Here are some interesting statistics about women in movie industry. As the graph shows, only seven percent of directors of the top 250 domestic grossing films are women. The number is roughly half the percentage of women directors in 2000. Twenty one percent of the 250 grossing films employed no women executive producers, writers, cinematographers, directors, producers, or editor. The rate of employment of women in the behind-scene roles has declined since 1998. Women wrote only ten percent of the 250 movies, and eighty two percent of the movies had no women writers. Women comprised fifteen percent of all executive producers, twenty four percent of all producers, eighteen percent of all editors, two percent of all cinematographers.
The number of women on screen is also influenced by the numbers of women behind scene. When a movie had at least one women creator, women comprised forty five percent of all characters. When there is no woman working behind the scenes, only forty percent of all characters are women. Women writes thirty percent of all film reviews in the nation’s top newspapers, and men write seventy percent. Forty seven percent of the nation’s top newspapers do not contain the reviews written by women. In the narrowed view, only three of the top hundred grossing films in 2010 were directed by women, and only one female director, Kathryn Bigelow, won a Best Director Oscar in 2009.
Given a similar budget, films employing at least one woman as any behind scene roles earned little bit higher box office grosses in opening weekend than films created only by men on average ($27.1 vs. 24.6 million). Given a similar budget, films with at least one women producer, executive producer, and directors grossed about the same amount as films with only men creators ($82.1 vs. $81.9 million). Given a similar budget, films with women protagonists grossed similar box office numbers with films with men protagonists.
If you enjoy watching movies, you might have noticed what the majority of movies have in commons. Most of the movies are stories about men. Because we live in a male centered society, Hollywood keeps producing movies about men, in aspect of patriarchy. Male centered society prioritizes men over women. We saw from out young ages, no matter of your gender, that society’s attention is placed on what men do and what men don’t do. While men’s stories are created, produced, awarded and celebrated, women’s stories are less interested in movie industry. Kathryn Bigelow is the only women director who won an academy award in its 83 years history, and yet her movie “The Hurt Locker” in 2009 is definitely a male-centered film. Women-centered movies do not necessarily mean they are not sexist. Many women stories are considered as “chick flicks”, and they focus on describing women obsessed with shopping, loving, and finding men to love.
Hollywood film industry needs to shift its gear to appropriately appeal to both genders of audience. More and more people are going to watch movies, and the influence of films is still growing. The problem is that movies, as other pop culture items do, shape a strong stereotype. Both male and female centered films shape and reassure gender roles. Today, fifty five percent of moviegoers are female. There is also a higher percent of women watching movies in every age group. Women look at themselves the way movies depict on the screen, especially for teenage girls who are the most dominant group of moviegoers.
I am not arguing that Hollywood must stop producing male-centered movies, because they are never good and important; my point is that movies are rewarded and valued disproportionally in our society as a fact. I want to watch more equalized movies that characterize both men and women as full and complete human beings, instead of simple sex objects or stereotyped person.
photographs
MPAA3.jpg. 14 October 2011. http://www.anomalousmaterial.com/movies/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/MPAA3.jpg
Women in films.jpg 14.October 2011. http://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRil5Y_Dw_bXXMeYm1N46-33ELvL0XbBhZXnUKTvehYW-9dxuQC56cwDrFq
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