Review of Amazon Supermodels, Futureshoxx, Afrodisiac
Videos by Builtmore


[Review originally from Amazons International # 55.
I have no commercial affiliations with Builtmore Productions.]

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REVIEW OF VIDEOS FROM BUILTMORE PRODUCTIONS 

The three videos "Amazon Supermodels", "Futureshoxx: the Shape of Things 
to Come", and "Afrodisiac" are samples from the growing output of 
Builtmore Productions (BMP), a model agency and video and magazine 
publishing company specializing in "heroically proportioned women" -- 
women of Amazonian proportions, tall and/or muscular women. BMP is the 
brainchild of Nercy Navab, and is located in Santa Monica, California.  
Their web pages at http://www.builtmore.com/ contain a lot of 
interesting stuff, including articles written about them in the press. 

"Amazon Supermodels" presents many different women, from different parts 
of the world, and with a diversity of physiques, with Amazonian stature 
and attitudes (and an interest in modeling) as a common unifying theme.  
When one is championing new ideals and new concepts, there is always the 
risk that one is creating a new stereotype, instead of breaking away 
from stereotypes.  Therefore it is very satisfying to see that all the 
three videos emphasize --indeed, celebrate -- diversity and 
individuality.  Gender stereotypes are challenged in many ways, for 
example by the beautiful androgynous appearance of strong-faced Lori (a 
6'2" volleyball player), and by the more classically feminine but very 
muscular appearance and demeanor of Suzanne (a 6'1" bodybuilder and 
fitness athlete).  Sometimes the (Eastern European and Midwestern) 
accents of the interviewed women make them hard to understand, a problem 
that could have been alleviated by suspending the background music 
during the interviews. 

"Futureshoxx" is a fantasy story with excellent and precisely 
choreographed (by Athena Worthey) martial arts scenes, in a "Mad Max in 
Thunderdome"-esque setting.  The action is fast-paced, violent and fun, 
as Psychoviolet, Madame Stud and The Annihilatrix tear into their 
opponents.  A creative video that is as fun for the viewer as it clearly 
is for the participants.  "Fun", or should I say life-affirming joy, is 
a common element in all three videos; it is evident that these people 
are doing creative work that they enjoy. 

"Afrodisiac" presents four different women, all into martial arts and/or 
bodybuilding.  A central virtue of this video is that it presents women 
who are both sensual and powerful at the same time. Our culture has 
sundered female power and female sexuality, so that the common 
presentations and images of female sexuality tend to belittle and 
objectify women, while the common presentations and images of powerful 
women tend to present them as sexless or chaste (this dichotomy is often 
referred to as the madonna/whore complex --girls and women are presented 
with two roles to choose from, madonna or whore).  The widespread 
hunger, both in women and men, for a healing of this chasm is evident 
for example in the explosive popularity of "Xena, the Warrior Princess" 
show.  "Afrodisiac" addresses the same hunger, and presents four real 
life women who seem to have healed the gap, women who are able to be 
playful and powerful, heroic and sexy, at the same time.  If one is 
searching for images of The Female Hero, and images for a 21st century 
feminism, I submit that this would be a good place to look.  This video 
is on my top three videos list.  It's hard to single out specific scenes 
from a video with so many highlights, but I find myself returning often 
to the "shootfighting" (an allround streetfighter system) martial arts 
sessions of Julianne(sp?) Graves. 

     Builtmore Productions
     P.O.Box 571
     Santa Monica
     CA 90406-0571
     USA

     nercy@builtmore.com
     http://www.builtmore.com/


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Thomas Gramstad
thomas@math.uio.no