Being Ginger (2013) User Reviews

Funny, heart-felt and enlightening

[robynbeckman · 7/10 · 6 March 2014]

This film is funny, cinematically beautiful, heart-felt, enlightening and engages the viewer from the opening frame. I think this film is very relevant to the difficulties of finding a mate in today's world, but especially for anyone who has a trait that may be considered "different" than others and for which one has been bullied about. I could completely relate to this story. I thought the cinematography was great! The animation was awesome too! This film is worth seeing! Natural redheads (or "gingers") will definitely want to see this film! Scott allows his vulnerability to show, which is refreshing. You should see this film. It's worth it!

missed opportunity...

[starlight00000000 · 2/10 · 16 January 2016]

So many missed opportunities in this documentary to really explore what it means to identify as a 'ginger' .. or a 'red head'. I empathised initially with the documentary maker and felt saddened that he had such a negative experience at school and subsequently such a negative perception of him self. It was sad to see that he attributed all of his difficulties to the fact that he had red hair ....

The documentary maker did not explore experiences of being a red head outside of his own personal experiences. I am a red head, my older brother is a red head... he has always attracted attention from the opposite sex and has never struggled socially. My younger brother however is blonde, he was terribly bullied at school and struggled for many years to feel comfortable in his own skin. My point being that resilience is everything, the issues discussed in this documentary could not be entirely explained by the fact that this person had red hair... There were many red headed interviewed who demonstrated that.

The comments about not dating girls with red hair shone a light on his own prejudice and quite honestly I lost patience when he said he felt sorry for ginger children. The documentary perpetuated negative stereotypes throughout with a realisation at the end that actually 'what a shock' gingers can be attractive...

I wish the documentary maker well and hope he is better placed if ever he follows up on the documentary to explore more personal accounts from the vast and beautiful population of red heads and hopefully delivers a more representative account of individual experiences.

Misguided

[monkeyfox-93837 · 3/10 · 16 May 2016]

This guy has himself convinced that women won't date him because he's a redhead. I watched the whole film hoping he would redeem himself before I formed an opinion. His personality is so god awful, and he's so unhappy with himself that I found this hard to finish. If he was self assured, or charismatic in ANY way, he'd have no problem finding a girlfriend. He's hiding behind his hair color instead of looking at his approach. Confidence goes a long way. He has none, and hair color has nothing to do with it. Production was OK I suppose, other than he filmed an entire "date" without the girl in the frame. It's basically a guy whining that women hate ginger men, yet he never actually acts like a man. He's actually very good looking too, which makes this even worse. What really made me lose my mind was when he said he'd never date a ginger woman. Coming from a guy who claims he can't get a date to save his life. Go cry on your orange stained pillow.

Humorous yet serious look at life and love

[brooke-andersonwhite · 9/10 · 10 March 2014]

The documentary is a perfect blend of humor and serious commentary on life, love, and growing up. Though told through the lens of one red-headed man, the lessons and values are universal. The film includes several serious themes, such as bullying, but weaves them all into the story without being abrupt or angry. The man on the street style-interviews are incredible and it is revealing to see what some people are willing to share on camera. I watched the film with my weekly movie group and everyone loved it, which is rare with this group. I highly recommend this movie and cannot wait to see what the director's next project is.

Shocking look at a prejudice that society is apparently okay with

[klkeysmt · 9/10 · 31 January 2016]

This movie really opened my eyes. I have never witnessed ginger-ism personally, but as an adult have heard of it. I figured it was playful, not serious, maybe a little harsh but overall not meant to be taken seriously. Clearly I was mistaken. I was actually quite angry while watching this film, in parts. Any movie that can get such a strong emotional response, I consider to have done its job well. Incidentally, I am married to "a ginger" and my daughter's boyfriend is "a ginger." I think these two gentlemen are completely adorable and find them quite attractive. And before now I have never used the term "ginger" in this context. So overall, this movie revealed to me something I did not know about the world I live in ... that you can still single out people with a certain physical characteristic, treat them in a way that might crush self-confidence and even create self-loathing, and you're going to get away with it! How awful. I am grateful that this movie helped me see this in a more serious light so I can be sensitive about it and not unwittingly let this vicious behavior go by without an appropriate response from me.

Film maker's personal journey to find love and acceptance for being 'different': a redhead

[ljbarton · 8/10 · 8 March 2014]

Lots of entertaining moments and laughter while the film maker shares his story about growing up being picked on for having red hair and his current search to find love and acceptance. A solid effort for a low budget movie that gets to the heart of someone feeling different. The documentary is not gimmicky, overly dramatic or too long. The film maker's journey takes us to Scotland, the Netherlands and the United States in a narrative style that also includes animation features. The film maker participated in a large gathering of redheads in the Netherlands where an early version of Being Ginger was screened, and the post screening interaction with the audience as well as his conversations with other redheads was filmed and added to Being Ginger, which provided more depth to his journey.

