For the past week, women’s media has pretty much been dominated by talk of Lena Dunham’s new show “Girls.” But newsflash! There’s other crap going on! Like the fact that this year’s prestigious Cannes Film Festival features absolutely zero films by women. That’s right: of the 23 films up for Cannes’ Very Important Palm D’Or Award, zero were made by women. And in the Un Certain Regard category — reserved for films made by up-and-coming young directors — only two were made by women.
“Any feminist out there who doesn’t support me gets a big boo because you’ve got one person out there who is advocating for women in Hollywood and you’re going to slag that person? If you’re a feminist, you should be up my butt. I have no idea if I’ve helped feminism or set it back, because people see me as such a polarizing figure. I hope it’s the former. But if I can’t even get feminists on my side, maybe I’m not helping.”
– Diablo Cody, who wrote “Young Adult,” is certainly sick of being criticized by feminists (and their at-times strange bedfellows, conservatives) for various crimes, like the fact that “Juno” didn’t involve an abortion, Diablo’s past career as a stripper, and plenty of other violations dictated by The Not Feminist Enough Police.
FWIW, I’m a feminist and I’m on your side, Diablo. [Guardian UK]
Today two powerful leading ladies make a bang on the big screen as Kate Beckinsale returns as badass vampire Selene in “Underworld: Awakening” and real-life powerhouse MMA fighter Gina Carano stars in “Haywire.” And these heroines join the ranks of some of the most kickass female characters to grace the pages of comic books and shine on the silver screen.
But each of these strong women is more than just a pretty face. With supernatural strength and street smarts, these strong characters represent female empowerment and the ability for a woman to be in charge of her own fate. Whether you’re like Wonder Woman flying solo or you’ve got a solid group behind you like Jem & The Holograms, each of these heroines with an action-packed history has given us lessons to incorporate in our everyday lives. Now get ready to show your own demons who’s boss! Read more…
“There’s this strange thing that’s happened over the last 25 or 30 years where there’s this decision being made that women aren’t able to carry the box office. Now, ‘Bridesmaids’ has proved that to be bullshit, and ‘The Help’ has proven it to be bullshit. But it’s much harder to get a film with a woman lead made. When a man hits 40 is when roles just begin to happen. And for women it doesn’t happen. I find that to be a very concerning issue.”
– George Clooney continues to do what he does second best (after acting) in the new issue of Entertainment Weekly – making women swoon. Clooney sounds a little bit like a politician to me here — while he very well may be quite concerned about the status of women in Hollywood, it also sounds like he’s pandering a bit to a sizable portion of his fan base. Prove me wrong, George! I know — why doesn’t he step behind the camera again (his third biggest talent, as displayed in the well-done “Ides of March”) and direct a female lead himself? Another movie with Tilda Swinton, perhaps? Or Vera Farmiga? Or Helen Mirren? That would be rad. Just a thought. [Entertainment Weekly]
“The conventional knowledge in Hollywood is that an unsympathetic female character can tank a movie. I’m hoping that’s not true. I’m knocking on wood really emphatically right now but honestly I have a lot of theories sometimes I wonder if it comes down to mommy issues. The idea of a cold, unlikeable woman or a woman who is not in control of herself is genuinely frightening to people because it threatens civilization itself or threatens the American family. But I don’t know why people are always willing to accept and even like flawed male characters.We’ve seen so many lovable anti-heroes who are curmudgeons or addicts or bad fathers and a lot of those characters have become beloved icons and I don’t see women allowed to play the same parts. So it was really important to me to try and turn that around.”
– Diablo Cody explains in further depth her decision to write a movie centered around a highly unlikeable female character, something I pointed out in my review of that film, “Young Adult.” I thought Cody’s attempt was a complete success — while Charlize Theron’s character Mavis is, for the most part, utterly loathsome, she is also fascinating and complex. The film opened in select cities this past weekend and is in theaters nationwide this weekend. Did you see it? If so, what did you think? [Woman and Hollywood/IndieWire]
Well, surprise, surprise. It looks like women in Hollywood are still screwed, at least according to a recent University of Southern California Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism study. Researchers surveyed all films released in 2009, and found that filmmakers still favor men over women — only around a third of all speaking characters were female. Not only that — women on screen were more likely to be scantily clad — three times more likely — than their male counterparts. Keep reading »
“['500 Days Of Summer' was] actually very misunderstood. I can’t tell you how many guys, and girls, are like, ‘You did him wrong!’ What, she’s a bitch because she didn’t want to date that guy? So? Are we bitches because we have our own opinions? If that makes me a bitch, or that makes women bitches, then maybe we’re all bitches.”
—Zooey Deschanel comes to the defense of manic pixie dreamgirls everywhere who got a bad reputation from the way her flick “500 Days Of Summer” ended. I definitely don’t understand why anyone would believe Summer was a “bitch” just because she fell in love with someone else. Anyway, between this comment to New York magazine and the angry letter Zooey wrote to Vogue magazine as a 17-year-old, I think I’ve found a new feminist in Hollywood! [New York] Keep reading »
Finally, an outrageous gross-out comedy starring women! Hollywood isn’t exactly known for producing flicks that maximize funny females. Even Bette Midler has lamented the lack of funny women gracing the big screen lately.
That could explain why so many women are eagerly anticipating this week’s release of “Bridesmaids,” which has been described as “The Hangover” starring women. SNL’s Kristen Wiig and Maya Rudolph lead the cast, with Rose Byrne (“Get Him to the Greek”), Ellie Kemper (“The Office”), Wendi McLendon-Covey (“Reno 911″) and Melissa McCarthy (“Mike & Molly”) rounding out the rest of the bridesmaids.
As they gear up for their friend’s wedding, these bridesmaids don’t just primp, preen, gossip and tut-tut about what their men might be up to at the bachelor party. Instead, they embark on their own crazy adventures, including excessive drinking, cursing, farting, burping and ogling hot men. Read more… Keep reading »
Women across the country will be flocking to “Bridesmaids” this weekend, which is good news for everyone: Jessica has confirmed that the movie is laugh-out-loud funny and high ticket sales during opening weekend will show Hollywood studios that women want to see intelligent movies about funny women and that there is a demand for more movies like this.
One problem: on the “Bridesmaids” movie poster, why is the chubby bridesmaid, played by Melissa McCarthy (of “Mike and Molly”) wearing a much more modest version of the matching bridesmaid dresses? Four of the five bridesmaids wear sleeveless hot pink taffeta mini-dresses that are tight and hit well above their knees. However, Melissa McCarthy is wearing a slightly different dress: her skirt is looser and covers her knees, she’s wearing elbow-length sleeves, and she doesn’t have as much as a hint of cleavage. If the dress wasn’t hot pink and had less ruched taffeta detailing, she could probably wear the dress to a job interview. Keep reading »
Jodie Foster is one of the few successful working actress/directors, so she’s the logical person to ask, “Why aren’t there more women directors out there?”
While out promoting her upcoming film “The Beaver,” Foster shrugged off the idea that Hollywood is making a concerted effort to block women from getting behind the camera.
“I don’t think it’s a plot and these guys sat around and said, ‘Let’s keep these women out,’” Foster told the LA Times. “I think it’s like race psychology. When a producer hires a director, you’re hiring away your control completely. When you give that amount of power up, you want them to look like you and talk like you and think like you and it’s scary when they don’t, because what’s gonna happen? I’m gonna hand over $60 million to somebody I don’t know.”
But even when you’re not talking about “the guys” sitting around, Foster says women execs think along the same lines. Read more… Keep reading »
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