...Remember The Ladies

The film awards season is quickly creeping up... soon it'll be a flurry of articles, parties, awards, congrats and tantrums for those who are sore losers. Speculation as to what films will be nominated have already begun. A few forerunners seem apparent (The Help, anyone?) but I'm sure that those in charge of nominations have got a few surprises up their sleeves.

However, A study by San Diego State University's Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film, found that of the top 250 highest grossing films of 2010 only 16% had women involved in the project. And while the highest grossing films don't necessarily represent what films will be nominated during award season it does show a trend. A trend that shows only a small percentage of women working in Hollywood hold positions as directors, executive producers, writers, producers, cinematographers, and editors. And to make matters worse, the study showed that it declined by one percent from data collected in 1998. Now that's shameful. 1998 was twelve years ago! Come-on, we should be seeing improvement since the 90's, not regression!

The Help, which has grossed 198.8 million since it opened in August, is already been tapped by many to be nominated at events like the Oscars. It is one of the most women-centric films I've seen in years. The Help is the story of a group of black women who come together to write a book about their lives as maids in the 1960's and the white girl who types up the book for them. And while The Help has it's share of controversy, it cannot be denied, how many women are on screen. It's so rare to see this many female characters in one movie. And to be talking about something other then their love life... well that's practically unheard of! So I am submitting this film for consideration for an Oscar nomination (even though I don't actually have a say in what films are nominated).

The majority of the films which have been suggested as possible Oscar winners are very male dominated, in the sense that the stories center around male characters and were written/produced/directed/ect by men. J. Edgar, The Tree of Life, and Drive are just three films which have been mentioned by the press as possible nominees. And I'm not saying that these film's aren't good because they are (I mean, I won't lie, Drive is a favorite of mine). But I what I am trying to say is that it's important that the Academy not only acknowledges these films but also highlight films with female characters and females working behind the scenes.

The success of one female character driven film and/or a large percentage of a female crew can mean a lot for the success of other women-centric films. These films can inspire other women to make motion pictures, thus more voices will be herd, and more stories will be shared. I am sure when Kathryn Bigelow won Best Director for The Hurt Locker a lot of women were inspired and proud of her (myself included). Including more women in movies and behind the scenes would create a more balanced ratio of women in films. And thus create a more complex, layered view of women, rather then just seeing them as the hottie/the girlfriend/wife/mother/etc. Because too often this is how women are portrayed. So, I ask the Academy to, "remember the ladies, and to be more generous and favorable to them then your ancestors," as the wise Abigail Adams once said, during this awards season.

Why We Need More Women In The Film Industry

Wertmuller. Campion. Coppola. Bigelow. These are the last names of the only women who have been nominated for Best Director at the Academy Awards in it’s eighty-two years. That’s a lot of male winners! Only one of these women, Kathryn Bigelow, has won the coveted award with 2010’s, The Hurt Locker.

Appalling right? How is it that so few women have managed to succeed in the film industry? 

Over the years hundreds of films have been recognized by the Academy. Yet, the Best Director award remained out of reach for a women until 2010. Women have had the right to vote since the 1920’s and Title IX has been in effect since the 1970’s. Both have made equality between men and women somewhat more even (although we still have a long way to go). But one area where women have remained unable to make a name for themselves is the film industry. It is a very male dominated industry. Men dominate in pretty much all areas of the film process except, I suspect, in costume design.

In 2010 only 7% of the top 250 highest grossing films were directed by a women. And only 10% of the top 205 highest grossing films were written by a women. Statistics like this make it all too apparent how little women are in control of the films which are released each year. And women make up more then 50% of movie goers. So one would think that they would be at least half of the people behind the scenes of films. However this isn’t so.  

Think about it, 80% of the films produced are told from the perspective of a man. Even if the story is centered around a female character(s) it is still told through a man’s eyes. Women and men view females differently. Men tend to over-sexualize female characters. Whereas women are likely to create characters that are like how women actually see themselves. And when women are portrayed in an overly sexual manner that doesn’t bode well for anyone. It teaches men to demoralize women and for women to see themselves as inferior.

It’s daunting to any women to think they’d be in the same industry with people who’ve created some of the most misogynistic films to date. But this is precisely the reason why more women need to be an active part of the film industry. So the misogynistic films can be curtailed. And so that more women’s voices can be herd. It’s like Mao Tse-Tung’s quote, “women hold up half the sky,” so shouldn’t women be writing, producing, editing, directing half of the films in Hollywood? 

*I originally wrote this article for my tumblr Cinematic Style but I thought I would share it on this blog. It is after all, the article that convinced me to start Cinematic Women!