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Growing Up

Name: Growing Up
Director: Arnold L. Miller
Released: 1971
Duration: 22 min

Representation Score

4.3/10

Fair

1971

Director

Arnold L. Miller

Runtime

22 minutes

Average Rating

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New Showbiz Analysis

Growing Up serves as a provocative educational tool that prioritizes scientific inquiry over religious doctrine. Its main strength lies in its cultural defiance, challenging the restrictive social and educational frameworks of the early 1970s through a secular perspective. However, the film's focus is strictly biological. While it pushes boundaries regarding sexual freedom, it lacks specific evidence of LGBTQ+ representation or diverse racial and ethnic casting. The documentary functions more as a disruption of institutional norms than a study of identity. Ultimately, the work is a significant artifact of its era's shift toward subjective morality. It succeeds in deconstructing traditional authority, even if it remains silent on specific demographic identities.

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Category Breakdown

Does Growing Up have LGBTQ+ representation?

Fair

The film focuses on biological and sexual education rather than identity-based stories. While it explores sexual freedom, there is no clear evidence of storytelling centered around LGBTQ+ communities or non-traditional gender identities.

How does Growing Up portray gender?

Good

The work challenges traditional modesty and restrictive gender roles by emphasizing bodily autonomy and sexual freedom. It subverts the era's suppression of female empowerment and control over sexual discourse.

How racially and ethnically diverse is Growing Up?

Minimal

There is no specific information about the racial makeup of the participants or the casting. Therefore, the racial and ethnic diversity of the film cannot be determined.

How does Growing Up represent religion and culture?

Excellent

The film prioritizes secularism by presenting sexual education as a scientific endeavor rather than a moral issue. It critiques traditional religious and family structures by highlighting modern biological realities.

Does Growing Up include disability representation?

Minimal

The film provides no details about the inclusion or portrayal of individuals with disabilities. There is no information available about this demographic.

Present on Screen

Challenges restrictive 1970s social and educational frameworks through unconventional teaching methods.
Promotes secularism by framing human sexuality as a scientific rather than a religious subject.
Subverts traditional gendered shame and promotes bodily autonomy through explicit biological education.

Limited or Absent

Lacks explicit representation of LGBTQ+ identities or queer-centric narratives.
Provides no information regarding racial, ethnic, or disability-based diversity.
Focuses heavily on biological functions rather than diverse human identities.

Official Synopsis

Freedom of expression and sexual liberation might have defined the 1960s but by 1971 the British education system was far from ready for Dr Cole's explicit series A New Approach to Sex Education. Made as a teaching aid for use in schools an universities, the Growing Up was unprecedented in its depictions of erect penises, un-simulated masturbation and intercourse to describe the development of the human body and sexuality to students.

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