The Disappearance of Shere Hite

Greetings again from the darkness. Little bits of movie trivia are always fun to learn, and this documentary throws out a doozy. I must be late to the party because I had no idea Shere Hite was the model for the Bond girls on the poster for DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER (1971), the James Bond film starring James Bond and Jill St. John. More people surely know Shere Hite as the writer of the groundbreaking best-selling book, "The Hite Report on Female Sexuality", the 600-page tome first published in 1976 that inspired much discussion and debate.

Documentarian Nicole Newnham serves up a remarkably detailed and encompassing look at Ms. Hite and the impact of her writings and interviews. She opens with a clip from a 1976 interview author Hite gave, and inserts a clip of Hite's commentary in 1994 while re-watching her own interview nearly 20 years later. Throughout the film, we see significant archival footage of Hite appearing on talk shows and at other venues, and actress Dakota Johnson recites some of Hite's written comments and observations.

Hite faced constant criticism of her writing and was forced to defend her research at every turn. Was her questionnaire biased? Was it even scientific? The label of 'sexologist' was ridiculed by many, despite her approach of expounding on The Kinsey Report from years earlier. What began as a frowned-upon graduate school thesis, grew into a cultural phenomenon and made Shere Hite a celebrity ... something that her modeling career never did, despite posing for Playboy and numerous paperback covers for romantic novels.

Hite faced the backlash. She even appeared on Oprah's show in front of a hostile male-only audience that belittled her and tried to discredit much of her work. To her credit, Hite followed with other books, and only wore down for the criticism after many years - leading her to ultimately renounce her U. S. citizenship and move out of the country.

Regardless of one's thoughts about Hite or her writings, she sold over 20 million books, and her most popular is listed as the 30th best selling book of all-time. She was certainly a trail blazer and inspired discussion and debate on what had been a previously taboo topic. Newnham's documentary provides a fitting retrospective to the late Shere Hite.

The Disappearance of Shere Hite is a powerful documentary. Following Shere's life journey was interesting, and I appreciate all that she's done for women. The documentary was fantastically made. It featured fascinating interviews, lovely music, cool retro footage, and creative narration. In addition, the film flowed smoothly and was easy to understand. Despite it being nearly 2 hours long, I was hooked throughout and did not lose interest. My favorite thing, however, is the message. The documentary was truly empowering to me, and it will remain close to my heart. I definitely recommend giving it a watch!

When the "The Hite Report" was published, my earth shook. And my outlook on life entirely flipped. For the first time, I was able to open myself to love and experience all the wonderful things which accompany that. I often wondered what happened to Shere Hite and am thankful to now know the answers. I want to thank the documentarians who made this film. It allowed me to remember the beauty of Hite's soul. Though she approached women and their sexuality with scientific precision, she revealed to women how to be happy and yes ... even playful with our partners. And she reminded us that we have every right to expect comfort, excitement and gratification in the bedroom. Hite is, and will always be, my hero.

Saw this at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival.

"The Disappearance of Shere Hite" is a documentary about Shere Hite's and it discusses about her bestselling book The Hite Report that liberated female orgasm by revealing most private experiences of thousands of anonymous surveys. Her findings rocked American establishment and current conversations about gender, sexuality. Prior to seeing the film, I have read about Hite in several courses before but I wasn't fully aware about her popularity and importance. This documentary does a pretty good job and presenting Hite's work and the type of person she is.

Director Nicole Newnham understands how to approach this documentary with interesting discussions, good tone and appropriate structure without feeling overly soapy or inconsistent. The visual presentations and uses of archival footage were used well and the narration from actress Dakota Johnson provides good insight of Hite's writing and personality she was like.

Throughout, the many interviews from various members who knew Hite or study majors related to Hite were very interesting and helped to provide a lot of context. However, there were a few interviews that felt a bit out of place or could have been shorten as if it was going on a little too long. Also, the film does feel a little too long as some moments could have been deleted and the film would still be pretty good. Overall, it's an interesting documentary and I can see this documentary being used in Gender Studies or Sexuality courses.

Rating: B+

Excellent storytelling and great handling of a historically significant subject matter. Sound design, voice acting, lighting, graphics, narrative building, all aspects are designed marvelously and with much care.

Multiple aspects of Shere Hite's life and her persona have been captured beautifully and truthfully. The other side of being a public personality who is fighting an oppressive system can be heartbreaking. Props to the editing team for cutting it so tight and engaging. Gives the viewer much to ponder upon and, forces one to draw parallels to the current socio-political scenario. Hopefully the movie proves to be "The Reappearance of Shere Hite", bringing her enormous contributions to light and, her books into print again. Needed now more than ever.