The awesome Melissa Silverstein has an interesting post up about the 2008 box office. Turns out that, in an industry where four out of four of the Academy Award nominated directors are men (again), it was an incredibly lucrative year for women. Silverstein says that the fact that four films in the top 20 have women leads is a "big f**king deal!"
But before you go throwing your overpriced movie tickets up like confetti, be forewarned, the content of said films is not the most exhilarating news. Among the big profit "female-friendly" movies this year: 27 Dresses, Sex and the City, Twilight, and The House Bunny. 
Now we don't have to get into a big conversation about whether these films have feminist content; I'm sure each of them have some redeemable qualities. But wouldn't it be great if the contemporary equivalent of Boys Don't Cry or The Piano could
make big box office news again?
I want movies about courageous women in everyday circumstances, movies about social issues that affect women's lives everyday, movies that awknowledge the complexity of sexual politics, movies that challenge anxious masculinity and traditional gender norms, movies about real women's lives. Not more movies about weddings, sororities, and celibacy.
Also in interesting movie news, some folks in Mumbai are protesting the name of the movie everyone is talking about: Slumdog Millionaire. The director, who grew up in a slum, told reporters, ""The film is going to be a terrific inspiration to kids around India. It's a feel-good film, a film of hope...Children from the slums are actually called much worse names."
Your thoughts?
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As an aspiring director (I'm in film school at the moment) I find the lack of talented and visible female directors very depressing. Is the industry really that sexist or are women simply not aware that it is possible to make it as a director?
I'm not going to let it stop me from kicking some serious ass once I get my degree, but the boy's club can be such a hard place to start out when you're young, insecure - and female.
I worked in post-production in a place where I was the only woman on staff. The receptionist was the only other female.
I'd say some of it is choice. Women didn't seem interested in working in post-production, which focuses on more technical aspects. Most of the women I knew went on to work in other areas (PR, marketing, script reading, agencies, talent casting).
It's not just a lack of directors. It's a lack of editors, cinematographers, colorists. A lot of it might be due to a lack of mentoring. A lot of it is because those are not the glamorous jobs. I knew no one who wanted to do dailies, for example.
What's the male-female ratio at your school btw?
"I want movies about courageous women in everyday circumstances, movies about social issues that affect women's lives everyday, movies that awknowledge the complexity of sexual politics, movies that challenge anxious masculinity and traditional gender norms, movies about real women's lives. Not more movies about weddings, sororities, and celibacy."
Word. Nothing has been more horrifying than the recent trailers for "Bride Wars" and "Confessions of a Shopaholic." I don't mind light, superficial movies as long as they're balanced with other choices that are deeper & multi-layered. Find some more profound stories to bring to the screen, Hollywood execs, please!
Ya know, I want these movies, too, but most people don't find them entertaining. People want cute "bunnies" (I love it that my gender is analogized to one of the dumbest of animals) and catty brides. Single mothers straining to raise decent children in a hostile society does not make for big box office revenues. Fact is, the reality of women's lives is not what people go to the movies to see - they want Ironman, not Oppressed Woman.
I say we cannot blame the producers, the Academy,or whomever, for making what people will pay to see: it is their business, after all. We can blame them for not making movies that break the mold more than occasionally, like The Piano. There is middle ground, and it is too rarely tread.
Could the lack of visible female directors be blamed on the theory that they might actually want to make original, deep-thinking, conscientious movies about things that matter, rather than remakes, prequels, sequels and based-on the-high-school-language-arts-reading curriculum? That said, thanks for the "redeemable qualities" comment, 'cause I loved me some Twilight.
"I want movies about courageous women in everyday circumstances, movies about social issues that affect women's lives everyday, movies that awknowledge the complexity of sexual politics, movies that challenge anxious masculinity and traditional gender norms, movies about real women's lives. Not more movies about weddings, sororities, and celibacy."
-Couldn't agree more. I occasionally like to watch movies like 27 Dresses or Twilight regardless of their issues, but I think that too many people think that life outside of work is all about being passively (mentally as well as physically, I mean) entertained, which is why the really good movies don't attract audiences as well.
Then again, some of the slim pickings do pretty well, so more choices could go a long way.
Correction - The quote at the end of your post is not from the director (Danny Boyle) but from an Indian actor, Anil Kapoor. He comes from a very well-to-do film-oriented family and did NOT grow up in Indian slums!
