Sunday Matinee: Badass Beauty Queen [Film]

“Badass Beauty Queen is incredibly inspirational and a call to action for anyone who has ever felt that they want to make a difference in this world. The film features never-before-seen footage of Lin’s struggle to bring global attention to the issues of religious freedom and organ harvesting in her native China. The highly acclaimed documentary follows Anastasia Lin as she stands up for her beliefs on the world’s stage. This eye-opening glimpse into the story that made headlines across the world, when Lin was denied from competing in the Miss World pageant in China.” – October Coast PR

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Prepare to be inspired, Folks. That is something I have to say right out the gate about Bad Ass Beauty Queen. Because, the title really does say it all. Anastasia Lin is all of these things, and so much more. There is just so damn much evil in the world, and it is a beautiful thing to know that there are some great forces of nature out there looking to do the right thing, for the sake of simply doing the right thing. And Lin did just this. There are moments in just this film that had me personally exclaiming, “Yeah, I would have just quit.” But thankfully she did not, and her actions have very likely put some wild shit that is happening in China and other countries, on the table for conversation, if nothing else. Now prepare to be pretty bummed out….

And this is what the real conversation should be here. Why is it that Miss Canada has to be the one to shake some sense into people? Yes, I understand that the concept of representing a nation in this campaign is to be an inspiration. Sure. I’ll bite. But, in the end, she is a twenty-something young woman who is using a worldwide platform to bring up the fact that PEOPLE ARE SMUGGLING FUCKING ORGANS FROM INVOLUNTARY HUMANS!! Seriously, Folks, this is some next level, 90’s action movie type shit that should only be science fiction. But, it is not. And this is just one of the causes that Lin has been speaking out against. We all know that human violations in China are plentiful, but we do nothing about it. In this modern North American age, it’s as though we are dependent on these human rights violations in order to advance ourselves in the slightest, and to ensure that we keep the pockets line of fat cats like Bill Gates, who “adorably” cannot tell you how much a box of pizza rolls cost. It’s not adorable. It’s terrifying.

It is the government’s job to keep these people in check, and they aren’t doing it. They won’t do it. It’s time to accept that. Everything that a company like Apple makes is made in labor/death camps in China. We know this. As I type these words out at this moment I wonder if there are blood stains in the internal parts of this laptop from a 6 year old who knocked their finger on hour 13 of a 16 hour shift. All the while we are told that things would be “so much more expensive” if these people were treated right, or companies didn’t outsource their labor. Which is true. But it is also bullshit. This is simply a reality that we have created where CEOs, including the British companies behind the Miss World pageant who were sheep and blindsided Anastasia Lin, refuse to accept less profit. And they are commended for hoarding their wealth. It’s sick, and honestly, there is no end in site.

I hate to end this on such a bummer, but it’s the truth Folks, and I honestly don’t have a solution. I am not a politician, and I am not in the business of policy change. But those who are, will not do shit about it. But thankfully we have people in this world like Anastasia Lin who are at least attempting to make the world a better place, by whatever means they may have available to them. I never would have thought a beauty pageant sash could be a weapon of choice, but what the hell, right? Rock on Anastasia!

Bad Ass Beauty Queen is available now on DVD and VOD wherever you watch great films.