"Women were denied knowledge of their history, and thus each woman had to
          argue as though no woman before her had ever thought or written.  Women had to
          use their energy to reinvent the wheel, over and over again, generation after
          generation. ... thinking women of each generation had to waste their time, energy
          and talent on constructing their argument anew.  Generation after generation, in the
          face of recurrent discontinuities, women thought their way around and out from
          under patriarchal thought." (Lerner qtd in Merrim Modern Women xxiii)

     Lerner's words hold true for two women involved in the film I, the Worst of All.  Both of
     them had to "reinvent the wheel" and show their male contemporaries that women can and will
     find their way out from under the control of patriarchy....

     Introduction

     Who owns history?  When portraying a historical figure, specifically a female figure (of
     which there is a distinct lack due to either scarcity of existence or insufficiency of
     acknowledgment in society), film has a responsibility to accurately represent the historical
     figure whose reputation is at stake.  As a medium relating past to present, film possesses the
     incredible capacity to take ownership of history; the director holds the key to making history
     real or reel.  Film has the power to exalt or distort historical figures to fit the mold of present
     day ideals....