One of the best documentaries I have watched in the year has been, Miss Representation, which is about how women and girls are represented in the media and the repercussions of this. I watched the documentary with my mom when it aired on OWN in October because I had herd about it while trolling the internet. It was a great doc to watch with my mom, throughout the film she kept saying, "omg, this is horrifying" or "wow! I didn't know that." And I often had the same reaction that she did to a lot of the facts and stories which people told. Throughout the film we had an on going conversation about how important this topic is and how we've experienced it in our own life. Women are poorly portrayed in the media and this has a negative effect on all aspects of life; from succeeding in politics, to teaching young girls how to view themselves and young boys how to treat women. The misogyny that currently prevails in our society is harming all of us (no matter what gender you are) and it much be curtailed.
Miss Representation is a wonderful film that I feel should be required viewing by everyone. Everyone should see this movie to understand what is truly wrong with our society. One of the great things about after watching Miss Representation was signing the pledge on the website. It's a pledge to spread the word about the organization's cause and how to end the mistreatment of women. It's so simple and only takes five minutes to do. I urge everyone to take the pledge and then start talking about Miss Representation!
Here are some links to helpful websites:
missrepresentation.org
miss representation twitter
And here is the extended trailer for Miss Representation... prepare to stimultaneously horrified but also feel empowered to do something.
Showing posts with label film. Show all posts
Showing posts with label film. Show all posts
Thursday, November 24, 2011
Saturday, November 19, 2011
The Hunger Games
Besides being a massive fan of films I'm a literature lover. Give me a book and I'll devour it. So when I started seeing a lot of articles about The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins and hearing friends rave about the series I gave the books a shot. Even though I'm a few years older then the intended audience I loved the series. And I'm not the only one, I know people from ages ranging from ten to fifty who enjoy the books. Heck, even my sister, who hates reading read the series and loved them!
For those who haven't read the books, here is a quick rundown of the story. The Hunger Games centers around Katniss Everdeen in a dystopian future. A future where children aged twelve to eighteen can be sent to fight to the death in an arena (like gladiators in some ways). The games are televised to everyone in Panem (a country where the United States once was) until only one of the twenty four children is left. The victor is rewarded with glory and wealth. It is a very controlling, dangerous world that Katniss lives in. Yet, she manages to stay strong even when everything around her is falling to pieces.
So when I herd that The Hunger Games would be made into a movie I was elated. Finally, a film about a kick-ass female! Katniss is a fighter and she won't go down without making sure she's kicked a few asses. It's quite refreshing to see such a strong-willed female character after the last few years of Twilight craziness. She's strong, cares for her family and friends, is sometimes clueless with interpersonal relationships, funny at times, and has the determinism to survive. Plus, Katniss has flaws too. It always irks me when a fictional character is "perfect." So often characters in movies (and in books too) are perfect and it's a highly idealized view of what a person should be like. But no one is perfect, not even a fictional character.
Hollywood rarely seems to make a female-action type movie and even then they are often highly sexualized. Examples include Lara Croft: Tomb Raider and Charlie's Angels. And although at times Katniss is dressed up and shown off she is never asked to compromise herself. She dressed in a way which shows off her beauty rather then forcing her to be sexy. Much of this is because of her stylist, Cinna, who see's that Katniss isn't sexy, she cannot and should not be made into something completely unlike herself. Cinna just highlights Katniss's beauty even more. I remember when I read the books being so excited that Katniss wasn't trying to be someone she was not (she certainly wasn't a girly-girl). After all, she was too busy caring for her family back home in District 12 and trying to stay alive in The Games to care about such things. Some may argue that Katniss, at age sixteen, is a few years younger then Lara Croft or the girls of Charlie's Angels and thus she shouldn't be expected to dress in a sexy manner. Yet, time after time, women are four times more likely to be shown in sexy outfits compared to male characters in movies. So it's almost expected that teenage girls would be dressed in skimpy outfit.
Jennifer Lawrence has been cast as Katniss Everdeen, which I certainly think is a good choice. Just look at her turn as Ree in Winter's Bone. A very gritty, raw story but a role which Lawrence managed to capture it's essence. Recently during an interview with Vanity Fair, Lawerence said that when she was reading for the role she told Gary Ross, the director, "I understand if you don't hire me, but please remember that after Katniss shoots a bow and kills someone, her face cannot be badass." So clearly, Lawrence, understand's her character perfectly. And the rest of the cast of The Hunger Games is just as good. Actors Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Lenny Kravitz, Stanley Tucci, Woody Harrelson, Elizabeth Banks, and Donald Sutherland are also in the film.
While The Hunger Games hasn't been released in theaters yet (we have to wait until March 23, 2012) the film has give me a lot of hope. Seeing the buzz that the film is creating is fantastic. Not only amongst fans but articles in The Atlantic, Jezebel, and elsewhere makes it all too apparent that young adults (the stories intended audience) are not the only one's looking forward to the film's release. The story has given adults a lot to hope for. To hope that their daughters may be Katniss's rather then Bella's. To hope that this is the beginning of more female characters in films. To hope that women are given/written more roles that take them beyond a wife/daughter/mother and allow the portrayal of all sorts of different characters. Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen, and Jennifer Lawrence have given us a lot to hope for and only when the film is released will we be able to see if it was worth it!
