McDormand ended her speech with two words that ignited a Google search frenzy: inclusion rider. A contractual stipulation in which actors and actresses can demand that as much of 50% of the onscreen talent and off-screen crew will be comprised of women and people of color. So far, Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Paul Feig and others have publicly stated that their future projects will contractually impose inclusion riders.
4 comments:
I totally agree that womxn need more space to tell their stories. It is absolutely deplorable that it is so hard for womxn to get funding for large budget film because their stories are just as valid. However this article makes a really awful false equivocation that erases the oppression of black people in a really nasty and white feminist way. Ryan Coogler getting his film picked up by a major studio is just as important as a womxn getting their films produced. If you've ever heard Ryan Coogler speak, you would know that he is truly a kid from the hood. He had to work hard to get where he is as a black man too. I really want white womxn to stop dragging men of color into their hatred of white men. White men have so much privilege over black men and people writing these think pieces need to remember that.
I totally agree with everything Joss said, and to add on to that I also think that it is important to remember intersectionality as well. Not just promote white women, but also promote women of all races because those stories need to be told as well. I think that is one of the key things that we have seen in the past year, is more diverse stories told by more diverse filmmakers.one of the best ways to guarantee that is to diversify the people onscreen is to diversify the people writing and telling the stories. It’s not just about women, it’s also about changing the establishment to allow non white male filmmakers to have space in the industry. I think even though a lot of people are recognizing the problem, I also think it’s going to be difficult to change. But hopefully, with successes like Ladybird and Get Out, maybe that will give studios more confidence to finance more diverse projects.
It was humbling to read some of these statistics about how many films were actually directed by women. I think the part of Frances McDormand’s speech the article quoted was particularly important-- “Look around, ladies and gentleman, because we all have stories to tell and projects we need to have financed. Don’t talk to us about it at the parties tonight. Invite us into your office in a couple days — or you can come to ours, whichever suits you best — and we’ll tell you all about them.” There is a lot of talk, particularly in Hollywood and the entertainment industry as a whole, about fixing problems and initiatives that never actually get done. The path to change is through doing, not simply speaking about it. I agree with the article in that the world is in need of more female points of view. However this needs to come from the male producers that are actually in the positions of power to give female directors the opportunity to share their stories in the first place. Women have been demanding for their voices to be heard in the film industry for a while, and it’s about time we give these women that chance.
It is important for us to understand that representation on screen is often dictated by who is behind the scenes calling the shots. Even if women and people of color are on screen, how they are portrayed is still overwhelmingly controlled by Male directors and screenwriters who are writing the parts and dictating how the actors should perform on screen. For instance, female actors being exploited on screen for their appearance in movies is often a result of male directors behind the camera. Fixing this problem will have positive effects not just in Hollywood, but in society at large as filmgoers begin to see women in new lights, not solely as sex objects. In the same way, portraying people of color as criminals and terrorists on screen increases their representation on screen, but in a negative light. This will have positive effects that will ultimately make our society much more accepting, and inclusive for all.
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