Also, the term "slumdog" is not a common swear-word or insult, and was coined by the screenwriter Simon Beaufoy. The folks behind the protests about the name are just trying to create controversy.
All respect, this reflects box office data. Movies that attract the largest audience don't tend to be the most complex or thoughtful affairs, they tend rather to be the greatest spectacles. This isn't something that's unique to films that seek a female audience (see Pinapple Express, every Bruce Willis movie ever made). The movies you're talking about get made. They even get marketed. They just don't have the kind of broad based, mass appeal that some of the less complex entertainments do. This isn't a bad thing. Higher brow experiences almost by definition attract smaller and more niche audiences.
Take a look at the other 16 films in the top 20. They weren't all BAD, but I don't think a single one fits the criteria Courtney's talking about.
If Twilight wasn't a feminist-oriented movie, I don't know what is.I'll never get why celibacy isn't considered a valid choice.
Serious movies are few & far between b/cs the vast majority of Americans, love 'em or hate 'em, aren't looking for thought provoking entrees Fri-Sun, they get enough of that Mon-Thu. It ain't called the entertainment industry for nothing.
We should sooner decry that more people aren't smart, sincerely interested in social issues, and actively involved in solving them.
Sly, there were several posts here about why Twilight was not considered feminist and none of them were had anything to do with the characters choice to not have sex. I never read the books or saw the movie (and I don't intend to) but the posts on here when the movie premiered were really interesting.
Nothing against celibacy, if that's someone's choice, but I'd be curious to know exactly what arguments you have FOR a film with such a passive heroine to be considered a feminist film?
Fair enough point, but the action in the film was incidental to the real conflict, which was the heroine making her own choice (to be a vampire) and rejecting the choices her father & society would have her make. That's why the climax was 2 min of action & like 5 min on the relationship between the two & would she/could she decide to be a vampire.
So, I don't really think that just b/cs she didn't have super powers she wasn't a hero. This was a girl's coming of age story, entirely about a young, independent woman can reject social norms & make her own choices. The vampire violence was incidental...just a means of pushing tickets, but hardly the story.
Nothing against celibacy, if that's someone's choice, but I'd be curious to know exactly what arguments you have FOR a film with such a passive heroine to be considered a feminist film?
Here was my take on Slumdog Millionaire, and the issue of the portrayal of slums.
http://pink-scare.blogspot.com/2009/01/slumdog-millionaire-mixing-raw-reality.html
You're absolutely right, Matt. And I agree that fluff flicks are fun. But I'd still like to think that by making more and more thoughtful, historically accurate, and feminist films people would realize more and more that these are good things worth paying attention to! Catering to the lowest common denominator is fine for dumb laughs - but I think it's a very capitalist strategy to do it all the time and - hey, I'm guilty of it,too - kind of sheepish to not bother getting into more provocative cinema.
I just watched "The Other Boleyn Girl," which came out in early 2008, and thought it fell somewhere in the middle. SPOILER ALERT...The story itself is a period piece rife with abhorrent gender roles and sexual relationships - so, disturbing as it may be, it is what it is. The only thing I didn't like was the unrealistic depiction of childbirth. What I liked the most was that, even though it's only mentioned in an epilogic kind of way, there's a definite boo-ya moment at the end - this family has suffered and compromised themselves for years for a nincompoop King who only wants a male heir, only to have his daughter take his throne. Makes you say, "Damn, things would have been a lot easier if somebody had suggested that in the first place."
Aside from the (crappy) content of the movies, I'm sort of appalled that we're supposed to jump up and down in excitement that four of the top twenty have female leads, and only twelve in what I'm assuming is the top hundred. That's still no where near equal!
Movie people miss the mark for a lot of women and men.
I'm not going to watch 27 dresses, Sex in the City nor am I going to watch the Piano or Boys don't cry. I'd like a female dominated "Harold and Kumar goes to White Castle" followed by a female "Borne Identity" I don't like relationshippy, shoesy movies and I definitely don't like long HEAVY movies with Oscar written all over them. I watch movies because I'm too tired/cold/hot to do something else.
I like stoner/camp movies, unrealistic violent movies, and quirky "Little Miss Sunshine" movies. I think the reason why Juno, Little Miss Sunshine etc got so big is because people like me are waiting for those movies and are not finding them. When they do come out, they get the recognition it deserves for it's quirkiness.
If I want a big sweeping emotional epic, I'll read a book. If I want some shoe talk I'll go to GoFugYourself.
If you wnat a female orientented Harold and Kumar, then you should see The House Bunny.
