Best Undressed (ATOM Study Guide)

Best Undressed (Martin Taylor, 2009) is a film about a beauty pageant ... with a difference. The contestants perform nude to win the title of Miss Nude Australia. But this documentary is about more than tits and bums. This is a world of glitz and glamour peopled by colourful characters whose take on the sex industry is at times serious, naive, sophisticated and humorous.

Why study a film about a Miss Nude Australia Pageant?
Documentaries can take viewers inside worlds they may know little about. They can tell stories about people, places and activities we may have previously considered bizarre, marginal or even sordid and tawdry; they can encourage us to consider what is normal, particularly in an industry as diverse as the sex industry. Certainly some viewers, like many people in the live audience at The Crazy Horse Club will watch this film because it is about nudity, exotic dancing and beautiful young women. However, it also raises important issues about the objectification of women, their perceptions of the activities they are engaged in, and perhaps most importantly, why they do what they do. The contestants offer an intriguing insight into many aspects of this world of exotic dancing and stripping with humour, intensity and a good deal of self-deprecating style.

Advice to Teachers
Given the subject matter of Best Undressed, teachers are advised to watch this documentary before deciding whether it is suitable for their group of students. As we might expect in a film about a Miss Nude Australia Pageant there is full-frontal nudity, erotic dancing and some strong language.

It would be an excellent film to show senior secondary and tertiary students working in the following areas:

• Gender Studies
• Personal Development
• Psychology
• Media Studies
• English
• Studies of Society
• Values Education
• Cultural Studies