Food for Thought: Quote from Meryl Streep

In a recent interview with 60 Minutes, Meryl Streep came across as charming, thoughtful, and awe-inspiring. The acclaimed actress provided many soundbites that I'd consider food for thought. And one of them was about Hollywood's double standards when it comes to actors and actresses.

"No one has ever asked an actor, you play a strong minded man. We assume that men are strong minded or have opinions. But a strong minded women is a different animal."

As this quote shows, Meryl Streep, know's what she's talking about. So many of Meryl's characters have been incredibly strong minded but honestly, it shouldn't even be a question that has to be asked by an interviewer. Or if it is asked, I'd love to see more actors having to answer this question. I'm sure that some of the responses would be like, "What the hell??? Why are you asking about what it's like to play a strong minded man?"

Also, I'm going going to use this blog post to remind everyone to go see Streep's latest film, The Iron Lady, about former British PM Margaret Thatcher. It's shaping up to be a interesting movie and another Oscar nod for Meryl Streep (and rightly so).

Meryl Streep's 60 Mins Interview 

Taking Issue With Elle Magazine's Women In Hollywood Issue

The women's magazine, Elle, recently did a Women In Hollywood issue (October 2011) which in theory sounds fantastic. A women's magazine promoting women working in the film industry! Brilliant! Right? But in actuality who did they choose to feature on the cover? Jennifer Aniston. When was the last time that Jennifer Aniston made a film that truly deserves accolades? That did really well at the box office? When was the last time she chose a role that didn't write her as the girlfriend or wife? Not in a long time. So why did Elle magazine bill her as the top interview for their Women in Hollywood issue? Jennifer Aniston is well liked, I'll give her that, but I don't think she's the right person to highlight in this issue.

Elle had the chance to feature women who are really making a difference in the film industry. Which they did on the inside of the magazine. But not on the cover. They included short interviews with Viola Davis (The Help), Elizabeth Olsen (Martha Marcy May Marlene), Evan Rachel Wood (The Ides of March), Barbra Streisand, etc. Yet, none of them were on the cover. And all four would have made great cover stars. Especially Viola Davis, 2011 has been considered her breakout year by many, because of her role in The Help. I would have liked them to feature women other then actresses (only one made the list, Stacey Snider, CEO of Dreamworks). Like Kathryn Bigelow, director of the Oscar winning The Hurt Locker, for starters. Or what about Jennifer Yuh Nelson? Who directed Kung Fu Panda 2 the highest grossing film ever by a women. Or The Future's Miranda July and Higher Ground's director Vera Farmiga. Hell, even Angelina Jolie for her upcoming film, In The Land of Blood and Honey, would have been great! Plus many other women behind the camera who made some pretty great films this year. But no, Elle instead went a pretty generic route and choose to focus on a women who is perhaps more known for her personal life then her movie roles.

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!