Did any one on here even see it? I was against it at first too, based on what I thought it was about. But it really suprised me. I love Happy Madison Movies to begin with, but out of principle I refused to see this one. After I heard more about it I actually watched it.
Yes, there is the obligitory makeover, and it looks like it's going where you think, and then it switches it up on you. the overall message is you be yourself and have confidence. Not feminist messages?
I already +'d you, but holy wow does it seem as if we have the exact same taste.
There is nothing redeemable about "Twilight." Biggest load of crap to be embraced by stupid women of all ages who think abusive relationships are the equivalent of romance. I'm still horrified by the number of students I have who coo over it. If that's the future, we're fucking doomed.
No need to be so harshly judgmental to express your intense dislike For Twilight. You know, it's possible to like Twilight and be an intelligent person. Fans are capable of critique.
No shit, miera. I bet you'd be hard pressed NOT to find something in your world that isn't suitably "feminist." Keep your insults to yourself, or have a gander at the "Unfeminist Guilty Pleasures" feature. I'm sure you'll find a lot of not stupid women over there. geeze.
Let me say that I totally agree with this. The movies being put out about women these days are shallow and just, blah. But I would just like to point out that while Boys Don't Cry was directed by a woman, Brandon is played by a woman, and the movie definitely challenges anxious masculinity and gender norms, it's not about a courageous woman and the struggles she faced, it's about a courageous transman and the struggles he faced.
Fucking word.
Loved that movie. I also like Hillary Swank
I have to agree with Matt.
It doesn't work to look at the Top 20 box office and say, where are all the great films about women like Boys Don't Cry and The Piano? Ignoring the fact that Boys Don't Cry is not about a woman...If you look at the top box office list for 1999 and 1994, you wouldn't find Boys Don't Cry or The Piano either. Boys Don't Cry and The Piano are Oscar bait movies, not blockbuster movies. Comparing Boys Don't Cry with 27 Dresses is like comparing Apples and Oranges.
Let's do this instead:
1993 Top Box Office:
1. Jurassic Park (1993)
2. Mrs. Doubtfire (1993)
3. The Fugitive (1993)
4. The Firm (1993)
5. Sleepless in Seattle (1993)
6. Indecent Proposal (1993)
7. In the Line of Fire (1993)
8. The Pelican Brief (1993)
9. Schindler's List (1993)
10. Cliffhanger (1993)
So this gives us...a RomCom, an anti-feminist Backlash movie, and Julia Roberts in a thriller. 3 movies with major female players in the Top 10.
1999 Top Box Office:
1. Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999)
2. The Sixth Sense (1999)
3. Toy Story 2 (1999)
4. Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999)
5. The Matrix (1999)
6. Tarzan (1999)
7. Big Daddy (1999/I)
8. The Mummy (1999)
9. Runaway Bride (1999)
10. The Blair Witch Project (1999)
This gives us one RomCom. That's basically it. While Trinity is cool, she isn't the lead of The Matrix.
2008 Top Box Office:
1. The Dark Knight (2008)
2. Iron Man (2008)
3. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008)
4. Hancock (2008)
5. WALL·E (2008)
6. Kung Fu Panda (2008)
7. Twilight (2008/I)
8. Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa (2008)
9. Quantum of Solace (2008)
10. Horton Hears a Who! (2008)
One teen romance.
But what happens if we compare Oscars?
Oscars:
1993 Best Actress:
-Piano, The (1993) - Holly Hunter
-Remains of the Day, The (1993) - Emma Thompson (I)
-Shadowlands (1993) - Debra Winger
-Six Degrees of Separation (1993) - Stockard Channing
-What's Love Got to Do with It (1993) - Angela Bassett
1999 Best Actress:
-Boys Don't Cry (1999) - Hilary Swank
-American Beauty (1999) - Annette Bening
-End of the Affair, The (1999) - Julianne Moore (I)
-Music of the Heart (1999) - Meryl Streep
-Tumbleweeds (1999) - Janet McTeer
2008 Best Actress:
-Changeling (2008) - Angelina Jolie
-Doubt (2008/I) - Meryl Streep
-Frozen River (2008) - Melissa Leo
-Rachel Getting Married (2008) - Anne Hathaway (I)
-Reader, The (2008) - Kate Winslet
The 2008 entries are not shabby...and this doesn't mention Revolutionary Road, which has been getting very good press for Kate Winslet. Though I haven't seen Changeling yet, a very good friend of mine was very pleased with what they read as feminist critique in Changeling. This was also the year of Mamma Mia, making a boatload of cash for Meryl Streep, which by all accounts is not the same sort of cultural artifact as something like Runaway Bride.
