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May 4, 2008
WANTED: Women in Movies and TV
In the past day I have read two articles that say something about the world of women in the entertainment industry, well, they ask the question: Where are they, if not in a Romantic-Comedy/Typically Feminine world? It seems in this post-Lucy Ricardo/post-Mary Tyler Moore/post-Rosanne/post-Carrie Bradshaw world there would be room for more movies and television programming that is about women...but it's just the opposite. In 2007, 3 out of the top 20 highest grossing movies had women in lead roles..those being Knocked Up, Juno, and Enchanted. While Desperate Housewives is the highest ranked TV show with a female centered cast, The Hills is probably the most talked about among the blogosphere. What has happened to feminism today? With the exception of Diablo Cody's smart script, the rest of these characters involves emotionally charged, Princess-y, highly campy/over-sexed, absent-minded, Lois Lane/supporting the male lead types. OK, so, The Hills, is actually a reality show...somewhat, but, LC and the rest of the gang are a product of an MTV production company, from their internships at Teen Vogue, (albeit without any kind of education in journalism), to their relationships and created rifts that pull in big-time numbers...it's a whole created world that has the feminist movement rolling back to the eighties. It would be good to hear a woman say something, anything, worth hearing in a movie. Although the ending of Million Dollar Baby was a hard one to swallow, it was thought provoking none-the-less, and got people talking. Monster went to places most people dare not go. Of course, many know that I'm a sucker for any kind of wisdom that can come from Joss Whedon's creation, Buffy Summers.
Could it be that younger women in their 20s and 30s are fine with staying where they are? If you watch The Hills you will see a discussion about whether they should go to Les Duex or S Bar, two clubs in L.A. reserved for who's hot in Hollywood. You'll see the continued grudge that seems to have been going on for a lifetime between Lauren Conrad and Heidi Montag. You'll see LC and Whitney reporting to their internships in their BMWs at just the right time to be a part of a photo shoot. In short, their lives are glamorous, and fancy, and so other-worldly that while you don't care to be in that situation, you can't help but watch with zombie-like eyes as they pull you in with their non-eventful/eventful lives. Am I making any sense? In a word, escapism. Many believe that it is one of the 10 most important television shows of the past decade. Executives at MTV say that it is a bigger generation definer than The Osbournes, JackAss, and TRL. The show is about nothing, and it gets higher ratings than any other show on cable today.
You would think that in a world where there are more female television/movie executives than ever before, where the highest payed celebrity is a woman (Oprah), where a a likely candidate for the next president is a woman that our entertainment industry would follow suit. But no. OK, so maybe I'm stretching this out a little too much. To be fair, Tina Fey is the central character of 30 Rock, and America Ferrera is a star in her own right on Ugly Betty, but how many of us are watching those shows?
It makes me wonder what would a successful movie or TV show look like that featured women in smart roles? Murphy Brown? Elle Woods? If I were a producer for say, Warner Bros., I would have no idea where to start. Maybe that's the problem.
If we look at the numbers alone, people don't flock to old-school Julia Roberts-y movies like they used to, nor do they go to films where women are heroic, such as Atonement or where the acting is simply incredible, such as any Kate Winslet film...no, they go to see movies as I mentioned above in the first paragraph. I know there is an audience out there for more films and TV shows such as Juno and even Evita, where the female roles are stong, yet feminine. Why are they not getting green-lit...that is the question?
| By Nathan Gemayel | 12:10 PM