Why We Wax

Why do we depilate? Or more specifically: why do we women wax? And even more specifically: why for heaven's sake do we wax our pubic area? These are the questions the two friends Kimberly Wetherell and Amy Axelson ask themselves and the viewer in their playfully conceived documentary . Starting from Mitchell's own first waxing experience, they investigate the modern-day obsession with "the hair…down there".Smoothly edited narrative incorporates an animated abridged history of human depilation, up to wax, which was secretly invented in New York. In playful split screens, a host of predominantly female interviewees get the chance to talk, either to one another or all at the same time. There's the gynaecologist who describes and demonstrates what can go wrong (not for the faint-hearted), the beautician who explains what a "merkin"is (a type of wig for the crotch), and the feminist actress who wistfully thinks back to the bushy 1970s. Wetherell and Axelson aim for comic effect, especially in the way they edited the illustrative shots, but they've also interlaced their film with the serious question of where waxing comes from and where it will lead to.