Anyway, I just think we should be fair in our comparisons.
I think if you're going to compare Oscar movies to blockbuster lists you should look at the best picture listing instead of the best actress and see how many of those would have a woman as the lead. Even best actress roles may not have been considered the "lead" of that particular film.
I think you are absolutely right. I was actually going to compare Best Picture as well...but the post got too long. So, since you mentioned it, here they are:
1993 Best Picture:
Schindler's List (1993)
Fugitive, The (1993)
In the Name of the Father (1993)
Piano, The (1993)
Remains of the Day, The (1993)
1999 Best Picture:
American Beauty (1999)
Cider House Rules, The (1999)
Green Mile, The (1999)
Insider, The (1999)
Sixth Sense, The (1999)
2008 Best Picture:
Curious Case of Benjamin Button, The (2008)
Frost/Nixon (2008)
Milk (2008)
Reader, The (2008)
Slumdog Millionaire (2008)
1993 had The Piano in Best Picture, though it didn't win the statue...but 1999 really had nothing of note for women in strong roles in the picture category. 2008 has The Reader...we'll see if it wins...I doubt it will.
Basically, I think there are movies where women give nuanced performances about things other than weddings, sororities, and celibacy in the present as well as in the past. But, while they may get critical praise, and often garner Best Actress statues, then and now, they are rarely in the Box Office Top 10, and rarely win Best Picture. I just don't think it was better "back then"--because I think it has been pretty consistently not so great.
Sure, there are anomaly years--1991 was a good year in terms of mainstream box office success and major Oscar recognition...but I think that has always been the exception rather than the rule. But I also think there are great powerful female performances every year...often getting critical praise as well...just not the box office money or the Best Picture nods.
Though, in order to end the post on a pick me up, here are the stats for 1991:
Top 10 Box Office 1991:
Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991)
The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
City Slickers (1991)
Hook (1991)
The Addams Family (1991)
Sleeping with the Enemy (1991)
Father of the Bride (1991)
The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear (1991)
Fried Green Tomatoes (1991)
Best Picture Oscar:
Silence of the Lambs, The (1991) - (Winner)
Beauty and the Beast (1991)
Bugsy (1991)
JFK (1991)
Prince of Tides, The (1991)
Best Actress Oscar:
Silence of the Lambs, The (1991) - Jodie Foster (Winner)
For the Boys (1991) - Bette Midler
Rambling Rose (1991) - Laura Dern
Thelma & Louise (1991) - Geena Davis
Thelma & Louise (1991) - Susan Sarandon
All the movies you listed star males or center around males and the female roles are undermining, stereotypical and subordinant. I do not know why you added the best actress category as some sort of evidence, because all it does is prove your point wrong.This is what you offer as proof that womens roles in movies arent demeaning, petty and stereotypical?theyre not going to offer "Diary of a Shopaholic" on the Oscar category list.
Yes, they all do center around men and the female roles are undermining, stereotypical and subordinant...that was my point. I'll restate it, because I must not have made it clear.
Courtney said: But wouldn't it be great if the contemporary equivalent of Boys Don't Cry or The Piano could
make big box office news again?
But Boys Don't Cry and The Piano didn't make big box office news the years they came out. They made Oscar news, but they weren't big box office hits. For all three years, 1993, 1999, 2008...like I suspect most years, the box office hits are not feminist and not great to women. It isn't just now that the box office ignored nuanced performances, it was then as well.
Similarly, just as back in the day has Boys Don't Cry and The Piano (which rather than box office love, got Oscar love), we have The Reader, Changeling, Doubt.
"Not more movies about weddings, sororities, and celibacy."
But those movies sold. That's why there will be a sequel to Twilight et al. In comparison, Let the Right One In was a much better vampire movie but I bet it did nothing at the box office.
Yet "Let the Right One In" is being developed for an American remake. I wonder what would have happened if the original was given wider distribution. The buzz on that film was incredible.
I think almost any horror movie made abroad these days is re-developed for the American market (The Ring, Mirrors, Quarantine, The Eye, Shutter, Dark Water) almost always to horrible results. That's because Hollywood is enchanted by these new, fresh and interesting movies but manages to re-package them into trite remakes.
