Real Women Have Curves

Real Women Have Curves by Patricia Cardoso

Real Women Have Curves is an award winning movie which is directed by a Colombian-American film director, Patricia Cardoso. This comedy film is the latest film of Patricia Cardoso and it has been a great reputation of her with this effecting feminist film. The impact has been created to the audiences through the movies especially to the women. The setting of this movie mainly took place in Los Angeles and a short scene in New York at the end of the movie. This movie won few awards and nominations at the moment. For examples, the main role, America Ferrera got nominated for Best Debut Performance in Independent Spirit Award, won Dramatic Audience Award in Sundance Film Festival and more.  

Real Women Have Curves - Trailer

Real Women Have Curves starts off with the Mexican-American high school graduates, Ana, who wishes to further her studies in college. Ana is an intelligent teenage girl and she has a high aspiration about her future. Unfortunately, Ana’s decision is discouraged by her traditional and straight parents, especially Ana’s mother, Carmen. Carmen is determined that Ana should starts earning for the family’s living by working in her sister, Estela’s dress-sewing factory. Ana struggles to get free at the beginning of her working days and she’s tormented between her ambitious dream and her family. Over the summer after her graduates from high school, Ana starts to admire the teamwork and hard work of the ladies in the sewing factory. She started to realize that women could make their own decision and she could take the responsibility for her own. Ana makes a decisive and brave decision that she wants to continue her studies in Columbia University in New York which is far away from her home. She realizes that she is proud to be herself, for who she is. She wants to find her place and achieve her dream no matter how. 

Real Women Have Curves is a feminist movie that focuses mainly on the women’s self-confidence. Throughout the movie, the audiences will get the message of self-respect and self-empowerment of a woman. This theme is regarding the women power, women have their rights on their own. Women are beautiful on their own way and no one could decide who’s pretty and who’s not. Self-confidence is an essential and a must-have on every single female on earth. The female director, Patricia Cardoso is trying to send the message to the audiences through this particular movie in a way to encourage the women.

At the beginning of this movie, Ana (America Ferrera) is doing the housework while she’s supposed to be on her way to school. Her mother, Carmen (Lupe Ontiveros) pretends to be sick in a way to keep Ana stays at home with her instead of going to school. But Ana refuses to listen and insists to go to the school. This shows that the mother is controlling and tries to stop Ana from going to school. Besides, the mother also takes the opportunity in the family celebration of Ana’s graduation, questioning why Ana quits from her job and she wants Ana to works in Estela, Ana’s elder sister’s sewing factory. 

Carmen is expecting Ana could be like her when she was young, work and strives; build for her family in her entire life. This can be shown from the scene when Carmen is talking to his husband about Ana’s future. Carmen speaks in Spanish says “I can teach her to sew, teach her to raise her kids and take care of her husband. Those are things they won’t teach in her school.” This is showing that Carmen wants Ana to go through a life as a traditional woman like how she was, start working and get married someday and the family would be Ana’s purpose of life. Carmen also says “It’s a matter of principle. It’s not fair. I worked since I was 13 years old and Ana is 18 years old. Now it’s her turn. She has to work." 


To convince the women that they are beautiful, Patricia Cardoso conveys the messages through the shots and scripts. There’s another scene where Ana had sex with Jimmy and that was her first time. She stands in front of the mirror and looking at her body. Ana says “turn the lights on; I want you to see me. So this is what I look like.” Jimmy says “what a beauty.” In the room, there’s only a lamp turned on. It is close up shot of Ana standing on front of the mirror without clothes on and the reflected to Jimmy at the back. This shows that Ana is accepting herself for who she is and she hopes for the same thing from Jimmy. It is convincing the audiences that even if you’re fat or flaws on you, as long as you believe you’re pretty, you are. Woman has the right to be confident and live for their own and not by the society’s point of view.

In addition, Ana is trying to break away from the domineering culture and her mother. She has a fully acceptance on her body and she tries to show it to her mother. There’s a scene where Ana stripes down her clothes in the factory, right in front of her mother. It is saying that Ana feels the heat in the factory and she tries to cool herself, but Patricia tries to show the daring part of a woman to accept their own body. Accept for you are, it is not necessary to change yourself for others. Ana even asks the workers in the factory to follow her to escape the heat. Full shot is taken for this scene as the ladies remove their clothes off except Carmen. The ladies are showing their cellulites and stretch marks to each other. They do not feel ashamed about it but they are admiring it for what is on them. The shot is gaining the attention from the audiences by using this more to feminism scene. It is middle close up when the ladies are taking off their clothes one by one. It is focusing on each of them. The clothes are taken off and the body figures look obvious and clear enough. Woman doesn’t people to teach them how and what they should look like and woman doesn’t look attractive for just to get a man. People accept you for who you are but not because of you are what they want you to be. Women gain respects from the intelligence and ability but not from the appearance. 

In a nut shell, women can’t be told that they are ugly if they are not in size six. There’s no specific standard saying that women are pretty to look like this certain way. The director, Patricia Cardoso doesn’t use any special skill or techniques while shooting this movie. She uses the normal editing and let the story develops naturally. Women are the main theme in this movie and it is presenting the girl’s power. Women’s abilities are limitless and it should be equally treated like genderless. Women should be respected for their mentally but not physically. As we always say, don’t judge the book by its cover. Appearance doesn’t mean everything of a person while there’s more to be seen for a body. Patricia Cardoso is showing the prettiness and confidence of the women and the messages are successfully conveyed to the audiences. Women have the rights and they can make decision by themselves. For a dream or the purpose of life, women can definitely achieve like the men can do.