Friday, November 13, 2015
Systemic Change in Hollywood: So What Do We Do Now?
Women and Hollywood: Earlier this week, Reese Witherspoon spoke at the Glamour Women of the Year event, and in her fantastic, passionate, feminist speech, she talked about why she started Pacific Standard, her production company. Witherspoon talked about how she would see scripts on a regular basis, and the common theme for the female characters was that they were always asking the men in times of need, "What do we do now?" That is her most hated line, she said, because it suggests that women don't have agency in their own lives. That they constantly need to be saved by men. That they can't save themselves or others.
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Having read an article earlier this week about what Whitherspoon has done for the women of Hollywood, I was already curious to hear more on the subject. I found the point that Reese makes about how women are always asking the men "what to do next" really interesting. It is one of those things that I had never really thought of before but now that I have, it seems more wrong than i'd ever known. I like how the article pointed out that the problem has always been there but no one had really done anything about it until Reese was bold enough to start her own company to fix the problem. I am glad that the article brings up the fact that many related companies are now coming together to help keep the conversation going, but the author also mentions that she is afraid the conversation will soon stop and that their momentum will cease. Even though this is true, The article mentions that their is hope in all of the attention that big names in Hollywood has already gotten the cause and even though the sexism is more deep than any of us really realize, they will do their best to make change happen.
The most purely amazing part of what Reese Witherspoon has done with her Production Company is that none of it was done in any way by or for the benefit of men. This may seem obvious, but as the article states, Witherspoon had absolutely no investors. This means that not only did she not take advantage of the typical male Hollywood exec looking to get in good with his wife by showing that he too "thinks of the ladies" - she also didn't even take the investment of wealthier women in Hollywood. She, as a singular woman, financially backed two major feature films. And these films were made not to prove to men that women are strong, but to allow already strong women the opportunity to exercise their talent and to illustrate their gender's resilience. Films by a woman for women - that is huge. More so, it is a testament to what feminism should be. Feminists are not man haters, or female supremacists. We do not live to tear men down. Feminists seek to build all genders up, to undo the negativity and shame behind femininity, and to make representation representative. Reese Witherspoon is living proof of what can come of women who look up to themselves. Snaps for Elle, indeed.
I know who my #wcw will be this week ( woman-crush Wednesday, for those not in the know) will be! Every week I try to write a comment on the state of racial and gender parity in Hollywod and on Broadway. Usually, I find myself ranting at "the system" by which both of those performance worlds seem to operate under, a system by which blatant racial insensitivity and gender inequality are the norm that productions silently conform to. Reading this article, about a powerful (and empowered) female putting her money where she wants, how she wants, and on what she wants, was truly refreshing. Kudos to Reese Witherspoon for taking up the charge for woman-led production companies, and kicking major Hollywood ass wherever she goes, in true feminist style. I look forward to seeing if this ballsy move created offshoots around the U.S,if other such women will decide to do the same thing, and take charge of how and what kinds of productions (and those productions' portrayal of women) are produced and presented. I hope this is just the beginning of something wonderful and status-quo-altering.
Like the author, I often worry when I see these types of stories in the mainstream media because there is always the potential that the story may fade into the background once it saturates the media market. However, the number of famous and powerful women speaking publicly about their feelings on the issue gives me hope that real, lasting change can be created from this movement. Getting people from marginalized groups opportunities to tell their own stories is an important discussion that's been occurring in many places about many different issues. It is important that we keep these discussions going and keep providing these opportunities in order to create a more diverse and accurate media environment for everyone. Reese Witherspoon's production company will hopefully be the first step of many to make this new type of mainstream media a reality, and I look forward to seeing how this unfolds in the next few years.
Like Witherspoon, I find myself pretty constantly frustrated with the lines women speak in many movies. Usually watching movies like this with my boyfriend go as follows:
*woman says incredibly lame, totally dependent-on-the-man line*
Me: "Oh, well of course, she can't just take care of herself or anything. She has a vagina. That would be absolutely fucking ridiculous if she could just make her own decisions."
Him: Haha, yeah.
Me: "I mean seriously, what are these people thinking when they read these lines for the first time, etc.,etc."
