Recently, there have been news about women in Hollywood – actresses and directors alike. While there has been more of a focus on how much an actress is paid compared to a actor, the article At Doc NYC, Women’s (Film) Work written by Mike Hale, focuses on women directors.
Doc NYC is “the largest festival of documentary films in the country” and this year it so happens that the opening and closing night and centerpiece documentaries were all directed or co-directed by women. Women only make up 18% of first-time television directors, almost 10% of studio films directors, and just below 5% of box-office hits directors. For independent films and documentaries, the percentage is higher however. At this year’s Doc NYC, the percentage is 37.5 percent of women directors which is a huge improvement.
Some of the documentaries that will be shown this year are about the lives of powerful and influential women such as: Janis Joplin, Mary Louise Wilson, Elizabeth Streb, and more.
In this article, the director of the Janis Joplin documentary, Amy Berg, brings up a very interesting point. She says, “I think women look at women so differently than men look at women, obviously, I feel like for this personal and intimate a story, it helped that I was a female”. Another female director said she may feel more empathy and understand the female actress more, but a male director can direct a documentary or movie about a female protagonist just as well. For example, “Amy”, the film about Amy Winehouse is well directed by a man. Another director said that a woman director “brings more compassion to their filmmaking than a male director does”. These conflicting views makes me think of some questions. Since most directors are male, and they can’t connect well to female characters, is that why many of the female characters we see today on screen are highly sexualized and one-dimensional? Also, would having more female directors mean more films and movies portraying women as strong leaders and change Hollywood’s portrayal of women? I don’t have a definite answer.
I definitely agree that a woman director would understand an actress more and connect better, but that’s not to say that a male director cannot do an equally good job at directing a film with a strong female protagonist. There just has to be an increasing trend of male directors choosing to add more female characters into their films and portray them in a different light. Although there are conflicting views about the ability a woman director and a male director has when directing films about strong female characters, the article does assert one claim that there should be more women directors.
By choosing to direct and film female subjects who are strong and have dimension, this can influence the way Hollywood portrays women in movies. Many movies we see today mainly consist of male characters, and if there is a female character, she is sometimes highly sexualized.
By making independent films and documentaries about these strong female characters, hopefully it will make its way to the rest of Hollywood.
By the way, Doc NYC is from November 12-19 in Manhattan theaters
I think you bring up a very interesting point when you ask “since most directors are male, and they can’t connect well to female characters, is that why many of the female characters we see today on screen are highly sexualized and one-dimensional?” I have never thought about the effect of a director’s gender on a movie, especially his/her effect on the female characters. I feel that if there were more female directors, considering that currently they don’t even make up a quarter of directors, there would be a bigger variety of female characters in movies. However, I feel that a movie does not necessarily need a female director in order to create a strong female lead. Just because a woman is directing the movie, does not mean that it will be better because she can “connect” due to the same gender.
I think you bring up a very interesting point when you ask “since most directors are male, and they can’t connect well to female characters, is that why many of the female characters we see today on screen are highly sexualized and one-dimensional?” I have never thought about the effect of a director’s gender on a movie, especially his/her effect on the female characters. I feel that if there were more female directors, considering that currently they don’t even make up a quarter of directors, there would be a bigger variety of female characters in movies. However, I feel that a movie does not necessarily need a female director in order to create a strong female lead. Just because a woman is directing the movie, does not mean that it will be better because she can “connect” due to the same gender.
I love this post. It truly brings to light how sexualized women are in today’s society. They are almost dehumanized in the music and movie industry. They are shown as nothing more than objects that are used to please people. In terms of our advancement as a society, we really haven’t done much for females in Hollywood. It makes no sense that a lead female role can get a lower salary than one of her coworkers who only show up in a movie a couple of times. This really needs to change, and it can start with having gender equality in the directing business.
