2020 Reviews – Misbehaviour

Set in 1970, Misbehaviour tells the story of the feminist protests surrounding the annual Miss World Championship, and the inside machinations of the televised tournament. Sally Alexander (Keira Knightly) and Jo Robinson (Jessie Buckley) are anti-patriarchal activists, who bond over their mutual hostility to the contest’s objectification of women, and a belief that a woman’s value should not be based primarily on her appearance. Jennifer Hosten (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) gives an insight into how the event is conducted, as Miss Grenada, a contestant in the pageant who interacts with the other girls, as they discuss their motivations for competing. Eric Morley (Rhys Ifans) is the founding manager of Miss World, and comedian Bob Hope (Greg Kinnear, in prosthetics) is set to headline the event.

It’s important to note, that this movie’s poster ain’t lying; there are many faces on it, and Misbehaviour gives everybody a chance to hold the spotlight. A massive advantage of this, is getting to hear the issues surrounding Miss World and women’s liberation from a multitude of perspectives – Sally and Jo are adamant that they are not mad at the women who take part in these contests, but they are oppositional to them, in the way the contestants have willingly chosen to embrace the system for their advantage. I particularly love the way that Sally’s mother, Evelyn (Phyllis Logan), is used, as a conventional figure, that has led a dutiful life, and contradicts the importance of the freedoms Sally is advocating moving forward. The movie shows how engrained traditional practices can be in the way a person like Evelyn constructs thought, but also how the current regime has worked to reap favourable results by its own now-stale standard. A character like Evelyn could have been belligerent, or simply antagonistic to Sally, but the concerns of women’s liberation, for all women, deserve more respect than that, and Evelyn is valid in pointing out that she has managed to raise a wonderful daughter, and under a new system there will be new challenges, like who will raise the children if both parents have equal opportunity to leave the home. I also love the way that Bob Hope’s wife is used, with a long chuckle at her husband’s misfortune that’s hard not to reciprocate. These side-characters may not have been integral to the story, but are valuable in gaining the full discourse on feminism, and the scope of what the movie yearns to show us.

On the one hand, and my personal point of view, a contest like Miss World is a contest, and there’s no harm in willing participants having a bit of fun. But when being pretty and subservient to men is the only means of gaining credibility in society, then that’s repulsive. So I guess, like most, if not all, things, beauty pageants are fine, so long as there are male equivalents, and our priorities for valuing all peoples is respectable and aligned first. In concern to this pageant though, Misbehaviour does a great job in indicating to me that… The Hunger Games preamble isn’t as farfetched as I once thought. These women dress in conventional garments of their national district and get interviewed by a plucky host one by one, for the world to see. The women are talked about like race horses, by the way they’re discussed based on the calibre of their physical measurements, and paraded around. I like the way the movie shows up Morley’s double-standard for his treatment of women; the way he sneers at the reporter who asks to see his wife’s legs, whilst the Miss World contestants are being gawked at by the press in their costumes. Even the way the press enters the hall like ravenous wolves looking to get their exclusives, or the way the BBC announcer makes jokes regarding the husbands and their wives watching at home, are effectively tacky. But where the movie got me most, was with the bums – getting the girls to turn around for the audience to ogle their behinds. Okay, maybe these beauty contests are harder to defend than I thought.

In days gone by, I also might have been tempted to suggest that the movie wants to bite off more than it can chew in tackling feminism and race issues at once, through Mbatha-Raw’s character Jennifer, but the movie is perfectly clear in expressing that these prejudices are one and the same for some. Obvious as it should be, I appreciate the movie alleviating me of my ignorance, and I’ve got to admit, that even being aware that I once would have thought like that, makes me feel as dumb as the college professor in this movie who considers a woman’s perspective in history is a ‘niche’ subject. But I do reckon the movie takes liberties in execution, by having Sally and Jennifer meet by chance in a bathroom near the end; despite strong feelings against Miss World, Sally wants to congratulate Jennifer for her achievement, and Jennifer is able to point out that the privilege to be offended is not yet afforded to her or the people who look like her. I could be wrong, but that didn’t happen, did it? I also tried to research, and wonder, if the term ‘patriarchy’ was as prominent in 1970 as it is by today’s standards. But I guess, the activists in this movie aren’t mainstream women, and if anyone was going to use such progressive language casually, it would be them.

Jessie Buckley brings the best vervet energy when she is on screen, and I worried I’d miss her when she wasn’t around. But the movie stays compelling, whilst Keira Knightley, Gugu Mbatha-Raw and Greg Kinnear have interesting scenes to work through as well. I wonder if historic social-justice agendas are the new norm for odd-couple movies for a while. It seems to be the case, after Eddie Redmayne and Sacha Baron Cohen were a duo of counter personalities in The Trial of the Chicago 7; Keira Knightley’s systematic boundary-pusher and Jesse Buckley’s anarchist work through their differences here, to realise they are better as friends too. The old buddy-cop movie is the buddy-activist movie in 2020. Misbehaviour also made me reflect on the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s origin movie from a few years back, called On the Basis of Sex, starring Felicity Jones, and how she was a pioneer in using the legal system to defend women, and push female rights into law. It’s like Misbehaviour is a companion piece on female equality to that work, and by having seen both pieces, they elevate each other as a set. If you liked Misbehaviour, and you haven’t seen On the Basis of Sex, I’d recommend looking into that.

Especially considering the events of this movie seem so influential to the growth in mainstream popularity for the women’s liberation movement, Misbehaviour feels like important viewing. I also thought the ending was really neat; the way the actresses look down camera before the actual stars of history shine as they live today – that was an effective technique. I greatly appreciate the respect with which women’s perpetual liberation is handled in this movie, and I just reckon Misbehaviour might be one of my favourite movies of the year.

4.5