Scotts struggle to find love and overcome his insecurities is guaranteed to resonate with anyone

[kevinorega · 8/10 · 7 March 2014]

Most men will have never thought about the colour of their hair as a possible obstacle when looking for love. Although this is the central conceit the movie, it is not really about "being ginger", it is more about one mans struggle to overcome his insecurities and find someone who accepts him for the man he is. Scott treats his journey with humility and good humour even in the face of baseless prejudice against him by some of the interviewees and members of the general public.

Everyone should see this movie,if only to give them some insight into the difficulties that come with being ginger but also because it is a funny and heartwarming story.

Funny, insightful comedy

[declanpabari · 8/10 · 24 April 2017]

Hi this evening I watched the above film 'being ginger', I arrived back from work and found myself scanning through Netflix having watched most of the decent films it has to offer when I came across this intriguing summery. I found the film and the life of the main character really interesting and his journey to find someone and find out more about himself entertaining. The film has many comical and uplifting scenes. If your into documentaries and are up for a laugh then I'm sure you will enjoy this one :)

One of the best films I have seen in a very long time

[robmurph16 · 10/10 · 26 March 2014]

I watched the movie at one of the first screenings and it really amazed me by its feeling for seriousness and humour. It's such a great film by an inspiring filmmaker. Scott really knows how to play with the seriousness of the subject, he has been bullied ever since high school and with the ability of overcoming these experiences and making a fool of himself and his situation. By doing that he really makes the saddening stories worth seeing them. It's also shocking how non-redheads react to redheads. Unfortunately it's always the girl who is being regarded as being more attractive than the boys. Thus the boys are struggling very hard to score with the girls. He is proofing this cliché. You should absolutely go and see the film. It will make you want to see it again and again and again!

A great film from an uncommon point of view.

[babsylonia · 10/10 · 28 January 2016]

Being Ginger is a surprising, revealing and somewhat touching look at the world through one man's strong point of view. It is told through the eyes of a ginger, which in Great Britain, means a redhead. The documentary action moves quickly while still offering an in-depth exploration of the subject matter. It covers universal themes of bullying, the search for romance and the need to fit in. The filmmaker refuses to spare himself the same rigorous examination he gives others which leads his audience to alternate between moments of nail-biting suspense, disbelief that someone really said that and cheering for him. I enjoyed watching the filmmaker get to know his awkwardly needy inner child, the same one we all meet, when we attempt to grow up and discover our own identity.

Brutal, open and honest

[michael-boulter3 · 10/10 · 10 March 2014]

I supported this on Kickstarter after seeing something about it on Reddit and was thoroughly impressed by the final outcome. It's an at-times heart-wrenching story about how people who are "different" are treated in our society. The film-maker deserves enormous kudos for his film-making, openness and honesty.

Scott Harris is a film-maker who also has a terrible disability; he's a redhead. At least you'd think it is a terrible disability from the way he was bullied as a kid and treated as an adult. Through documenting his search for a ginger-loving girlfriend, he somewhat inadvertently ends up revealing the wounds a lifetime of abuse about his hair colour has caused him.

Love this film

[tracym770 · 9/10 · 29 October 2019]

I teach community college and I use this film every semester when I cover self-concept and perception. The content of the film is perfectly relevant to our coursework and is liked by my students (they find Harris very endearing). But what I love most about this film is the degree of empathy it elicits from my students. I find so many of my adult students aren't aware of the abuse people with red hair take daily OR they never had it framed that way before this film.

Best Documentary EVER!!

[jennifer-messinger · 10/10 · 6 March 2014]

This is by far one of the best documentaries I have ever seen in my entire life! I laughed, I cried & just thoroughly enjoyed the film from start to finish. Being a ginger myself, the subject of the movie hit very close to home. However, my husband, a non-ginger loved it as well, stating the subject of the film resonates to anyone who has ever felt weird for being different, or bullied for no reason at all. We couldn't stop talking about how good it was for days. Not only is the main character, Scott, a joy to watch, but his costars are equally hilarious and fun to watch. Love, love, love this movie!! Go see it, seriously, you will not be disappointed. Can't wait for Part 2: An American Ginger in Paris!

Very Embarrassing

[clenglish-13711 · 5 March 2021]

I think that he should probably have just gone to therapy.