The Glorias | 2020 | R | – 5.4.5

Why is “The Glorias” rated R? The MPAA rating has been assigned for “some language and brief lewd images.” The Kids-In-Mind.com evaluation includes several women wearing skimpy Playboy “bunny” costumes, drawings of a fully nude woman and male genitals in a newspaper insert, a partially bare breast when a woman nurses her infant, several sexually suggestive invitations by men to women and many discussions and depictions of women in demeaning and sexually charged terms, and a few kissing scenes; a bomb scare, a few men shown with blood on their heads during riots in India, a few scenes of women discussing violence against women, a reference to a woman having an abortion, and at least 3 F-words and other strong language. Read our parents’ guide below for details on sexual content, violence & strong language.

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The story of Gloria Steinem (Ryan Kiera Armstrong, Lulu Wilson, Alicia Vikander and Julianne Moore, at different ages), the woman that became the face and icon of the 1960s women’s movement and modern feminism. Based on Steinem’s memoir “My Life on the Road.” Also with Janelle Monáe, Bette Midler, Timothy Hutton, Lorraine Toussaint, Kimberly Guerrero and Gloria Steinem. Directed by Julie Taymor. [Running Time: 2:27]

The Glorias SEX/NUDITY 5

 – A newspaper insert shows drawings of a fully nude woman (bare breasts, abdomen, genitals and legs are shown) and several male genitals along the side of the page and the words “Pin the [anatomical term deleted] on the Feminist.” A woman nurses her infant on an airplane (we see part of the woman’s bare breast with the child pressed against her) and the flight attendant asks her to stop or go to the bathroom, as a woman on the aisle looks disgusted. A teen girl wears a low-cut dress that reveals cleavage. Women wearing traditional Indian dresses are shown with partial bare abdomens and backs in several scenes. In an imagined sequence, a woman wears a nun’s habit, removes it to reveal a skimpy Playboy “bunny” costume and tells a man that he can pull on her tail. Many women wearing skimpy Playboy “bunny” costumes are shown in a dressing room and working in a lounge serving people drinks (cleavage, bare shoulders and backs and legs to the hip are shown and one woman advises another woman on how to “stuff her top” and increase her cleavage); one woman tells another woman, “Don’t sleep with the customers,” and we see a man try to give one woman a room key (she does not accept it and he pulls on her fluffy bunny tail as she walks away).
► Several women bathe in and next to a river in a village in India (no nudity is seen). Men and women dance on a pier when it starts raining and a few people continue to dance and get soaked. A man and woman kiss after they are joined as partners in a Cherokee marriage ceremony. A man and woman kiss in a couple of scenes. A man and a woman dance closely together at a celebration, another man cuts in, and he and the woman dance.
► A man asks a woman to mail some letters for him and she leaves them on his desk when he continues by telling her to meet him in a hotel afterward (suggesting sex); she then quits that job. A man tells a woman in an interview, “You dress sexily,” and “You are a stunning sex object.” A man in an audience stands up and asks two women on a stage “Are you lesbians?” A woman describes a woman being beaten and sterilized. A woman says that her family was “dirt poor,” and that the people that her mother worked for would pay $75 per live birth when they needed farmhands. A teen girl talks about her friend in 9th grade becoming pregnant by their coach and that the pregnant girl used a coat hanger to terminate the pregnancy and the girl died. A woman tells a doctor, “I can’t have this baby,” and he tells her, “What you are asking is not strictly legal” (we understand that she has an abortion). A woman is quizzed in several scenes about whether she is married, whether she wants to be married and whether she wants children. A man tells his adult daughter, “Desk jobs can fatten your ankles.”

