Jabe Babe: A Heightened Life (ATOM Study Guide)

Jabe Babe: A Heightened Life is a documentary written and directed by Janet Merewether and produced by Janet Merewether, Deborah Szapiro and Georgia Wallace-Crabbe. Nominated for Best Documentary at both the 2005 AFI and IF awards, the film tells the story of Jabe Bromhall – Jabe Babe, a 188cm tall dominatrix who lives with the life threatening genetic condition Marfan Syndrome.

Jabe Bromhall is an unusual woman and the film employs an unusual documentary style to tell her story. Whilst the initial appeal of this documentary may appear to be based on voyeurism the piece is not a sensationalistic portrayal of its subject. Rather, it is a sensory experience that plays with the notion of distorted reality by juxtaposing the use of colour, stylised sets and fictionalised accounts against more traditional narrative techniques to illustrate the life, motivations and world of Jabe Babe. In doing so, it asks its audience to consider matters as diverse as the nature of normality and abnormality, the eternal question of the 'what ifs' in life and the notion of truth in filmmaking.