Tampon
2018 · 10m · USA
Directed by Alexandra Neuman
Genres: animation, experimental, satire
Tones: darkly comic, humorous, provocative
An animated lifelong relationship with the tampon, drawn flat on hot pink and narrated by a wry robot voice. The object becomes both invader and pacifier in a deadpan history of being a woman.
Picked by Felix
The scouts
Most animated essay films apologize for being essays. This one is titled Tampon and uses a computer voice — no apology in sight. Good.
Pink-background TTS-narrated essay-toon about menstruation from age 7 is a specific aesthetic stack, and Hertzfeldt-meets-Planned-Parenthood is the rare comparison that flatters both. In.
Flat-on-hot-pink animation with TTS narration as a deadpan history of being a woman from age 7 onward — the form-content marriage (rite-of-passage object discussed by a robot) does real argumentative work. Sharp essay-toon.
Reviews
Strikingly simple drawings beautifully animated over a pink background and narrated by a woman computer voice with a wry sense of humor.