I bet "Let the Right One In" gets remade with Dakota Fanning and has sexy-vampire loving. Just sit and watch.
"Not more movies about weddings, sororities, and celibacy. "
What's so wrong about movies about sororities or weddings? Weddings are fun and all the women in my sorority are strong, ambitious individuals. The problem with these movies isn't the topic, it's the execution. Hell, you could make a really interesting movie about the implications of celibacy.
I agree. The problem with the majority of wedding or sorority movies is that a major point of the plotline frequently assumes that something about the woman/women needs to change in order for there to be a happy conclusion. She needs to be more sexy or attractive, possibly less neurotic and obsessive, etc. And of course, these changes need to happen to enhance her ability to attract and keep the man.
I just saw Rachel Getting Married which was about a wedding (sort of) but was executed pretty well. The lead was a woman as well as a large supportive role thought the father character was awesome too. Anyway, that is one movie technically 2008 with a female lead that I wouldn't consider feminist nor anti-women but a good film.
Also, the wedding in this felt allot more authentic then they do in most films. The characters were people and not caricatures. It actually reminded me of my wedding only mine probably only cost 2k or so and with a lot more people.
Basically I want more films like this in the future. Good films with artistic merit that are entertaining and happen to have female leads.
The Best Actress nominees are really exciting to me, because Changeling finally got some attention, as well as Frozen River which is an incredible film not only for its depiction of an incredibly shaped female character but its independent nature. Changeling was an unexpected joy actually, because of its exploration of the complexities of being a woman and a mother among many other issues.
Twilight's viability as a feminist film is an issue for another time, but my real problem with it is that that film might have killed the career of one of the few female directors with cleft not related to a showbiz family. If there's one thing you can say about Twilight, if definitely ruins whatever indie cred you built up doing "Lords of Dogtown" (with Heath Ledger and Emile Hirsch. Rent it!)
While many, many fans where upset and concerned about Catherine's departure from the series (and are skeptical about a man directing from a female perspective, btw). I don't think it may have killed Hardwicke's career. She is the one responsible for making the film such a ginormous hit. I think she'll have more success to come
I agree! Changeling was an awesome feminist film! It also just happened to contain a conspiracy story compelling enough to satisfy any audience. And of course, the period detail was perfect, as was Angelina Jolie's performance.
I thought I'd share one other way of measuring the progress of female roles in cinema: how many movies have at least one significant conversation between two female characters that does not concern a man? This year, I can think of only one such film -- "I've loved you so long," which I thought was quite good. This is a good indicator of what female characters are allowed to do as compared to male characters. Men talk about and do pretty much anything. Women? We mainly talk about men, if we exist as characters at all.
Ah...that good old rule from Alison Bechdel...I think that was from the very first Dykes to Watch Out For. Ah...back in the day!
Anyway, I think that at the moment the place to go to find media that fulfills the Bechdel criteria is TV. With shows like Damages, Saving Grace, Battlestar Galactica, The Closer, etc...there are a lot more spaces for female actors, especially female actors who are older than 30 to do interesting things that don't revolve around getting, keeping, or otherwise fussing over men.
No thoughts on "Slumdog," but Sex and the City was not only absolutely awful (boring, poorly written, poorly directed), but it was also both racist and unflattering toward women.
Even "The Women" was a disappointment - great cast, empty and shallow story that could have had some meat.
"Iron Jawed Angels" is one that should have received more acclaim. Not just because of the subject matter, but because it was really a damn good movie.
(I haven't seen "The Reader" or "The Changeling.")
I've seen "Slumdog"...and it's a fairy tale...which led to the thing that made me uncomfortable. Often in fairy tales women are reduced to the most passive of objects whose only purpose is to wait and be saved by the hero. And that was all over this movie...and it really bugged me.
I went to my women-only gym last week. As it's a ladies' gym, chick flicks often play on the overhead TVs. I hopped on the ellipticals to do some nice low impact working out. In front of me was the house bunny movie. In the few minutes I watched, the former playboy bunny took smart and independent sorority sisters and put them into short dresses with the obligatory salon montage. Then walking about campus the men were running into poles at how awesome their sexual power was (and they were all skinny). To top it off, they took pictures for a calendar in skimpy ass outfits (sexy witch, school girl) to sell around the university. I was so disgusted with the message of the film that I abandoned my elliptical for the bike section in frond of the CNN TV. That was much better I got to see Larry King interview McCain and the NYTimes columnist, Dowd.