I remember it was a big story that Jennifer Lawrence and Amy Adams were paid less than their male costars in 2013’s “American Hustle.” Which is ridiculous because both are talented to the point that both actresses were nominated for Oscars. But, with that said I’m not sure if gender is a 100% necessary component for connecting with an actor. For instance, Angelina Jolie did a fantastic job of directing 2014’s “Unbroken,” which was mainly a male cast. We do however need more female directors like Angelina Jolie who can help bring a new direction to cinema.
This was a very interesting topic because the news usually talks about how women are paid less in ordinary jobs. It is super interesting that women that work in the film industry are treated the very same way. Female actors don’t really get that many different roles in shows or movies, they usually stick to very simplistic characters with very little depth. I don’t think that a gender really matters in the directing; I believe that it depends on how each director was brought up and their own point of view, which varies from person to person (disregarding gender). However, female actors should be able to broaden their roles in the film/show industry to more prominent roles.
This post was really fascinating. On one hand, Hollywood is supposedly a forward thinking and progressive institution. The best thing would be for Hollywood to implement gender-neutral hiring. As some others have said, I do not think that the gender of a director necessarily translates into a certain type of story. That being said, there is clear gender discrimination within the industry. The statistics of female directors in comparison to male directors are abysmal. Hopefully the independent films, which have higher percentages of female directors, will cross gender barriers that will translate into mainstream movies.
I think that the numbers speak for themselves and they are saying that there is a great disparity between Male and Females in TV & Film. Women need to be given a greater role in the directing of motion pictures. But when I think of how this can be done I am a little confused. Should we enact Government Regulations? I don’t think that it will help because forcing change nearly never works and because Film is an art it can not really be forced by regulations. Should we just let the industry run its course and hope more women become directors? I think that the present system shows us that the male dominated industry, if left alone will leave little to no room for women. So I don’t really understand how to tackle this problem?
I agree with you that we do need to see more female directors out there. The recent news about the wage gaps shows that there is an awareness to the problem. Hopefully, whether woman or man, actors or actresses, if the work is done right and splendidly no matter the difference they should be paid what they deserve. Gender should not be a factor in determining pay. As you bring up, I do not believe that a man is any less efficient in portraying a women in documentaries or movies. The problem does not lie in the ability to portray because everyone has their own perspective. However, I believe that the bigger problem would be that there should be an increase in women directors and their point of views.
I never really considered that the gender of a film director could possibly have an effect on the way they portray the characters in their films. The way men, and therefore male directors, perceive women (highly sexualized, etc) could definitely be a reason why women today are portrayed as such in movies. That being said, I don’t think that it is THE reason why some female characters are portrayed that way. I’m sure there are movies where female directors chose to portray their female characters as highly sexualized characters as well. It is important to remember that movies, though they may be based on an element of truth, are often times exaggerated and the realities a bit distorted. This is because film making is also a business, and in order to make money, directors and producers must be able to entertain and intrigue their audiences. So maybe, highly sexualized female characters may help them achieve that level of interest among audience members. That could be something to think about, as well!
This article really made me think and I enjoyed that. Very nice work, Sabrina! However, I’m not sure gender creates such a large gap in movie directing. Reinforced gender stereotypes come from females as well. How many times have women criticized each other for not conforming to gender norms? Tomboys are ok when you’re little, but by college you should know how to be a lady, that includes wearing makeup and walking in heels. And although a female director may better identify with a female lead, how well does that translate to the story? S.E. Hinton wrote That Was Then, This Is Now and Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein – both from male perspectives yet easy to connect with. Can’t it work the other way? Are male directors just not trying hard enough to develop female characters? It’s lazy and narrow-minded to neglect female characters when you can only profit from making them dynamic. It shouldn’t matter what gender a director is as long as he/she can direct well. The only issue I find is if female directors are being rejected in favor of male directors. And what does it mean to “bring compassion into filmmaking”? I can’t imagine it but perhaps an explanation may help me understand how this is a feminine advantage. Thanks for an insightful article!