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This is It

Name: This is It
Director: James Broughton
Released: 1971
Duration: 10 min

Representation Score

5.3/10

Fair

1971

Director

James Broughton

Runtime

10 minutes

Average Rating

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New Showbiz Analysis

James Broughton’s experimental work disrupts conventional storytelling. By prioritizing poetic, non-linear narratives, the film avoids the social hierarchies typically reinforced by mainstream Hollywood structures. The film's strength lies in its subversion of traditional cinematic language. It favors a subjective, dream-like exploration of human experience over the reinforcement of established social or moral norms. However, the film lacks explicit demographic breadth. Its focus on universalist, mythic symbolism rather than social realism results in a limited representation of racial and ethnic diversity.

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Category Breakdown

Does This is It have LGBTQ+ representation?

Good

The film uses surrealism to challenge typical heterosexual expectations of intimacy. Broughton's background in the San Francisco counterculture informs a framework for queer aesthetics and non-traditional sexualities.

How does This is It portray gender?

Fair

Experimental montage and dream-like imagery break down traditional romantic structures. This poetic exploration avoids reinforcing the standard masculine leadership or submissive feminine roles found in linear plots.

How racially and ethnically diverse is This is It?

Limited

The narrative focuses on a localized, symbolic Garden of Eden involving a young child. There is no indication of diverse casting or intentional racial blending within the mythic setting.

How does This is It represent religion and culture?

Good

The work shifts focus from religious doctrine toward a secular, individualized experience of existence. It aligns with postmodern traditions that challenge Western institutional authority through experimentation.

Does This is It include disability representation?

Minimal

The film provides no specific details regarding characters with physical or neurodivergent disabilities.

Present on Screen

Disrupts traditional narrative expectations through a surrealist and poetic structure.
Subverts conventional social hierarchies by using avant-garde aesthetics.
Deconstructs traditional romantic structures through experimental montage.

Limited or Absent

Lacks explicit demographic breadth and diverse casting.
Provides no visible representation of physical or neurodivergent disabilities.
Focuses on mythic symbolism rather than social realism or racial diversity.

Official Synopsis

James Broughton's creation myth, THIS IS IT, places a 2-year-old Adam and a bright apple-red balloon in a backyard garden of Eden, and works a small miracle of the ordinary. And since that miracle is what his film is about, he achieves a kind of casual perfection in matching means and ends.

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