The summer is finally coming to an end, and everyone’s getting ready to go back to school. But over the summer while all the kids were letting their brains turn to mush at the movies, it’s Hollywood’s turn to get a report card. Let’s see how Tinseltown fared this season in one of its worst subjects: the representation of women in film. A to Disney Maleficent, Disney’s revisionist “Sleeping Beauty” adaptation starring Angelina Jolie as the terrifying title character, rejects the classic “Someday My Prince Will Come” Disney princess model in favor of a story about female characters developing friendships and having agency, rather than being competitors and getting rescued. Maleficent was the second-highest-grossing film of the whole summer, topping a $700 million worldwide gross in July. B– to Kevin Feige, President of Marvel Studios In an interview with Comic Book Resources, Feige said he hopes to finally make a female-led superhero movie (Black Widow, where are you?), but not yet—not if it would upset the carefully plotted schedules of Marvel’s male superhero franchises. “I very much believe in doing it,” he said, “I hope we do it sooner rather than later.” Let’s see you put your money where your mouth is, Marvel. D+ to Dawn of the Planet of the Apes Critically acclaimed blockbuster Dawn of the Planet of the Apes—the highest grossing film in July and number six for the whole summer—neglected to feature women almost entirely, as Kyle Buchanan points out in Vulture. For a film so concerned about the survival of the human race, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes seems pretty ignorant about the components necessary for its continuation (i.e. female humans—and for that matter, there were hardly even any female apes). C– to anyone who has used the phrase “Manic Pixie Dream Girl” completely unironically In a July 15 article in Salon, film critic Nathan Rabin expressed regret for coining the phrase that launched a thousand quirky comedies, originally published in a 2007 review of Cameron Crowe’s lackluster film Elizabethtown. Since the phrase exploded, it’s been twisted from the intentions of Rabin’s apt initial article. The Manic Pixie Dream Girl is not a legitimate cinematic trope; the term was invented to describe bad, sexist writing, not an actual kind of woman who should be intentionally represented onscreen and discussed as a valid character type. F to Hollywood in general for failing to hire female directors Of the 25 highest-grossing films of the summer, exactly zero were directed by women, even among female-led films like Lucy, Tammy, Maleficent, and The Fault in Our Stars. Of the 25 highest-grossing indie films of the year so far, only two were directed by women (as of August 7): Amma Asante’s romantic historical drama Belle, which was released in May, and writer-director Gillian Robespierre’s Sundance comedy Obvious Child, which came out in June. Both films were critically adored and featured star-making turns by talented female actors in the lead roles. A to Scarlett Johansson, Queen of the Summer For being a badass in Lucy, which came out July 25 and won that weekend at the box office, definitively crushing Hercules, which had the same release date and stars The Rock as the legendary Greek hero. She also had a small role in Jon Favreau’s delightful indie passion project Chef, released in May; starred in Jonathan Glazer’s acclaimed sci-fi art film Under the Skin and donned Black Widow’s black spandex once again in Captain America: The Winter Soldier. The latter two films were released in April, effectively kicking off the Summer of Scarlett. All hail the Queen. Mary Sollosi / Intern Blogger
title: “Women In Film Hollywood S Summer Report Card” ShowToc: true date: “2024-04-04” author: “Julie Neal”
School’s about to start again, so it’s time to check in and see if Hollywood did its homework this summer for its worst subject: the representation of women in film. The good news is, Hollywood improved slightly on its performance from our spring report card, as the list of this season’s top 25 highest-grossing films included more directed by women than the last. The bad news is, there were only two. Here’s hoping things improve more in awards season. F to Literally Everything Not to be dramatic or anything, but there’s been yet another study that tells us all the horrible things we already know about diversity in Hollywood: in short, there’s none of it, both behind and in front of the camera. What’s it going to take for these reports to finally change? A to the ACLU In response to the eternally depressing statistics reported in studies like the one above, the ACLU has called for an investigation of Hollywood hiring practices, specifically regarding discrimination against female directors. “Hollywood doesn’t get this free pass when it comes to civil rights and gender discrimination,” said Melissa Goodman, director of the LGBT, Gender and Reproductive Justice Project at the ACLU of Southern California. Let’s hope not—and let’s hope that this leads to real change. D+ to Historical Accuracy Box-office breakout Straight Outta Compton does a whole lot of things right in its depiction of the rise and fall of influential hip-hop group N.W.A. While the film doesn’t shy away from some brutal realities in the artists’ lives, it fails to make even the slightest mention of Dr. Dre’s violence against women. The film deserves recognition for illuminating issues that still plague our society; but it’s a terrible shame that it silences other victims and erases other hideous truths, deeming some injustices less worthy of exposure than others. C– to May-December Stereotypes Sexism and ageism really do pair nicely, don’t they? Vulture made a charming infographic illustrating how consistently starlets Emma Stone, Scarlett Johansson and Jennifer Lawrence are paired with much older male love interests, writing snarkily that the actresses have “an older man problem.” Really, Hollywood just has a younger, younger, always younger woman problem. The bitter icing on the cake was when Maggie Gyllenhaal, age 37, was told she was too old to play the love interest of a 55-year-old man. A to Sexy Summer Movies While this summer was pretty typical in that it had no shortage of movies objectifying women and pandering to the male gaze (looking at you, Entourage), quite a few recent movies weren’t shy about flipping the script and acknowledging female sexuality. Writer-star Amy Schumer’s Trainwreck subverts rom-com conventions with its unapologetically sex-positive heroine; Marielle Heller’s groovy Sundance hit Diary of a Teenage Girl portrays the sexual awakening of a teenage girl in 1970s San Francisco; and of course there’s male-stripper sequel Magic Mike XXL, which objectifies Channing Tatum, for once. Extra Credit to Outspoken A-Listers We already gave this group an A last season, but more and more major players are speaking out about the industry’s institutionalized sexism, and we want to continue to applaud them. Sandra Bullock and Emma Thompson both stated that things are getting worse for women in Hollywood; Judy Greer and Amanda Seyfried called out the wage gap; and Zoe Saldana spoke out about the discrimination she faced when she became pregnant and then sought child care. Also, Kim Kardashian is a feminist! B– to Action Tentpoles It’s hardly news that most summer action flicks are testosterone-fueled spectacles by men, for men, and about men. This summer was no exception, bringing us a slew of male-centric action movies that were mostly nothing new. Jurassic World, the highest-grossing film of the summer (by a landslide) and third highest-grossing movie of all time, doesn’t even pass the Bechdel Test. Then its director, Colin Trevorrow, made some poorly worded comments about why so few female directors make the Sundance-to-studio leap as smoothly as he did (or at all, for that matter). A to Mad Max: Fury Road While women didn’t have a great summer in action movies, the genre was redeemed by a franchise reboot that bears a man’s name: Tom Hardy plays the title character in George Miller’s breathtaking post-apocalyptic Mad Max: Fury Road, but the movie belongs to Charlize Theron’s Imperator Furiosa. The film has inspired a “Feminist Mad Max” tumblr and been hailed as a “feminist triumph” by Vanity Fair, wherein Joanna Robinson writes, “Fury Road [isn’t] just another story about helpless female victims; it’s a story about empowered survivors.” Now that’s a violent action spectacle we can get behind. Mary Sollosi / Film Independent Blogger