And for those who haven't seen the wonderful trailer... check it out!
The Hunger Games Trailer
For those who haven't read the books, here is a quick rundown of the story. The Hunger Games centers around Katniss Everdeen in a dystopian future. A future where children aged twelve to eighteen can be sent to fight to the death in an arena (like gladiators in some ways). The games are televised to everyone in Panem (a country where the United States once was) until only one of the twenty four children is left. The victor is rewarded with glory and wealth. It is a very controlling, dangerous world that Katniss lives in. Yet, she manages to stay strong even when everything around her is falling to pieces.
So when I herd that The Hunger Games would be made into a movie I was elated. Finally, a film about a kick-ass female! Katniss is a fighter and she won't go down without making sure she's kicked a few asses. It's quite refreshing to see such a strong-willed female character after the last few years of Twilight craziness. She's strong, cares for her family and friends, is sometimes clueless with interpersonal relationships, funny at times, and has the determinism to survive. Plus, Katniss has flaws too. It always irks me when a fictional character is "perfect." So often characters in movies (and in books too) are perfect and it's a highly idealized view of what a person should be like. But no one is perfect, not even a fictional character.
Hollywood rarely seems to make a female-action type movie and even then they are often highly sexualized. Examples include Lara Croft: Tomb Raider and Charlie's Angels. And although at times Katniss is dressed up and shown off she is never asked to compromise herself. She dressed in a way which shows off her beauty rather then forcing her to be sexy. Much of this is because of her stylist, Cinna, who see's that Katniss isn't sexy, she cannot and should not be made into something completely unlike herself. Cinna just highlights Katniss's beauty even more. I remember when I read the books being so excited that Katniss wasn't trying to be someone she was not (she certainly wasn't a girly-girl). After all, she was too busy caring for her family back home in District 12 and trying to stay alive in The Games to care about such things. Some may argue that Katniss, at age sixteen, is a few years younger then Lara Croft or the girls of Charlie's Angels and thus she shouldn't be expected to dress in a sexy manner. Yet, time after time, women are four times more likely to be shown in sexy outfits compared to male characters in movies. So it's almost expected that teenage girls would be dressed in skimpy outfit.
Jennifer Lawrence has been cast as Katniss Everdeen, which I certainly think is a good choice. Just look at her turn as Ree in Winter's Bone. A very gritty, raw story but a role which Lawrence managed to capture it's essence. Recently during an interview with Vanity Fair, Lawerence said that when she was reading for the role she told Gary Ross, the director, "I understand if you don't hire me, but please remember that after Katniss shoots a bow and kills someone, her face cannot be badass." So clearly, Lawrence, understand's her character perfectly. And the rest of the cast of The Hunger Games is just as good. Actors Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Lenny Kravitz, Stanley Tucci, Woody Harrelson, Elizabeth Banks, and Donald Sutherland are also in the film.
While The Hunger Games hasn't been released in theaters yet (we have to wait until March 23, 2012) the film has give me a lot of hope. Seeing the buzz that the film is creating is fantastic. Not only amongst fans but articles in The Atlantic, Jezebel, and elsewhere makes it all too apparent that young adults (the stories intended audience) are not the only one's looking forward to the film's release. The story has given adults a lot to hope for. To hope that their daughters may be Katniss's rather then Bella's. To hope that this is the beginning of more female characters in films. To hope that women are given/written more roles that take them beyond a wife/daughter/mother and allow the portrayal of all sorts of different characters. Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen, and Jennifer Lawrence have given us a lot to hope for and only when the film is released will we be able to see if it was worth it!
And for those who haven't seen the wonderful trailer... check it out!
The Hunger Games Trailer
Friday, November 18, 2011
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!
Welcome To Cinematic Women
I created this blog with the intention of establishing a place where I could write about one of my loves; film. As an avid movie watcher I've become a bit disenchanted with what I've seen. Hollywood appears to be a boy's club and women aren't getting much love. So in response to my anger I've created Cinematic Women to further the discussion of women in hollywood. I want to write about the women in front of the camera and behind it too. Because they deserve to be herd. Because we deserve to read about them. And because the more people who understand the realities of how women are treated in the industry, how women are portrayed in films, and of how much women have to struggle to be herd in the industry then perhaps things will change for the better.
I suppose I should share a little about who I am. My name is Jemma and I am college student who's currently trying to figure life out. And while I don't understand everything I do understand movies. So welcome to Cinematic Women!
Jem
I suppose I should share a little about who I am. My name is Jemma and I am college student who's currently trying to figure life out. And while I don't understand everything I do understand movies. So welcome to Cinematic Women!
Jem
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