Our Review

  Movie: MISS REPRESENTATION: RISE UP

                           Rating: NR

                         Length: 1:27

          Release Date: October 22, 2026

JEANNE: Where is all this hatred coming from? Attacks on young girls and women of all ages have grown exponentially, exacerbated by the onslaught of AI and the media’s failure to exercise control. MISS REPRESENTATION: RISE UP does an excellent job unveiling the cultural backlash which is threatening women’s mental health, power and agency.

Directed by Jennifer Siebel Newsom, who wrote the screenplay with Camille Servan-Schreiber and Gretchen Miller, MISS REPRESENTATION: RISE UP is a follow-up to Newsom’s first documentary, MISS REPRESENTATION, from 15 years ago. She founded The Representation Project at the same time in 2011 with that first doc. Its mission --- “to change the world”. 

Not thinking a sequel would be necessary, Newsom and her colleagues realized that with such cultural phenomena as the online manosphere, the disastrous effects of the Roe v. Wade rollback and technology being weaponized to silence women, that a follow-up was very much needed. MISS REPRESENTATION: RISE UP features groups of dedicated, hard-working young women committed to fighting these biases.

AI is a tool mainly created by men, so it’s not difficult to believe that 99% of all the deep fakes target women and girls. So now, it is up to women to combat these extremist actions to protect our health, both mentally and physically.

Newsom’s film features prominent women such as former U.S. Senator and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, Frances Haugen, the Facebook whistleblower, Nina Jankowicz, author and Counter-disinformation expert and Dr. Safiya Noble, professor and Director of the Center on Resilience and Digital Justice at UCLA. Also included is Jim Steyer, the founder and CEO of Common Sense Media, a non-profit aiding kids, parents and teachers navigating media and technology.

There is a crisis at hand. Young girls are being targeted, cyberbullied and stalked online, with threats of violence escalating out of control. As a result, these children are developing eating disorders, altering their young bodies --- and committing suicide. But this isn’t the only harm technology is causing. Many women in positions of power, like Newsom, who is married to Governor Gavin Newsom, are being harassed and threatened with violence, along with their children and families.

MISS REPRESENTATION: RISE UP is Newsom’s fifth documentary. She also executive produced the fabulous Emmy Award-winning and Academy Award-nominated THE INVISIBLE WAR (2012) and one of my all-time favorites, the Emmy Award-winning THE HUNTING GROUND (2015). This sequel, with its incredible editing by Jessica Congdon and Jennifer Steinman Sternin, is as dynamic as all her previous works.

OPINION: STRONG SEE IT NOW!

DAVID: Jeanne and I often say this about powerful, informative and inspirational documentaries --- they should be required viewing by everybody. In director Jennifer Siebel Newsom’s compelling and important film, MISS REPRESENTATION: RISE UP, the primary point --- and it is chilling --- is that young women and girls are losing their place in society as equals to everyone else. It appears all the progress made in the last 20 years for women --- economically, politically, socially --- is being eroded largely by big tech companies who fail to place safeguards on their social media sites.

The biggest offender is META and its CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Of course, we already knew that from THE SOCIAL RECKONING which we recently reviewed. And, Frances Haugen, the Facebook whistleblower from that film appears here in Ms. Newsom’s latest.

The truth is that anyone can post anything on META in the name of free speech. Sadly, however, girls as young as 11 or 12 are being bullied, discredited, mocked and even pictured nude because unscrupulous posters use AI or some other means to digitally remove their clothing. And so-called leaders like Zuckerberg refuse to put safeguards in place to protect them.

The film points out that mental health problems abound for so many females --- especially vulnerable young girls --- to the point where a very disturbing percentage investigate methods of suicide. Sexism and misogyny aimed at women is nothing new, nor is the shameful behavior of men at the heart of these issues.

Director Newsom, who, as Governor Gavin Newsom’s wife has the title of First Partner of California, never dreamed that a follow-up to her award-winning 2011 film MISS REPRESENTATION would be necessary 15 years later. Unfortunately, it is.

Some of the impressive cast assembled in MISS REPRESENTATION: RISE UP includes Hillary Clinton, Nancy Pelosi, Amy Klobuchar, and Ms. Haugen. Other major contributors include Nina Jankowicz, Jim Steyer, Dr. Safiya Noble, Gretchen Carlson, Jameela Jamil and Reshma Saujani. These people all recognize the current social stigma aimed at women, and they deserve huge credit for amplifying the problems and offering solutions.

OPINION: STRONG SEE IT NOW!