Dreams Of Equality

Featuring a cast of over 40 actors, this docudrama, filmed in Seneca Falls, NY, site of the First Women's Rights Convention in July, 1848, uses the framing device of an ongoing epistolary correspondence between a sister and brother to highlight the popular thinking of the day. Full period costumes, and fine representations of important figures such as Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott, lend a strong sense of authenticity to the production. And some of the more ridiculous notions of the time (male brains weigh more than female brains, ergo males are smarter) are a potent reminder that in some areas civilization has advanced more slowly than in others. However, for all the work that went into the project, the result is a bit slow and the letter-writing occasionally turgid, an aspect made all the more plain during the many modern segments cut in to the program where contemporary boys and girls ponder the nature of gender differences. In these brief clips, the tape really comes alive. Still, as an introduction to the subject there are far drier historical treatments than this. Dreams of Equality would serve as a good discussion starter on the trajectory of women's rights in America. Recommended. (R. Pitman)