Him: "Kat I know but can we watch the movie or do you want me to pause it?"
Me: Yeah yeah of course sorry let's just continue enjoying the public's deteriorating respect for women as valuable characters.
Him: Great...
So while you may find me incredibly annoying to watch movies with in this kind of situation, I would have to argue that I am more annoyed with the movie than you are with me. It is so frustrating to see these kinds of characters (written, usually, by men) skipping alongside the man who is doing the real exciting stuff. I have been a babysitter and nanny for years, and find myself disgusted by some of the things little girls are taught through the TV shows marketed to them. One day, the five-year-old girl I used to nanny, Katie, wanted to watch Barbie's Dreamhouse. This is her favorite show, so I obliged. The whole episode is about how Barbie gets trapped in her Dreamhouse by the mean girl in the show, and waits to be saved by Ken, her airhead boyfriend. She is, in the script, a much smarter character than he is. She usually makes good sense of situations and speaks intelligently, while Ken is portrayed as a bit of a self-obsessed dude with little brain activity. And yet, she does not budge when she gets locked in the house. She waits for Ken. All she says, over and over, is "Ken will save us!" And he does, in his bumbling way. And when the house self-destructs after they exit, Barbie says, "It's okay, Ken will build me a new one!" The whole time, Katie is giggling and eating her mac and cheese, no doubt completely buying into the idea that this is how things are supposed to happen. I probably said something to her like, "You know she doesn't *need* Ken to do things on her own, right?" but it's hard to compete with the girl's favorite show. And that's what disappoints me so much in today's movies as well. They may not be targeted to girls as young as Katie, but there are young women everywhere seeing movies in which they are just terribly represented, and when a girl sees these things, she learns to understand that she must always ask the man "So what do we do now?" and that is what makes me so upset with the current state of Hollywood's female characters.
I certainly applaud Witherspoon for her incredible work. It takes a very brave person to use her own money to invest in something she believes in, especially when it comes to Hollywood.
Hooray for a positive article about gender equality! I've watched Reese's speech and it is really moving, I would encourage everyone to do so. Unlike the first article I commented on this week, this article presents a solution to the gender inequality in hollywood. If we think that the reason more women aren't being chosen to direct or write because the big companies are full of men, who don't their ideas, then lets create a company where that doesn't happen. Boom, simple. While I understand the logistics of what I just said really aren't that simple, it's the movement of ideas that is what counts. Instead of harping on the negative of unequal rights in the arts (and there are a lot of them) Witherspoon makes a change. She fixes it, or at least starts to. And at the risk of sounding cliche she doesn't ask "what do we do next?" she just does, because she knows the answer and she doesn't need anyone to help her figure it out. I commend Witherspoon for her bravery and and for her confidence in the rest of the world. Not only does it take a lot of guts to be a forward thinker (the fact that we even have to call this forward thinking is upsetting), it takes more to believe that the rest of the world will follow you. I certainly am, and I am so excited to see what the future of her company looks like.
Like Kat, I have also had many experiences recently with children's media that is at best, un-feminist, and at worst, blatantly misogynist. What's interesting to me is how much we rag on Disney for their Princess lines as being misogynist, when I've found far more empowered female characters in princess films (Anna from Frozen, Mulan, Tiana from Princess and the Frog, even Pocahontas) than I have in Pixar, which hitherto seems to have been left completely out of the misogynist children's media conversation because it's cool, or novel, or whatever. The only two empowered female characters I can really think of in any Pixar movie are Merida from Brave (which is only three or four years old) and Eve from Wall E (SHE'S A FREAKING ROBOT). Cars is patently disgusting with its stupid groupie girls, the two female characters in Finding Nemo can be described as airheads, and Toy Story is a total sausage fest too. I love Pixar movies, but really, why is it so ok for Pixar to be reinforcing stereotypes that the rest of Disney has been totally chastised for for over a decade now?
Every time I watch these movies with my friend's kids, we get halfway through the movie and my friend inevitably tells me "yes. I understand it sucks. I agree with your points. But can you just relax and watch the movie?" I don't really think I should be the one feeling uptight about entertainment that reinforces really disgusting, untrue stereotypes.
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