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Geena Davis: Female representation in film hasn't been improving much or at all

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Bodacious

Banned
If this were a topic about that film, sure. But 1) it is a problem if her doing that film defines her entire existence as only a sex object and nothing more, such as by 2) ignoring everything she said and going straight to referencing how she looked in that film.

1) Yeah, but it doesn't. She had bigger roles, in bigger movies.

2) well, I'm not the one who did that.
 

mreddie

Member
You better hope this becomes a hit

Wonder-Woman-Promo-Art-600x340.jpg

Hunger Games was a hit yet nothing happened
Trainwreck/Bridesmaids were hits, nothing happened.

If WW/ Captain Marvel are hits, does anyone think things will finally change?
 
“If a movie starring or written by or directed by a man flops, people don’t blame the gender of the creator,”

With the bar already set much higher for female directors than male, they are also given fewer second chances. Women with a box office failure don’t get hired again.

These right here are so true and that extends to the gaming industry too. If a movie or game with a female lead fails, the protagonist being female is partial to blame, but it's not for all the games that fail out there with male protagonists.

As far as directors and roles go, those definitely need to improve. I don't hear a lot about female directors and actresses seem to stick to the few genres as well. There aren't many leading fantasy, science-fiction, and action.
 

hiryu64

Member
I was just watching that so bad it's nearly good spy movie with her and Sam Jack in a hotel a few days ago and wondering what happened to her career. She had a nice little run for a while there.

She raises some good points but Hollywood seems obsessed with safe money these days.

hay mayne, dont u talk shit about Long Kiss Goodnight

That's honestly one of my favorite movies of all time. So campy and so much fun; it's incredibly well-written and well-done.
 

Sober

Member
Wow that is sadly depressing to hear that the sea change everyone is saying has come or we're on the cusp on actually hasn't even gotten out of bed yet.

Some fantastic suggestions on how to even it out a bit though in the article.
 

Toa TAK

Banned
The producer Cassian Elwes, whose credits include Dallas Buyers Club and Blue Valentine, admitted last year that it was “tricky” to sell the idea of a female director to foreign territories. Seventy-two cents in every dollar made from US movies is garnered internationally, so this is a crucial market.

“The moment that you mention it’s a female director, you can see the eyes start to roll,” said Elwes. “The buyers want action films and they don’t see women as action directors. That’s where the whole thing kind of blows up.”
This is the first time I've heard of something like this. And I'm even more baffled as to why it would bother people.
 

EulaCapra

Member
Thank you, Geena.

While it's been an exceptionally great year for female representation in film in terms of quality and quantity, it's sad that not every year is like that.
 

Htown

STOP SHITTING ON MY MOTHER'S HEADSTONE
At best that breaks you even for the slave outfit.

Leia was okay overall, I think. Not great, necessarily, but she was always at least important and always in the thick of the action.

Kinda weird that the best female Star Wars character is probably Ahsoka Tano at this point, and she wasn't even in the movies.
 

Dice//

Banned
Meryl Streep offered a few good words about this too; I think a lot of us girls can relate to this:
CRJaNj8.png

Meryl-Streep_612x380.jpg


We want action, but we're left as bystander.

Geena Davis si right though.... this is SO EASY and I think it'd actually make a world of difference.
“The one area where we could reach parity overnight is on screen, absolutely overnight… My two-pronged solution to the entire problem is just before you cast a film or a TV show, go through the characters and change a bunch of first names to female – hooray! Now you’ve got a gender-balanced cast, you’ve got female characters who are un-stereotyped because they were written actually for a man and then, wherever it says, ‘a crowd gathers’, put ‘which is half female’. And that’ll happen.”

Her suggestion is a valid one: the more representations there are of women doing interesting or unexpected or powerful things, the more we become culturally acclimatised.

It sucks that it took Furiosa in 2015 and Ridley back in the 80s for us to be wowed by female action stars... Why is this the case? It's annoying.

I'd argue it is getting better, but quite slowly, especially because it's met with such resistance in some weird ways.
 

Betty

Banned
Well Wonder Woman stars a strong woman, is being directed by a woman and it's probably written by a woman so maybe?

Unless of course the guy who introduces the character, Zack Snyder, somehow fucks it up or Gal Gadot's performance doesn't resonate with audiences.
 

Bluth54

Member
Then think about what women accomplish in the Star Wars movies. It's sad.

Yeah it could be better. Mon Mothma was the leader of the rebellion but she didn't really do much of anything (and was only briefly in Jedi). Hopefully the new movies will be better.
 

Ahasverus

Member
Unless of course the guy who introduces the character, Zack Snyder, somehow fucks it up or Gal Gadot's performance doesn't resonate with audiences.
I was talking about the WW solo movie though :p Which more than the charater, involves a female producing team.
 

JDSN

Banned
Well Wonder Woman stars a strong woman, is being directed by a woman and it's probably written by a woman so maybe?
If its a hit nothing happens, if it flops then it will be used go prove female-lead cómic book films are a waste.

Its like Capcom's support of the Wii.
 
I've always admired her, TBH. Doubly so when I learned that she's pretty good with a bow and arrow. Almost qualified for the Olympics team.
 

Ridley327

Member
I wish I could be less surprised by the Kathryn Bigelow anecdote. It would be utterly ghastly if it wasn't just so damn perplexing in the first place.
 
Surprised I didn't see this before, but this is avery good article, thanks for posting. Geena Davis is amazing, IMO. I find it incredibly admirable that she's a Mensa member.
 
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