite the founders’ best efforts to maintain a diverse staff and Steinem’s alliance with civil rights activist Dorothy Pittman-Hughes (you may remember that iconic photo of the two women with their fists up). According to Walker, she had trouble making her voice heard among the staff and couldn’t see herself and her daughter in the magazine. This inclusion in the documentary is just one instance of how it doesn’t shy away from how white-dominated Ms. was in its beginnings. Steinem, Carbine, and Pogrebin are forthcoming about their struggles with representation and exploring nuances, admitting they “made a mistake.”
The three parts of “Dear Ms.” are titled “A Magazine For All Women,” “Portable Friend,” and “No Comment,” although they each tackle more issues than these aforementioned titles might suggest. In addition, some pieces contain unique stylistic choices, such as doodles and typewriter-themed slides. The influence of print journalism is on full display throughout, especially as we’re shown a variety of covers throughout the magazine’s history. This is interspersed with footage of Steinem and the other founders, writers, and editors of Ms., as well as ample glimpses of women’s rights events, protests, and the like. The documentary covers everything from abortion to civil rights to sexual pleasure to domestic violence — and that’s just a sampling. While it’s fascinating to see the connection between, for example, women’s liberation and civil rights, the documentary covers so much in its runtime that it’s difficult to process it all. It may have been better as a docuseries, giving the important topics more room to breathe.
While there are probably too many talking heads providing opinions and memories, there are impactful moments, such as seeing Steinem, now 91, hold the very first issue of Ms. Magazine. We also hear, at times, both the directors and the founders (who are still living) reading their old articles aloud, and it’s both enlightening and disheartening to see how little things have changed regarding certain issues.
As we’ll have discovered by the film’s end, Ms. Magazine was more than a magazine; it was also a social movement. And it had plenty of naysayers, including anti-feminists of both genders, as well as sex workers disappointed in the publication’s depiction of their industry. Unsurprisingly, women’s magazines were censored much more than others at the time, so the success of Ms. is undeniably impressive. But, as “Dear Ms.” shows us, this is thanks to the hard work of its founders, staff, and other activists. As the first magazine to cover issues like domestic violence — which helped women come clean and led to the creation of women’s shelters — its impact has been felt, even when it seems like society has much more work to do in terms of equality. For one, the magazine normalized masturbation, pleasure, and sex. Like Ms. itself, the documentary is complicated, messy, and sometimes lacking nuance, making it a worthy watch and an ode to print journalism at a time when the digital world has taken over.
