Variety: With Hollywood’s growing appetite for diverse stories, women of color are beginning to make a bigger mark on the big and small screens.
Alice Wu wrote “The Half of It,” a coming-of-age drama about a lesbian Chinese-American teen, as a love letter to her own mother. Starring Chinese American Leah Lewis, it debuted on Netflix in May.
5 comments:
I think the work coming from female filmmakers is honestly incredible and seriously revolutionary. The two that stick out most in my mind are Greta Gerwig and Phoebe Waller Bridge. Ladybird and Little Woman brought in a new era of romantic filmmaking, and I believe Gerwig's films will be studied for decades. Phoebe Waller Bridge is probably my favorite writer working right now. Beginning with her one-woman show Fleabag, then transforming it into the television show and, in my opinion, elevating it with the second season. It's now one of my favorite shows, and so is her other creation Killing Eve, which is such a powerful piece of queer representation and also just amazing thriller. Folks are already applauding and trying to replicate the magic fourth-wall breaks of Fleabag and dirty humor, but no one has been able to do it quite like Phoebe Waller Bridge. I am so excited for these artists, and many more who have not broken into the industry yet, to improve the art form further.
I always like to read about women in theatre or in the industry in general, not just because I am a woman and it is vital for me to understand the way we are treated and make a conscious effort to break that pattern, but because it’s very interesting to read. It’s bittersweet in a way because I love hearing ways that equality is being achieved but it’s also disheartening to read how there has to be a whole agenda in order to make that dream a reality. Women have been working in the industry for a very long time, and the fact that there are still such pressing issues regarding hierarchy around male positions in the industry, makes me really scared to pursue the field that I plan to. I also feel like there is a lot of work to be done in general with equality across all fields, but in theatre especially.
I despise how articles about excluded groups pushing for inclusivity are always titled as though it is a new thing that people are pushing for inclusivity on and off screen. It is lazy, and the tone gives the organizations resisting these changes a pass on making change because it always sounds like a “new” thing. People have been making these demands for decades. It is absolutely unreasonable that they haven’t been met, and the titles of these articles need to start showing respect for the people who are still pushing for these changes and start calling out all of the organizations that are still failing to make changes. Women haven’t just begun pushing. Women have been pushing, and it is such a shame that they are not receiving the recognition they deserve because their work is thoughtful, provocative, entertaining, and just wonderful. They deserve every moment of recognition that men are getting for what they are doing as trailblazers in the industry, as well as what they are doing for the women who will come after them.
I just read an article on how the #metoo movement did not necessarily solve sexual harassment cases in the entertainment industry, so reading this article felt like another angle on how women are pushing for more inclusivity while also combatting the male-dominated field where they are often harassed and given sexual attention. I have watched both pieces, the movie and the T.V. show mentioned at the beginning of the article. I thought they were extremely beautiful and well-written pieces, but my main concern is that the audience mainly pertains to women. Though this is extremely empowering, I think a huge part of combatting inequality is that both parties must be trying to do so. It should not be women constantly fighting for a voice, but men also fighting for women and giving them the opportunity to have the light. This definitely stems from education. Like said in the #metoo article I read, people must be educated in this thoroughly as to not make the same mistakes as our past generations and to successfully move forward towards equality.
I found this article very inspiring. To hear from all of these women in the film industry to have a voice in the male dominated field and the inspiration for having more and more women in the field. I totally agree with Gina Balian when she was talking about how the change really has to come from the top. And I think a great way that this can happen is putting women in positions of power and hiring capacities. And although there have been a lot of small steps from various companies and procedures, they all add up and are part of the larger movement. I think Ryan Murphy and Regina King vowed that all of the media they produce will have 50% ratio of women and men. As shown by the statistics the representation on screen has been greatly improved but we need to work on what is behind the scenes. Hopefully also the fact that more women are on screen will inspire young artists to work behind the scenes and find encouragement.
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