The production company El Deseo has just presented the teaser poster for ‘ Parallel Mothers’, Almodóvar’s new film that will be released on September 10. Like everything that the La Mancha director usually does, the poster does not go unnoticed.
At first glance it may look like a crying eye, but the poster shows in the foreground a nipple dripping breast milk in black and white, framed in the silhouette of an eye on a red background. As expected, it has created controversy, and as soon as it was published, it has already encountered the censorship of the nipple on Instagram.
Instagram removed the photo from the poster
Javier Jaén is the creator of the poster who assures that he wanted to choose a symbol of motherhood to illustrate the film. A “strong and resounding” image. And it certainly has.
But as soon as the poster was posted on Instagram yesterday, it has been removed several times for its explicit content , as he himself tells in his last publication, which apparently this time they have left.
“The idea came out of the film, but it does not appear in any scene. It is the representation of pain and motherhood, ” the designer told Nius.
The image “tells what it has to tell and does it as it has to tell. It is a zero sexualized image, the sad thing is that it is still problematic, ” he adds.
Something with which we cannot agree more in Babies and more, where several times we have told stories of censorship for showing the nipples of mothers who breastfeed.
The poster is one of the most commented images on social networks. Some users applaud the bravery of the design and point to it as an iconic image, while others see it provocative and inappropriate.
Censorship of the nipple: double standards
This is not the first time that we have encountered nipple censorship on social media. Instagram and Facebook have a strict policy with this part of the female body, even when it comes to something as normal and natural as a mother’s breast feeding her baby.
It is seen as “erotic” or “provocative” to breastfeed a baby, something that is not at all , but instead, the publication of really suggestive images with a clearly provocative intention is allowed. It’s not understood.
A movie about motherhood
Little is known about the plot of ‘Parallel Mothers’, the next film by the Manchego director that will open at the next Venice Film Festival. We only know that it tells the story of two single mothers who become pregnant by surprise, starring Penelope Cruz and Milena Smit.
They both meet by meeting in the same hospital room when they are going to give birth. While middle-aged Janis is excited about the idea of being a mother, Ana, who is still a teenager, experiences the opposite: she is scared, sorry and traumatized.
From there, a deep bond is established between the two women and chance will intertwine their stories, forever changing their lives. The director himself called it “a very intense drama” about “imperfect mothers.”
The film was shot during the pandemic and the cast is completed with Israel Elejalde, Aitana Sánchez-Gijón, Julieta Serrano and Rossy de Palma. Here we leave you the disturbing trailer.
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