THOUSAND OAKS, CA - California Lutheran University will screen a new documentary about the effect of media messages on teenage girls at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 19.

“Miss Representation” will be shown in Lundring Events Center as part of the Reel Justice Film Series, which examines the themes of equality and social justice. A panel discussion will follow.

The documentary film premiered at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival and received the Movies Matter Award at the 2011 Maui Film Festival. Oprah Winfrey acquired the broadcast rights and will air it on OWN on Oct. 20.

The provocative film by writer/director Jennifer Siebel Newsom weaves together the stories of teenage girls and interviews with Condoleezza Rice, Lisa Ling, Nancy Pelosi, Katie Couric, Rachel Maddow, Rosario Dawson, Jackson Katz, Jean Kilbourne and Gloria Steinem to provide an inside look at the media and its message.

The film examines women’s images in TV, movies, journalism and politics. It contends that the most persuasive and pervasive force of communication in our culture, the mass media, is teaching yet another generation that a woman’s primary value lies in her youth, beauty and sexuality—and not in her capacity as a leader. This makes it difficult for girls to reach their full potential and for women to obtain leadership positions. As technology advances and regulations decrease, children are seeing more images than ever before.

The 90-minute film provides startling facts and statistics. Fifty-three percent of 13-year-old girls are dissatisfied with their bodies; by age 17, that number increases to 78 percent. About two-thirds of women and girls have an eating disorder. Only 16 percent of films feature women protagonists. Women make up 51 percent of the U.S. population but only 3 percent of Fortune 500 CEOs and a mere 17 percent of the U.S. Congress. Experts and others in the film encourage people to take small and big steps to bring about change.

Lundring Events Center is located in the Gilbert Sports and Fitness Center, which is north of Olsen Road near Mountclef Boulevard on the Thousand Oaks campus.

The Center for Equality and Justice is sponsoring the free showing. For more information, contact Sam Thomas at 805-493-3693 or sthomas@callutheran.edu.