Category Archives: Movies

Globe for Woody Allen confirms women’s experiences don’t matter in Hollywood

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After Woody Allen received the Cecil B. DeMille award, the debate in mainstream media went like this: Can you honor a man’s art when you don’t like the man?

What the fuck? Giving Woody Allen a lifetime achievement award, having Diane Keaton accept it for him in a speech where she talks about how great he’s been for women is like being in an insane hall of mirrors. Her inane song. “Make new friends but keep the old,” implying we should be loyal to Allen literally makes me sick. This is exactly what abuse survivors go though. Kids (and this includes adult survivors) are told: Your experience isn’t real, never happened, and doesn’t matter. The award/ ceremony goes way beyond the man vs his art, confirming that in Hollywood, women’s experiences just don’t matter. Women’s stories are not worth telling. In fact, they didn’t happen. Women’s lives are invisible.

How does Hollywood promote that lie, make it seem real, confirm that women’s narratives don’t exist? Women, who are half of the population, except for a rare exception, get to be on the sidelines in the film industry, shoved to the margins, in sexualized and supporting roles, if they get to exist at all.

The Celluloid report just released these stats (from Women and Hollywood)

  • Women accounted for 16% of all directors, executive producers, producers, writers, cinematographers, and editors. This represents a decrease of two percentage points since 2012 and a decrease of one percentage point from 1998.
  • Women comprised 6% of all directors working on the top 250 films of 2013. This represents a decrease of 3 percentage points from 2012 and 1998.
  • Women accounted for 10% of writers working on the top 250 films of 2013. This represents a decrease of 5 percentage points from 2012 and a decrease of 3 percentage points from 1998.
  • Women comprised 15% of all executive producers working on the top 250 films of 2013. This represents a decrease of 2 percentage points from 2012 and three percentage points from 1998.
  • Women accounted for 25% of all producers working on the top 250 films of 2013. This figure is even with 2012 and represents an increase of 1 percentage point from 1998.
  • Women comprised 17% of all editors working on the top 250 films of 2013. This represents a decrease of 3 percentage points from 2012 and 1998.
  • Women accounted for 3% of all cinematographers working on the top 250 films of 2013. This represents an increase of one percentage point from 2012 and a decrease of one percentage point from 1998.
  • Women comprised 2% of all composers working on the top 250 films of 2013.
  • Women accounted for 23% of all production designers working on the top 250 films of 2013. This represents an increase of 3 percentage points from 2008.
  • Women comprised 4% of all sound designers working on the top 250 films of 2013. This represents a decrease of 1 percentage point from 2008.
  • Women accounted for 9% of all supervising sound editors working on the top 250 films of 2013. This represents an increase of 4 percentage points from 2008.
  • Women comprised 2% of all special effects supervisors working on the top 250 films of 2013.
  • Women accounted for 5% of all visual effects supervisors working on the top 250 films of 2013.

Director Lexi Alexander writes about sexism in the film industry. Before her post, Women and Hollywood founder Melissa Silverstein writes:

Editor’s Note: The post below is very important. This is a woman director standing up for herself and other women directors. She does this at great peril, but it is so important that women directors stand up and share their experiences because the more women that stand up the less chance there is for one women to be held responsible for speaking truth to power.

 

Alexander writes:

There is no lack of female directors. Repeat after me: THERE IS NO LACK OF FEMALE DIRECTORS. But there is a huge lack of people willing to give female directors opportunities. I swear, if anyone near me even so much as whispers the sentence “Women probably don’t want to direct,” my fist will fly as a reflex action…Women in Hollywood have no male allies. There are some who pretend to be on our side, but yeah, not really. They may say the right thing because, after all, they’re liberals and that’s a public image they’d like to keep up. Others may actually believe in gender equality, but are not willing to put up a fight for it that could sacrifice their own status or relationships.

 

Whether you are a female director who has experienced sexism or a survivor of abuse, a woman writer or artist or filmmaker, in spite of what the world tells you, your experiences matter. Keep telling your story. Tell it publicly. The world needs to hear women’s voices.

Here are some of the best posts on Woody Allen:

Why We Shouldn’t Stop Talking About the Fact That Woody Allen is Probably a Child Molester

Mia and Ronan Farrow say what we were all thinking about Woody Allen

What You Should Know About the Abuse Allegations Against Woody Allen

Was the Golden Globes Wrong to Give a Lifetime Achievement Award to Woody Allen?

Diane Keaton’s Golden Globes speech spotlights Allen’s complicated history with women

Best Tweet of the night from Ronan Farrow

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Missed the Woody Allen tribute – did they put the part where a woman publicly confirmed he molested her at age 7 before or after Annie Hall?

