http://www.metromagazine.com.au http://theeducationshop.com.au A STUDY GUIDE BY © ATOM 2018. ISBN: 978-1-76061-172-9 FIONA HALL The feisty and fabulous pageant stylist Zooka Alameddine and her support team of sisters transform the contest- ants into pageant princesses from their small boutique in Sydney’s Western Suburbs. ‘We take this very seriously, we dress each girl like we are dressing Miss Universe,’ says the uncompromising Zooka. Another key member of the coaching squad is Nissy Nassif, a glamorous former actress whose job is to mentally prepare the girls for the pageant catwalk. ‘We want to see beautiful, we want to see polite, we want to see fair, a queen is always fair. Think like a queen, act like a queen, walk like a queen, dress like a queen.’
The pageant team are determined to create a pageant that’s better than ever before and to find a queen who will be accepted by the entire community. But first they have to overcome the allegations of “rigging” which besieged the pageant in 2016. As the new contenders sign up, it’s a long road from ordinary suburban girl to pageant glory as they undergo one of the most rigorous pageant training courses in the world. Contestants will learn to strut the catwalk, dance, and answer tricky questions, all while trying to find their ‘inner queen.’ It’s big hair, dazzling gowns and over the top glamour as the night finally arrives. Who will be crowned the next Miss Lebanon Australia and will she emerge unscathed from pageant controversy? Above: Ms Cynthia Farah Miss Lebanon Australia 2015
Synopsis CONTENT HYPERLINKS LEBANESE BEAUTY QUEENS 2 SYNOPSIS GOES BEHIND THE SCENES OF AUSTRALIA’S MOST CONTROVERSIAL 3 CURRICULUM LINKS BEAUTY PAGEANT. FOR 16 YEARS 4 PRE-VIEWING ACTIVITIES THE PAGEANT HAS ATTRACTED 4 Activity: Focus on Lebanon THE WHO’S WHO OF SYDNEY’S and Lebanese Immigration to Australia LEBANESE COMMUNITY, AS THE DAUGHTERS OF PROUD FAMILIES 5 VIEWING ACTIVITIES COMPETE TO BE CROWNED MISS 7 Activity: Focus on The Concept LEBANON AUSTRALIA. of ‘beauty’ and Beauty Pageants 8 Activity: Expository Writing on The documentary is seen through the eyes of the contest- Identity and Belonging ants and the pageant’s ‘glam squad’ who over a five-week period, create the perfect beauty queen. The winner will go 9 Activity: Exploring Filmmaking on to compete in the prestigious Miss Lebanon Emigrant Choices © ATOM 2018 Beauty Pageant in Beirut, with a history of past queens go- ing on to achieve international stardom in the Middle East. 9 Activity: Review of Lebanese Beauty Queens
10 REFERENCES 2 Curriculum Links The curriculum areas within that Australian National ++ Relevant Content Descriptions Curriculum that ‘Lebanese Beauty Queens’ can be related for Year 10 History to include: Depth Study 3: The Globalising World ‘Lebanese Beauty Queens’ can be linked to the following subject areas within the Australian National Curriculum: Migration Experiences 1945 – present: The contribution of migration to Australia’s changing identity as a nation. • Year 9 – 10 English • Year 10 History ++ Relevant Content Descriptions • Year 7 – 10 Media Arts for Year 7 and 8 Media Arts ++ Relevant Content Descriptions Analyse how technical and symbolic elements are used for Year 9 and 10 English in media artworks to create representations influenced by story, genre, values and points of view of particular audi- Explore and reflect on personal understanding of the world ences (ACAMAR071) and significant human experience gained from interpreting various representations of life matters in texts (ACELT1635) ++ Relevant Content Descriptions for Year 9 and 10 Media Arts Compare and evaluate a range of representations of indi- viduals and groups in different historical, social and cultural Evaluate how technical and symbolic elements are manip- contexts (ACELT1639) ulated in media artworks to create and challenge represen- tations framed by media conventions, social beliefs and Evaluate the social, moral and ethical positions represent- values for a range of audiences (ACAMAR078) ed in texts (ACELT1812) © ATOM 2018
3 Pre-Viewing Activities ++ Activity: Focus on Lebanon and Lebanese Immigration to Australia
Prior to viewing Lebanese Beauty Queens, students are to investigate Lebanon and Lebanese immigration to Australia.
