Underplayed

This is an absolutely fascinating film. Full of cool music and FACTS about the gender bias in technical music. Stacey Lee did a masterful job of making an interesting documentary with a heartfelt personal side.

Both, the EDM DJs and the punters have always been freaks and nerds (not meant as an insult), just like me. Most successful djs have been gay, eg. Larry Levan, Danny Tenaglia, Frankie Knuckles etc. So to say that gays and gals were under-represented is just not so.

True, not too many women, but the ones that were, were either good and or forgettable, just like their male counterparts.

But this po-faced and BORING documentary wants us to believe that women in EDM have been under valued. Well i was in the seen during late 80's and through the 90's and i never saw any of this happen. On the contrary, in the smaller clubs women have been favored, for i don't know what reason. Certainly not because they were better djs.

Plus when i was spinning records, i can hardly remember any women coming up to the booth to check out how things are done. It was mainly guys.

I've wasted to much time on this review already, but this doc rubbed me in all the wrong ways.

Thank you.

The main flaw of this film is the fact it's made from a North-American perspective.

One moment we get to see 1960s images of pioneers of electronic music like Delia Derbyshire, and suddenly we're in post-2010 EDM-festival land. This 88-minute feature is missing two whole decades of dance music, including the women active in Europe at the time.

Director Stacey Lee is not knowledgable about all this and it shows.

This is a film about gender inequality, without any respect for historic or cultural context. It rambles on about a very real problem, without even remotely exploring how it became a problem in the first place.

A stunning portrait of a group of artists who make up a powerful miniroty in dance music. A timely release of Underplayed lining up with International Women's Month showcases the need to examine gender bias in every corner of the world. Even causal music fans can empathize with the challenges these women have faced, as well as their tenacity in breaking the wheel and foraging a new path for women and those who identify as women within this space.

Gorgeous visuals and a strong soundtrack round out Underplayed's offering, making it an informative and indulgent watch that anyone can enjoy.

I found this film exciting and hopeful. Stacey beautifully lays out the why of how we got here and the horrifying statistics to match, but doesn't dwell on it, and in my opinion that does the most justice to the cause. Instead she makes you fall in love with these characters, the artists. You get to intimately see how hard they work, how much they sacrifice and how lonely it can be when you're a minority in an industry that's also very silo'ed in its work.

I have read every critic and user who decided to criticize the film in some way (from what I saw they were also all male) and it only made me like the film more, and feel confident in my support of it. The criticisms reveal that if you aren't able to get yourself to a place where you can understand the trials and the strenuous journey of those who are an overlooked, dismissed minority than you likely are in such a place of privilege that it wouldn't even be an experience you can identify or relate to.