I’m disgusted Woody Allen was honored at the Golden Globes tonight. I’m happy that Mia Farrow’s son/ Dylan’s brother spoke out in protest.

I wish the world cared more about the sexual abuse of children.

If you haven’t seen the recent Vanity Fair piece where the grown up Dylan Farrow speaks about Allen’s abuse, you can read it here and more about it here.

After that article came out, all most people talked about was the great revelation that Ronan might actually be Frank Sinatra’s son.

Here are my Tweets and ReTweets tonight about Woody Allen:

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Sickened by Woody Allen tribute. Wish Dylan Farrow got to speak about how he molested her in the attic.

Cate Blanchett wins best actres for a Woody Allen movie. Love her, not him.

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Like the industries of music & sports Hollywood has amnesia when it comes to crimes against women & children.

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Woody Allen also molested his daughter. So…please keep telling me about his genius.

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After Woody Allen trib, more awards for misogyny Leo Dicaprio wins for ‘Wolf of Wall Street,” where women could be replaced by blow up dolls

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you mean a child molester getting an award and acclaim, AND recognized for the great parts he gives to women? Puke.

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Woody Allen is many things to many ppl, like a child molester…

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of course Woody Allen being honored for all of his women characters…

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Gag. Happy that ‘tribute’ is over.

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“Woody’s women can’t be compartmentalized”???? Bullshit. how about “misogyny”

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Love Diane Keaton’s silver hair. “Unforgettable female characters”??? WTF?

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Wonder how Mia Farrow feels about being shown in a Woody Allen tribute after he was sexual w 2 of her daughters

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Can we hear some of Dylan Farrow’s talk about how Woody Allen sexually abused her in the attic, recently retold to Vanity Fair

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It makes me Ill, him and Roman Polanski celebrated and celebrated and celebrated

 

Reel Girl’s Movie Picks: ‘The Last Mimzy’

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You all recommended ‘The Last Mimzy’ to me, and I admit, as I started to watch it, I was nervous.

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Though the movie opens with a female teacher narrator, it shifts right away to a young boy. For the first 20 minutes of the movie, or so, I was worried he would be the protagonist. He has a younger sister, and I did notice right away something truly rare: he treated his sister respectfully. You almost never see siblings get along and work together in a film. This is wonderful watch.

The sister, Emma, discovers a strange object in the water off of Whidbey, one of the San Juan Islands. It turns out the find is a message from the future. It’s up to Emma to decode the message and save the world. She does all this, though its not clear until about halfway through the movie that Emma is the “chosen one.” When a costar reads her brother’s palm, to see if he is the special child, my seven year old daughter rolled her eyes and said, “I knew it.” But our worries were unwarranted. Turns out, Emma is the gifted one, and it is up to her to save the world. An extra plus: the movie title comes from a poem from Alice in Wonderland, a story that is referenced throughout the movie. I’m adding “Last Mimzy” to my recommendations for younger kids, but everyone will love this movie.

Reel Girl rates “The Last Mimzy” ***HHH***

Reel Girl’s Movie Picks: ‘Fly Away Home’

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Finally, my kids got to see a movie with a girl pilot. “Fly Away Home” is not a new movie, it’s just the first one they’ve ever seen with a girl pilot on her own flying machine.

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I grew up with this famous image of “E.T” imprinted in my brain.

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“E.T.” is great movie, but once again, no flying girls. I am thrilled, at the age of 45, to have finally found an alternative for my daughters. Of course, I wish it was more obvious from the poster that a 13 year old girl is the pilot, but at least, my kids and I know the story behind the image on the movie poster.

Amy, played by Anna Paquin, is 13 yr old whose mother was killed in a car accident (while talking on her cell phone!) Amy goes to live with her artist/ inventor father and his girlfriend. Alienated and alone, while wandering the grounds, Amy discovers wild geese eggs. The goose mother was killed by developers who are bulldozing the land. Amy makes the eggs a nest in a drawer, the eggs hatch, and the chicks, thinking Amy is their mother and follow her everywhere. In order teach the geese how to migrate, Amy pilots her father’s flying machine, and leads them south. She ends up not only saving the geese but the wilderness as well. “Fly Away Home” is an excellent film, and I am adding it to my list for young kids, though kids of all ages will love it.