Working in pairs, students are to visit Google Images and Google Maps and type in ‘Lebanon’. Students are directed to scroll through the images and note the landscapes, peo- ple and take a close look at some of the maps that they find. As a class, discuss the following:
- Is anyone in your class Lebanese, or of Lebanese herit- age? Has anyone visited Lebanon? - Considering the images you’ve looked at, what are your impressions of Lebanon in terms of climate and landscape? How is this different and how is this similar to where you live?
Students are to create a Padlet page about Lebanon. Information to include:
- Geography and major geographical features of the country - Timeline of the country’s history - 1990 - The causes and impacts of the Civil War 1975 - Population and religious demographics - Major industries - Cultural practices/beliefs - Relevant images
Students are to research and write an overview of Lebanese immigration to Australia. Information to include:
- Tracking immigration to Australia from Lebanon (years when immigration has occurred and the major reasons for this movement). - Places in Australia where large numbers of Lebanese immigrants have settled. - Explanation and exploration of ‘chain immigration’ in relation to Lebanese migrants in Australia. - The ways in which Lebanese immigration has contrib- uted to and enriched Australian society.
Suggested sites to assist with research https://museumsvictoria.com.au/origins/history. aspx?pid=37 http://www.migrationheritage.nsw.gov.au/publications/ lebanese-settlement-in-nsw/index.html © ATOM 2018 http://alhsv.org.au/resources_lebaneseinaus.html https://www.lebaneseconsulate.com.au/lebanonOverview/ facts.shtml 4 Viewing Activities STUDENTS SHOULD BE DIRECTED Sites to assist with further research: TOWARDS THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS, http://www.news.com.au/entertainment/awards/nsw- TAKING NOTES WHILE VIEWING TO ASSIST fair-trading-receives-complaint-regarding-salim- THEM WHEN ANSWERING THEM: mehajers-sisters-win-at-miss-lebanon-australia- beauty-pageant/news-story/37d23f4e10ba4c86e0d 1. Throughout the documentary, take notes on the Nissy f2fe31fc0dc5c Nassif and Zooka Alameddine. Write a reflection on https://au.news.yahoo.com/a/31523569/mehajers-win- their involvement in the pageant and the important probed-amid-claims-miss-lebanon-australia-rigged/ role they play as a mentor in the lives in the contest- 4. We meet Joe Khoury OAM, the founder of the Miss ants. Why do you think the pageant means so much to Lebanon Australia pageant. Conduct research into Joe them? Khoury and his involvement in the Lebanese-Australian 2. We learn that the winner of the pageant in Sydney goes community. Suggested sites to begin research: onto compete in the ‘Miss Lebanon’ pageant in Beirut. 5. There are seven finalists whom we follow during their How can this lead to further opportunities for contest- quest to be crowned ‘Miss Lebanon Australia.’ Take ants, both here and in Lebanon and beyond? notes on each finalist, commenting on the insights we 3. The documentary refers to the ‘rigging’ rumours that gain into the contestant throughout the documentary plagued the 2016 pageant. What were the basis for (their hopes/fears/setbacks they encounter and out- these rumours and what impact has it had on the 2017 come in the pageant). pageant?
Background Insights we gain
Alana Thomas Alana is 23 years old and has completed a Bachelor of Children’s Education. However, after finishing university Alana ventured out to start her own business and is now the owner and manager of her own cafe in Western Sydney. Her hobbies include reading, dance, fitness and fashion design.
Emma-Jaye Andraos Emma-Jaye is 18 years old and studying a Bachelor of Exercise and Sport Science at ACU. Emma entered the pageant to gain more confidence after suffering from severe bullying during her high school years. She wants to use the opportunity to empower herself and to finally become comfortable with her body. Her hobbies include cheerleading,
swimming and horse riding. © ATOM 2018
5 Background Insights we gain Jessica Yacoub Jessica is 18 years old and is a childcare worker in Western Sydney. Jessica’s family come from Karm El Morh, a Christian village in the north of Lebanon, a community which has seen huge immigration over the past decades. From the 8000 people who lived in the village, 6000 now live in Australia, many of whom proudly live in her suburb of Greenacre and gather regularly at the community hall.
50 min: “What I admire Rachel Younan Rachel most about is 21 years old and recently Lebanon is her graduated from the University beauty and her of Sydney with a Bachelor of resilience” Economics. She is now working as an Executive Assistant at a Sydney PR firm and aspires to one day help write legislation that advances the economic equality of women in the workplace. Rachel’s parents immigrated to Australia from Hasroun, a Christian village in the north of Lebanon which is famous for it’s many Saints and her family are active members of the Maronite Church in Sydney.
