The Mary Sue: Mila Kunis is done with the objectifying, sexist bull-hickey in Hollywood. Kunis posted an essay on Medium titled, “You’ll Never Work In This Town Again…” The title references a threat she received after refusing to pose semi-naked on the cover of a magazine for film promotion. The actress says this was the first time she had said “no” in her career and, as we know, she did “work in this town again, and again, and again.”
8 comments:
Hooray! All about this. Not only because she is doing the right thing, but because she is doing it the right way. There are a lot of very well meaning celebrities who decide they are going to be the champions of womens rights and they write a book and go on some talk shows and say "women deserve more and everyone at home should think that and then it'll happen". that lasts a few months maybe a year, and then nothing. It fizzles. Because people don't want to make the change, the industry does not want to change, it needs constant force and constant backlash, and what we are starting to realize that it needs is competition. Women are starting to create their own companies and make work written and directed by women, and aimed at a primarily female audience. These companies are doing well because after hundreds of years of film being a mans world, and being made for men women are finally starting to see some of themselves in what is being made, and they want more of it. So I admire Mila Kunis, not only because she is smart and because she shares a goal with me but because she isn't waiting around for the world to catch up with us, and the millions of other people in the world who want the same thing, she is forcing them.
It is just so awesome to see big names like Mila Kunis taking action in such a systematic problem in this industry. She definitely had to put up with a lot to get where she is today – and to be perfectly honest I have trouble thinking of a movie or TV show she is a key role in that doesn’t involve seeing her at least a little bit naked. After years of maltreatment and objectification, Kunis was finally able to say no without a significant threat to her career. I mean, she was threatened significantly, but it is pretty safe to say that she is well enough grounded in Hollywood to not have to worry about something like that ruining her life and career. Her production company is the vision that Hollywood needs and I’m definitely hoping it gains a lot of traction in defunding wrongful companies and encouraging females in the industry.
This type of discourse against women will be infuriating until the day it no longer exists, and I am so glad that more and more women are going public about it. By drawing attention to the way that people treat (and pay) women in comparison to men, women are forcing everyone to consciously make the choice to do the right thing and remove unintentional bias. I was surprised to hear about Mila Kunis’s production company because although I had seen the name before, I was unaware that she was one of the people who had started it. This is great for the diversity and equality movement because if the people in charge are aware of the inequality, they are more likely to choose projects that are good for women and will pay them equally to their male counterparts. For this, I do not just mean actors; I also mean directors and production staff.
I agree that she approached this issue brilliantly. She quoted the email, giving a specific situation, but didn’t feel the need to name the producer who made the comment. She was very clear that the problem isn’t this one person, and it would have detracted from her argument if all the anger could be directed at one individual. And I really respect that she noted her own position of safety, not just speaking up for herself and other actresses, but for women in general. I think that women are taught to handle sexism by rising above. Ignore it, don’t let it get to you, and prove them wrong. I like the Kunis adds the education step, because if you just try to move on, then people who don’t see the problem aren’t going to change. Those people aren’t just men. Women can be guilty of small comments, like Kunis’ email example, too. It’s not like her career was ignored, but if it had been her husband, would the producer have felt the same need to mention their marriage?
I'm so glad to see articles such as this one being discussed and shared. Mila Kunis does a great job of describing her experiences in a way that encourages others to speak up, but also in a way that doesn't dismiss other women's experiences. As shown in the article, the entertainment industry is extremely difficult for women as it is often very sexist and dominated by men. Kunis discusses her hopes and worries for other women in the film industry, which I find admirable. In my opinion, her notes on educating people about sexism in entertainment are very important. In order to begin creating less sexism in the workplace, we need to educate all employers and employees. Overall, Kunis' approach is engaging and addresses sexism in a thought provoking way.
This was a powerful article for a woman to read. Although Mila Kunis isn't in my field of entertainment, we still face a lot of the same pressures when it comes to preforming adequately in the eyes of men who can "do our job better." In terms of naming the producers, I felt like the also handled that really well. So often when women have issues with a single person, they get called out as being bitchy or having a problem with only that one particular person. However, she was very mature about this situation and didn't escalate it. In a way, the name of the producer doesn't matter. Like Aubrey said, women have to be more public about their outcry against it. It's one thing to privately talk to your boss about a comment he said during a meeting, but it's another to tell your coworkers about that meeting. The glass ceiling only needs one big crack, ladies.
It’s very cool to see high-profile Hollywood actresses speak out against these injustices, and see that they are recognizing them not just in regards to themselves, but to the world at large a well. I think it’s very admirable of Kunis to recognize that “If this is happening to me, it is happening more aggressively to women everywhere”, a big slap-in-the-face to those women who say they don’t need feminism because their lives are fine. She makes a very good point in saying that she is fortunate enough to have the privilege of “standing her ground”, essentially saying that she is well-known and well-off enough that she is able to stop compromising her integrity for the ideals of the male-dominated industry. Unfortunately, this is a luxury the majority of women and other minorities don’t have. I feel like, too often, you either have to be so low down on the totem pole that no one cares what you have to say, or all the way at the very top so that no one will challenge what you say, in order to be in any position to speak out in any way, and even then, there’s no guarantee that people will listen to you. I’m so glad to hear that Kunis is speaking out, we have such a long way to go!
I fully agree with literally everything said here. Sexism is in no way shape or form dead, especially in the entertainment industry. Even CMU still has problems. I can hardly go a day at this school without running into some sexist sentiment or lighthearted joke. While I recognize that none of these statements made by my peers are intentionally sexist, the jokes that are all too frequently made in the scene shop are products of a sexist culture and undermine very real issues. Kunis isn’t the only person advocating for equality in entertainment either. We do the same thing here, as students. Just a few weeks ago the female sophomore and freshmen Design and Production majors had a very long talk about the sexism in CMU’s environment and the fact that, as women, we have to fight for every opportunity. This reality applies to crew, class, and, of course, the very real world outside of school. I remember coming back from the summer and it seemed like all I heard from the other women in my class was horror stories about their experiences in regional theater shops. It’s a terrible reality that we live in, and it certainly helps that someone with notoriety is finally speaking up about this.
Post a Comment