The Glorias VIOLENCE/GORE 4

 – We see police officers with sticks in India moving through crowds of people and several men are shown with bloody head wounds (presumably from being struck) and we hear that there are riots.
► A cab driver slams on his brakes as several men walk across the street; the driver yells at them and they yell back and pound on the hood of the car, the driver then speeds up and nearly hits a woman pushing a baby in a stroller and the passenger yells at the driver and gets out of the car; the man yells about being Ukrainian and not Russian and makes racist remarks. A man shoots a leg brace after a woman dies. Police officers enter a barbershop while searching for a young girl and they take her home, where her mother yells at her and talks about seeing German soldiers outside the house (there are none) and talks about the war. Police officers enter a building and lead several women out telling them that there was a bomb threat. People pound on a car where a young girl is sitting and they scream, “Baby killer”; a woman then gets out of the car.
► An animation shows a female figure with eight arms and a fetus drawn on the abdomen juggling responsibilities expected of women. We see several magazine and newspaper ads depicting violence against women and sexual servitude. An imagined scene shows a young girl standing against a target with a man throwing knives at her (she is not struck). We see people protesting farmworker conditions.
► A woman gets a call about her father having been in a car accident and that he is in the hospital; she then gets a call that the man died before she was able to go to be with him. A woman talks about her husband dying after they were together for only a year. A woman sits on the bed of a woman that appears ill and we understand that she dies. A woman complains of a headache and we see her sick in a few scenes, with a couple of scenes in hospital-type and care facility settings; we hear that she suffers from anxiety and neuroses. A doctor describes a man having died from “gushing traumatic ulcers” caused by stress and despair; the doctor reprimand’s the man’s daughter for leaving him alone in the hospital for a week. A woman tells a doctor, “I can’t have this baby,” and he tells her, “What you are asking is not strictly legal” (we understand that she has an abortion).
► Women gather in an Indian village and discuss the caste system that makes their lives dangerous; a woman talks about her daughter having been raped in front of her, another woman says that her son was taken away and beaten, a young girl says that boys at school attacked her and tried to rip her clothing (her parents don’t allow her to go back to school), and another woman talks about the upper caste members burning the lower caste members’ crops. A woman describes a woman being beaten and sterilized. A teen girl talks about her friend in 9th grade becoming pregnant by their coach and that the pregnant girl used a coat hanger to terminate the pregnancy and the girl died. A woman writes a story about horrific working conditions and that female waitstaff is being exploited in a club and she gets a threatening call telling her to stop or she’ll be swamped with lawsuits. A man tells a woman interviewing for a writing job, “Girls do research and men do the writing.” A woman is upset and tells her husband that their car will be repossessed if they don’t make a payment. A man says, “If you don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow, it could be wonderful.” A man tells his daughter, “Travel is the best education.” A man tells a woman to make more coffee and she does so begrudgingly. A man tells a woman, “You’re too young.” A man tells a woman to mail some letters for him and she leaves them on his desk (please see the Sex/Nudity category for more details). Women on a train complain to a man that tries to charge a woman too much for a cup of tea. A woman enters a roadside bar and people inside look at her as if she doesn’t belong; another woman approaches her and they speak briefly. A man tells a woman, “You write like a man.” A woman says that women need to “Stop sucking and begin to bite.” A woman speaks to a group of men and refers to their colleague referring to rape as a “very small assault.” A woman tells another woman, “Conflict will seek you out.” A woman talks about the women’s movement being the “Downfall of the American family.” A woman says that she wishes another woman would “Rot in Hell,” and that she should never have children. A man says that when he hears a woman speak he can’t decide whether he wants to “Hit her or kiss her.” Richard Nixon is asked about using the term “Ms.” and he seems to become uncomfortable as he says he prefers, “Miss and Mrs.”
► A woman vomits into an airsickness bag on a plane (we hear retching; we do not see goo).

The Glorias LANGUAGE 5

 – About 3 F-words, 2 obscene hand gestures, 2 sexual references, 10 scatological terms, 5 anatomical terms, 14 mild obscenities (a dog’s name is “Dammit”), 2 derogatory terms for African-Americans, name-calling (a woman’s family tribal name is “Mankiller,” terrible pickle, crazy, bold, maniac, bastards, hon, sweetheart, lunatic, brainwashed, dirty lazy people, deportation, popette, sex object, moron, irrelevant, loudmouthed [derogatory term for African-Americans] lady), exclamations (dang, oh wow, slow down, eureka, keep dreaming sister, darn, fuss), 2 religious profanities (GD), 10 religious exclamations (e.g. Good God, Holy Moly, Thank God, Jesus, Oh My God, several references to Gandhi). | profanity glossary |

The Glorias SUBSTANCE USE

 – A young girl gives her mother a teaspoon of medicine to help her rest, and a woman takes several pills in a care facility. People in a bar are shown holding and drinking from beer bottles and glasses of beer, people are served and drink liquor in a lounge scene, women drink wine in an office, people drink at a party, and women drink wine in several scenes in an apartment. A man smokes a cigarette in an office, a woman smokes in her apartment in a few scenes, a man smokes a cigar in a restaurant, and people smoke in a variety of places throughout the movie.

The Glorias DISCUSSION TOPICS

 – Gloria Steinem, Bella Abzug, Martin Luther King, the Civil Rights Movement, Richard Nixon, the Equal Rights Amendment, Harvard Law, Betty Friedan, Hillary Clinton’s presidential run, the Women’s Caucus, Right to Life, Pro Choice, human rights, equality, women’s liberation, reproductive rights, voting rights, sexual harassment, love, sex, publicity, value, respect, sexual perversion, tribal sovereignty, Catholic faith, the Ku Klux Klan, fear of public speaking, optimism, abortion, injustice, profiteering, the caste system, dowry murders, honor killings, expectations, Native American traditions, gambling, courage, masculinity, discrimination.

The Glorias MESSAGE

 – You should be able to do what you want to with your life.