Reel Girl rates ‘Fly Away Home’ ***HHH***

Reel Girl’s movie picks: “Labyrinth”

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How could I forget, we also saw “Labyrinth.” I probably should have put all these in one post, sorry about that. Labyrinth is excellent. The movie is a classic quest myth starring a smart, brave girl played by Jennifer Connelly. She saves her baby brother. (Take that, “Frozen”!) My complaint is that, besides Connelly’s Sarah, all the characters are male. The puppets are done by Jim Henson and they are wonderful and creative and all male. Actually, that’s not true. There are a couple female Fairies who have no speaking lines. There is one cool, scary female puppet who gets to talk. But all Sarah’s companions are male creatures. David Bowie plays the goblin king and he’s great. Even better, he doesn’t take over the movie, the way someone like Jim Carey or Adam Sandler always does. Check out the poster though– Bowie looks like the star and Sarah looks like a princess. In fact, she is the star and is dressed like that for less than 5 minutes of the film. Most of the time, she’s in jeans.  ARGH.

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I am seeing these movies because we’re on vacation but also I’m working on Reel Girl’s list for kids 10 and up. “Labyrinth”  is fine for younger kids, and I’m going to add it to that list. Anyone of any age should enjoy it. Out of these 4 movies I’ve just reviewed, all 3 of my kids say “Labyrinth” is their favorite.

Reel Girl rates “Labyrinth” ***HHH***

Reel Girl’s movie picks: ‘Hanna’

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I am so into “Hanna.” This movie has everything I look for.

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(1) Powerful girl protagonist Hanna, played by Saorise Ronan, is a 16 year old girl who lives with her father, a former spy, out in the wilderness. He has trained her to be a killer in order to protect herself as powerful people would assassinate her on sight.

(2) Evil female villain The bad guy in this movie, another killer, is a girl, played marvelously by Cate Blanchett.

(3) Great acting I already told you the movie stars Ronan and Blanchett. Need I say more? OK, the dad is Eric Bana.

(4) Great story Usually, on Reel Girl, I don’t mind spoiling stories. I analyze them so I can’t help it. But, I’m not going to tell you this one because so few people have seen the movie. I’ll just say that I love how the narrative is interwoven with Grimm’s Fairy Tales. The symbolism and the filming is beautiful.

(5) Female friendship Hanna makes a friend and their relationship is complex and real.

This movie is violent. More violent than “Hunger Games.” Like “Hunger Games” the camera doesn’t linger over the gore. I let my 10 year old watch it and it’s on my list of recs for 10 and up, but as I’ve written a lot here, I want my daughter to see females with power and agency. If your kid gets scared in movies, this is not the film for her.

Reel Girl rates “Hanna” ***HHH***

Reel Girl’s movie picks: “Clueless” ***HH***

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“Clueless” is my favorite of the Jane Austen movies. Alicia Silverstone plays a contemporary Emma, muddling in everyone’s private lives until she finally has her own epiphany and finds true love.

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I could be wrong here, but I think “Clueless” is the only movie I have ever seen where popular girls are not mean. There is no “mean girl” contingent at all. Maybe, for that reason alone,you should show it to your kids.

There is racial diversity in the typical, sidekick way that I just blogged about in “Freaky Friday:” the best friend of the protagonist is African American.

However, this movie does a great job dealing with class. While both Cher, the protag, and Dionne, her BFF, are rich, the one from the other side of the tracks is a white girl named Tai. Usually, I hate movie makeovers, but when Cher and Dionee make Tai their “project,” the transformation happens with commentary that is insightful and powerful. If you’ve read Emma, Cher is very similar to her literary role– you see that she’s superficial, but she’s also likeable. You hope she will have the courage and insight to live up to her potential and she does.

I am deducting one H for the sexy outfits, though the clothing really didn’t bother me so much in this film. I’m trying to figure out why. Is it because there was no cleavage, it was mostly a leg thing? I don’t know. If you’ve see this movie,  tell me your thoughts.

Reel Girl rates “Clueless” ***HH***

Reel Girl’s movie picks: “Freaky Friday” ***HH***

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Looking for a movie starring a strong female protagonist to watch with the whole family? Last night, all of us– 3 kids ages 4, 7, 10, husband and me– watched “Freaky Friday.”

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We all loved it. I remember reading this book as a kid, also loving it, and seeing the movie with Jodie Foster. I’d like to check out the older movie too, but we opted for the more recent version starring Lindsay Lohan and Jamie Lee Curtis.

The story, you probably know, is about a controlling mom and rebellious daughter, constantly in conflict, who wake up one day to find they are in each other’s bodies.

