Bettie Page Reveals All

(Jan 24, 25, 29, 31, Feb 1, 7, 8) In 2013, in the Western world, at least, it’s not such a big deal to own your sexuality. In the 1950s, when Bettie Page’s career was flowering — and before she mysteriously walked away from that career in 1957 — owning your sexuality could get you arrested. Today, Bettie Page is often referred to as a “cult” icon but that term does not do justice to her enduring legacy; in 2012 she was ranked by Forbes as one of the top ten posthumous celebrity earners – who knew?  In Academy Award nominee Mark Mori’s alluring documentary, the real Bettie Page emerges from the veil of myth and rumor via audio interviews taped a decade prior to her death in 2008.  With earthy, razor sharp wit, Bettie tells her life story — from humble beginnings as one of six children in an impoverished southern family, to high school salutatorian, to scandalous 50s pin-up model, to sudden retirement in 1957 at the peak of her modeling career. 

With a stunning array of gorgeous photographs (some quite explicit), unusual archival material, and playful movie footage, BETTIE PAGE REVEALS ALL shows how Bettie’s unabashed sexual expression and provocative poses set the stage for the sexual revolution and ushered in a modern era in fashion.  For stars like Katy Perry and Beyonce, as well as new generations of adoring fans around the world, Bettie remains an irresistible style icon and an empowering role model. (101 min)

Mark Mori’s coup was to get Bettie’s voice on audiotape not long before she died. In a throaty smoker’s growl that’s enchantingly at odds with the flirty-ingenue image she projected in her prime, Page comes across as worldly, direct, and both amused and appreciative at having been anointed a heroine of the women’s movement. –NPR

Tonight’s screening is at Woodburn Hall, perhaps our most intimate screening room. And its easy to get to. If you are walking on 7th Street towards the IU Auditorium, Woodburn is on your right just before you reach Showalter Fountain. Enter through the first set of doors that you see (on the west side of the building). You’ll see us on the first floor immediately on your right.