Free the Nipple

This low budget production is based on a true story. It was produced by, directed by, and written by Lina Esco. The story is about activism in New York City to establish the right of women to show their breasts in public. The courts already said that women have that right, but local police still harassed women who go topless.

By the end of the film, the cause is broadened to emphasize all censorship, including film censorship. This is how it should be, as the display of female anatomy is part of the larger issue of self-expression and the libertarian viewpoint that we all have the right to act however we wish as long as we are not hurting another. As the film rightfully points out, religions play a central role in the creation of taboos and the exercise of censorship.

But the best part of the film is Lina Esco, whose presence as the central character of this film has an energy that reminds me of Angelina Jolie or Katie Holmes.

I did find it confusing that the film sometimes pixelates the topless women. Obviously, this was done for artistic reasons, because the film does not shy from the display of nudity, per its purpose. But this is a minor confusion; it does not dampen the film's enthusiasm for its cause.

To be fair I turned this movie off almost at once. If you want to make a film about women's rights to be legally equal to men, and you title your film after a political movement to show breasts are not offensive, sexual or shameful you don't blur out the women's breasts. By doing so you are sending the exact opposite message. By blurring out the breasts this film is saying that they should stay covered because it might offend someone.

This film is a waste of time and money. It works in direct opposition to women's rights.

If you want to make a film like this you must have the courage to actually free the nipple. Otherwise, don't bother.

On its own merit, this isn't a badly made docudrama at all, it does all the necessary things from a technical and substantive view. My rating reflects more about the message( or lack thereof) than the actual film itself. It seems to me, that eventually more and more states will not arrest a woman for exposure in public without any activism, so the real goal is to expedite the timeline of acceptance. I happen to think when its right for society it will be right for society. If it were legal in public NOW, in the states it currently is NOT, I don't see that making any measurable difference. Enabling doesn't always proffer a willingness to engage in something someone was hesitant to do to begin with. Legalizing pot has not increased the number of its users, and those users would not police themselves for reasons of shyness, embarrassment, ridicule, added attention, or fear of being objectified, or sexually harassed or encroached upon, like a woman most-likely would in vacillating over her decision to bare her breasts in public. My point being, net-net, what would change? How many women get arrested for exposure each year? Do they serve time? Isn't it just a misdemeanor? Are the arrests made primarily over the rights of the child being violated? What about public breast feeding? It was unclear to me if this film was really about censorship or about equality, as it doesn't really address the double-standard in published and licensed media. At the time of this review, their website was down, and they have around 75,000 followers on facebook. The bottom line, at least for me, is that its really not much of a cause, even though I agree with it. If its so important to take your top off in public, then simply move to a state where its legal.

"Scientists now believe that the primary biological function of breasts is to make males stupid." Dave Berry

Fighting for freedom of speech is good anytime, and fighting for the right of women to bare their breasts in public as men can do is a pleasant part of that. Make that a comedy, as in Free the Nipple, and you get a sophomoric study in youthful idealism without the SNL wit.

Nipple is hardly serious when compared with other issues like abortion or equal pay. Based on true events, Free the Nipple humorously depicts the mass movement of topless women coming to NYC with the usual movement tropes and not an impressive screenplay.

It's as if the smartest, most beautiful girls in senior class adopted a project that gave them a chance to have a jolly Glee-like production without the singing. The high-pitched voices, attention from males, and clueless but sincere strategizing seem all too pat while the cause itself is flimsy.

After all, most of the time I felt the police busted them for disturbing the peace and not for baring breasts, which is legal in NYC. Nowhere in the film is there a cogent description of what they were doing or what they hoped to achieve. Still, it's an amusing attempt to balance the books, or breasts, with men.

"It's my body. And I like my body. And I like my breasts. And no, they're not fake." Lindsey Lohan

I was very excited to see that this movie was a documentary. How could I not be impressed with the social media around the likes of Rumer Willis ' campaign to go topless in New York City, Miley Cyrus ' sponsorship of the film through her partnership with Esco, and the endorsements of numerous other pro-feminist celebrities? This is not a film to my utter disappointment, but rather a dramatization of the start of the revolution. Hey, I felt exactly the way you've got to feel right now.The cause she supports in Esco's defense is worth the buzz surrounding this film. Females should be as free to go topless as men, without penalty, whose bare nipples can be displayed in all 50 states. Instagram and Facebook have completely unfair censorship policies against the naked female nipple, although similar women's sexual images and men's identical ones are all right. Unfortunately, in this disjointed, ridiculous little indie film, all this was not well expressed.Although the movement Free the Nipple is only two years old, the movie presents this story as an epic saga, a story about a group of women battling the patriarchy and eventually taking unfair laws and digital policies down. Nonetheless, their battle is still going on, and in this state, although they have brought awareness to the issue, it hasn't changed much. A young drama will make a TV movie better than the indie market. The characters are bland, there is real breast censorship in several scenes, and then none in other scenes, there is a lot of filler, and the ending is anticlimactic, because with characters like these, whose ending should take care to begin with.I emphasize that even if this movie had a bigger budget, better characters, and a less haphazard way to relay information, this movie would not work yet. It's not a movie, and it's a waste of everyone's time for that simple reason. These films fuel people who oppose or devalue the struggle for equality. Not to say this movie is disappointing, it's just needless and misses the point. Hopefully there will be a serious documentary film from the seedling of this one.