Whatever you say about Lindsay Lohan, she’s a talented actress.  She is great in this part. I don’t remember this from the book or last movie, but in this version, she plays a musician. I appreciated my three daughters getting to see a girl perform on stage without being sexualized. Her character, Anna, rocks out. She’s not even the singer, but the guitarist. Very cool.

Anna is pursued by a hot guy, but when she switches bodies with her mother and thus, her personality changes, the guy loses all interest in Anna. Clearly, he is after her mind.

The mom is ambitious and cool. She also has a hot man in love with her. These females do not have to choose between being attractive and being smart. How often do we see that in a movie?

I am deducting an H for racial stereotyping of Asian women. The “mystical” stuff takes place in a Chinese restaurant, and these scenes made me uncomfortable. There is diversity in the cast, in the typical sidekick way. Anna, the protag, has a best friend, Maddie, who is African-American.

Reel Girl rates “Freaky Friday” (2003) ***HH***

‘It’s been said that you’re too skinny for the part. Wonder Woman is large-breasted, is that going to change?’

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I am so mad right now, I am shaking. Gal Gadot, the actress playing Wonder Women in the Batman vs Superman film (did you get that part about how the film is referred to as Batman vs Superman?) was asked by an interviewer if her small breast size qualified her to play the part.

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From The Mary Sue:

Gadot was interviewed by Good Evening with Gai Pines, an entertainment show in her homeland Israel…

 

It’s been said that you’re too skinny for the part. Wonder Woman is large-breasted, is that going to change?

Thank you, media for directing the public to focus on Gadot’s breast size. We all need to pay a little more attention to critiquing female anatomy. Also, since Wonder Woman in a movie probably means Wonder Woman in more merchandise, we really need to make sure we get the character’s breast size right for kids’ toys and games.

I can’t even count how many blogs I’ve written about sexualized female superheroes. Wonder Woman finally appears in a movie, not even her own damn movie, but the 8th Superman and the 9th Batman one, and she gets asked about her breast size? Wow. We live in backwards, fucked up, sexist times. In case you think this interview an anomaly, it’s far the first time the media has judged Gadot’s body as inappropriate.

And what does this interviewer even mean: “Is that going to change?” Is he asking Gadot if she is going to get breast augmentation? Or is he asking her if the character will no longer be identified with that particular breast size?

Here’s Gadot’s excellent response. She can add me to her fan list.

Hmm. I represent the Wonder Woman of the new world. Breasts… anyone can buy for 9,000 shekels and everything is fine. By the way, Wonder Woman is amazonian, and historically accurate amazonian women actually had only one breast. So, if I’d really go “by the book”…it’d be problematic.

Where are the Christmas movies with female protagonists?

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My seven year old daughter was home sick last week, and we watched “Polar Express.” I’d just complained to a parent about how my 10 yr old no longer believes in Santa Claus, and she recommended this film. Wrong daughter, but I was curious, because this mom was so excited about the movie. So we watched and the animation was gorgeous, but there was only one female character. All the dancing waiters, the guys on the top of the train, the kid that missed the train, Tom Hanks, and the protagonist– all male. And no matter how good the movie is, I get bored when it’s all boys.

I was already thinking about the Christmas special dilemma, because I just wrote about my first blog on Reel Girl which was all about Christmas. That was 4 years ago, my first holiday season where I had three daughters, and we all watched “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer” together. I was so excited, I made a fire and hot chocolate. We all got under the blankets. It was fun, but there are NO girl reindeers who fly. There’s an important scene in the movie where the boy reindeers compete and  learn how to fly (“playing reindeer games”) Clarisse, the girl, doesn’t aspire to fly; she gets the role of cheerleader; she supports Rudolph. Herbie, the dentist, is also male. There are no girl elves with speaking parts. The movie is really, really sexist. It may be ruined for me because I hate having my kids watch females with no voices who can’t fly. But, I think I can keep showing it to them, if I can balance it out with some other movies with strong female protagonists. I haven’t done my research yet. I’m going to you, right away, to make a list.

We start out with a challenge: Santa mythology is rooted in a traditional marriage– Santa is the guy with the big job and his wife is known to all by the moniker: Mrs. Claus. Also, the reindeer are all known to be male, with Rudolph as the star. But I’m hoping this radical imbalance has been overcome in some good films or TV shows. Please let me know your suggestions, and I’ll put together a list.

Working List (I’ll add as you send me names)

Prancer

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Miracle on 34th Street (1994)

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Olive the Other Reindeer

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 Eloise at Chrismastime

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 It Happened One Christmas

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Molly

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Yes, Virginia, There is a Santa Claus

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Pippi Goes on Board

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 A House Without a Christmas Tree

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 Christmas Angel

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