Julia Faysal Julia is 24 years old and currently studying a Bachelor of Business Management at UTS. Julia entered the pageant to build up her confidence and to prove she is capable of holding her own on the pageant stage. Her hobbies include yoga and dancing.
Nour Ibrahim Nour is 23 years old and after studying English Literature in Lebanon, immigrated to Australia with her mother and siblings just 4 years ago. She is now studying Civil Engineering at the University of Western Sydney. Although Nour has Lebanese heritage, she was born in Syria and both her parents are Syrian. © ATOM 2018 Nour aims to one day be an ambassador for peace in Syria and to work to help the current refugee crisis. 6 ++ Activity: Focus on The Concept of ‘beauty’ and Beauty Pageants
BEAUTY PAGEANTS
• As a class, discuss your feelings about Beauty DIFFERING CONCEPTS OF ‘BEAUTY’ Pageants. What are the arguments in favour of and against these as a concept? Discuss with direct • The concept of what is ‘beautiful’ differs from country reference to the people we meet in ‘Lebanese Beauty to country, and changes significantly over time. Queens’. Visit the following site: http://www.thefashionspot.com/ • There was controversy surrounding the finalists in beauty/171133-beauty-ideals-throughout-the-ages/#/ the Miss Korea 2013 Beauty Pageant. You can see slide/1 the finalists and read about the controversy over their homogenous look here: http://gawker.com/ Go through the images on a data-projector as a class, plastic-surgery-blamed-for-making-all-miss-korea- commenting on the most prominent changes and any contes-480907455 obvious continuities. After reading the above article, including the points made about the contestants from the Miss America • Using the above website and additional research, Beauty Pageant, do you agree that the phenomenon students are to prepare a ‘Timeline of the Ideal Beauty’. of ‘homogenous beauty’ is not just unique to Korea? Students may go as far back as Ancient Egypt or Explain your response. Consider this debate with refer- Greece and should include an image for each era, as ence to the contestants we meet in ‘Lebanese Beauty well as a written explanation of the main features of Queens’. each era’s ideal beauty concept. • With reference to “Lebanese Beauty Queens’ and the • Visit the following site: http://www.tolerance.org/sites/ other activies you have undertaken, write a reflection default/files/general/tt_body_image_L3.pdf © ATOM 2018 on the place of Beauty Pageants in modern society. Consider what role they serve for the contestants and Students can work through the various activities related to the wider community. the ‘Different Images of Beauty’. 7 • Read the following article: http://legacy.jyi.org/vol- umes/volume6/issue6/features/feng.html
Under the title “The Psychology and Biology of Beauty”, ++ Activity: Expository Writing students are to summarise the article under the following on Identity and Belonging headings: • Consider winning contestant Rachel’s comment: ‘SYMMETRY’ ‘What I admire most about Lebanon is its beauty ‘OTHER BODY FACTORS’ and its resilience.’ Write a reflection on what this ‘BEAUTY AND CHOOSING A MATE’ statement means with reference to Lebanon and ‘THE HALO EFFECT’ her sense of identity and connection with that country. Once students have completed their summaries, share • Students are to select one of the following the main ideas as a class. As an extension task, bring in prompts and write a 300 – 500 word expository magazines and have students cut out and create a poster reflection, with direct reference to the people and of ‘ideal images of beauty’, ensuring the images relate to events in ‘Lebanese Beauty Queens’: the above research. ‘It is only when we understand our own identity that we can have a sense of belonging’ ‘To be truly happy and to find our place in the world we must be aware of our own identity’ ‘Through understanding differences we understand ourselves’ ‘Cultural identity is a benchmark for understanding others’ ‘Our sense of belonging is bound up in our cultural identity’ ‘We all gain our sense of identity from interacting with those around us’ ‘To what extent do our identities relate to our © ATOM 2018 traditions from our homeland?’
