The British Guide to Showing Off By Jes Benstock

The Alternative Miss World contest is a beauty competition which tries to tear down gender distinctions and resembles an art exhibition more than a competition which ranks people based on their looks. The act of exhibiting your skill and mastery in creating your own costumes is more important than the evaluation process. In the film, dressing up is compared to keeping your front garden looking nice – you do not use the space but other people appreciate your effort. According to the director Jes Benstock during the Q&A session after the movie, the phenomenon of the Alternative Miss World contest reveals an inherent tension in the British culture. Though regarded as stiff and reserved by many, you cannot tell only by looking at the surface of how wild the British actually are. There is a strong defiant streak in the culture, “kindness and fuck-you-ness combined”, as Jes Benstock claimed.

The visual language of the film mixes animation and talking heads documentary footage into a colourful scrapbook style collage. The array of outrageous costumes of the likes of “Miss Cottage Cheese Void”, robots in the evening wear round, elaborately kitsch props and carefully choreographed dance routines used in the show would probably become overwhelming after a while if they were not juxtaposed with the organisers of the show who are portrayed to be sincere, down to earth and anti-snobbish. “I did not let them show off and I did not take the mickey out of them,” Jes explained. As such, the director has managed to find a balance between the outrageousness of the show and the people behind it, portraying the two organisers walking on a field amongst cows in the end, thinking of organising a grand decadent contest during the Olympics in London.

A lovely touch was also added by the surprise appearance of one of the true superstars of the movie – Brian Eno’s black cat. While interviewing Brian Eno, who talks about his experience of visiting the contest, his cat peeps out from his behind and begins to dominate the scene with his unexpected appearance. You could detect a smile on the faces of many of the members of the audience while leaving the cinema – the message of embracing the absurdity in your life and never giving up on yourself and your cooky ideas in this colourfully decadent package and meeting the inspiringly enthusiastic Jes Benstock touched many.

By Pirjo Leek