8 ++ Activity: Exploring Filmmaking Choices IT IS IMPORTANT FOR STUDENTS TO CONSIDER THE INSPIRATION, MOTIVATION AND INTENTION OF THE FILM’S DIRECTOR AND PRODUCER, JANINE HOSKING. STUDENTS ARE TO READ THE FOLLOWING DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT AND ANSWER/DISCUSS THE QUESTIONS THAT FOLLOW:
DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT
“When we commenced filming of ‘Lebanese Beauty zone, battling body image, speech issues and struggling Queens’ our aim was to go beyond the cliché beauty pag- with their confidence. This group of young women certainly eant world of hair extensions and high heels to discover challenged our preconceptions of what a ‘pageant girl’ what it’s like to be a young Lebanese woman in Australia. is. Past Miss Lebanon Australia Cynthia Farah, a blond bombshell, who could be stereotyped at first glance as not Our first induction into the Lebanese pageant world was the university type, is actually currently in her third year of with Zooka Alameddine, the pageant’s feisty fashion stylist. studying mechanical engineering at Sydney University with Much of the filming took place in her boutique, situated at a dream of taking over her father’s engineering company. the back of a car park on a busy main road in Guildford. With planes flying overhead and trucks rolling by, it If Zooka’s shop was the heart of the film, ground zero was seemed an unlikely location for creating beauty queens, a bland community hall in Greenacre, where the contest- but it proved to be just perfect! Inside was a treasure trove ants attended a five-week pageant boot camp. The Queen of sequins and diamantes, a wonderland of gowns just of the scene was pageant mentor Nissy Nassif—a glamor- waiting to be unleashed on the pageant stage. Zooka runs ous former actress with a penchant for designer labels. the boutique with her sisters Howie, Koko and Sawsan and Nissy’s unique approach to training the girls provided us their unbridled enthusiasm for beauty pageants goes back with many documentary moments. Her methods were to their childhood fascination with watching Miss Universe intense and aimed at helping the girls find their ‘Inner on television. Zooka’s boutique soon became the heart Queen’. As the training sessions progressed we began of the film—there was drama and chaos galore—humour to see quiet, shy girls morph into confident contenders and tears.The perfect ingredients for an observational each of them worthy of winning the title of Miss Lebanon documentary. Australia. On pageant night we were proud of them all!”
Some of the girls who entered the pageant saw it as a path - JANINE HOSKING to self-empowerment as they went beyond their comfort
1. What do you think were the director’s ++ Activity: Review of Lebanese intention and motivation for making Beauty Queens this film? 2. In what ways does Janine Hosking Students are to write a 500-word review of ‘Lebanese Beauty consider the pageant to be empower- Queens’. Reviews should include: ing for the contestants? 3. In what ways do you think the film • Title of the film and the key players conveys the contestants’ connection • Where and when the film was made to their Lebanese culture and heritage? • A brief synopsis and intention of the film 4. Choose one or two of your favourite • Key themes and messages contained in the film moments in the film that show the • Most memorable lines of dialogue, as well as most memorable relationship between the contestants scenes/sequences and their sense of culture and/or sense • Describe the types of camera shots/music/editing. What sort of identity. Explain how the use of light, of mood and atmosphere do these combine to create in terms framing and composition, camera of an overall feel? © ATOM 2018 movement and sound combined to • Any criticisms you may have of the film. Any areas of particu- create meaning and engage the emo- lar strength? tions of the viewer. • Particular audiences to whom you would recommend the film. 9 References https://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/# https://au.news.yahoo.com/a/31523569/mehajers-win- https://museumsvictoria.com.au/origins/history. probed-amid-claims-miss-lebanon-australia-rigged/ aspx?pid=37 http://gawker.com/plastic-surgery-blamed-for-making-all- http://www.migrationheritage.nsw.gov.au/publications/ miss-korea-contes-480907455 lebanese-settlement-in-nsw/index.html http://www.thefashionspot.com/beauty/171133- http://alhsv.org.au/resources_lebaneseinaus.html beauty-ideals-throughout-the-ages/#/ https://www.lebaneseconsulate.com.au/lebanonOverview/ slide/1 facts.shtml http://www.tolerance.org/sites/default/files/general/ http://www.news.com.au/entertainment/awards/nsw-fair- tt_body_image_L3.pdf trading-receives-complaint-regarding-salim-mehajers- http://legacy.jyi.org/volumes/volume6/issue6/features/ sisters-win-at-miss-lebanon-australia-beauty-pageant/ feng.html news-story/37d23f4e10ba4c86e0df2fe31fc0dc5c
This study guide was produced by ATOM. (© ATOM 2018) ISBN: 978-1-76061-172-9 [email protected] To download other study guides, plus thousands of articles on Film as Text, Screen Literacy, Multiliteracy and Media Studies, visit
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