At the 90th annual Oscars, many people were shocked when the film Lady Bird didn’t receive any awards. One of the nominations received was for Best Director, with Greta Gerwig only being the 5th woman ever nominated. For an award show that’s been around for 90 years, one would think this is surprising. However, the representation of female directors in Hollywood is known to be scarce but rarely touched upon. After all, without a director, there is no movie. Coming of age stories like Lady Bird are usually not Oscar nominated, but are generally well liked by moviegoers. A question that can be posed from this idea is: where did the idea of sticking to certain genres come from? A reason female directors stick to certain genres is because of how
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One of the most obvious example is that they are almost always compared to their male counterparts. Kyle Buchanan of Vulture.com gives an example on Sofia Coppola, stating that, “After Sofia Coppola delivered one of the most promising film debuts in American movies with The Virgin Suicides, I can’t tell you how many people whispered to me that her then-husband Spike Jonze had really directed it.” (Buchanan) What I find interesting is that he didn’t reference that Sofia Coppola’s father is Francis Ford Coppola, acclaimed director of The Godfather. But even without that particular comparison, this just goes to show that women try to make names for themselves, they will usually be compared to men.
An easy way to see the underrepresentation of female directors is within the number of female directors. As Smith’s study made clear, there are many more male directors than female. Another interesting thing that came out of that study is that most female directors tend to direct only one or two films, yet men seem to direct way more. Eliana Dockterman of TIME makes a point that more if Hollywood hired more female directors, this could lead to more females in other behind the scenes roles. I think that major studios shy away from hiring female directors because they are concerned with …show more content…
Last year’s Wonder Woman ended up being one of the highest grossing films of the year. Ricardo Lopez of Variety.com believes that with the success of Wonder Woman, there is now a possibility for there to be more female directed movies. He writes, “Although summer looks to be a strong season for women directors, nearly halfway into the year just a handful of female-led films have been announced by the majors. At this juncture, Sony Pictures has more movies helmed by women in its lineup than its competitors.” Something that I think goes hand in hand with box office earnings is who produces these movies. Movies from major studios, such as Sony, are much more likely to do better at the box office than something
One of the most obvious example is that they are almost always compared to their male counterparts. Kyle Buchanan of Vulture.com gives an example on Sofia Coppola, stating that, “After Sofia Coppola delivered one of the most promising film debuts in American movies with The Virgin Suicides, I can’t tell you how many people whispered to me that her then-husband Spike Jonze had really directed it.” (Buchanan) What I find interesting is that he didn’t reference that Sofia Coppola’s father is Francis Ford Coppola, acclaimed director of The Godfather. But even without that particular comparison, this just goes to show that women try to make names for themselves, they will usually be compared to men.
An easy way to see the underrepresentation of female directors is within the number of female directors. As Smith’s study made clear, there are many more male directors than female. Another interesting thing that came out of that study is that most female directors tend to direct only one or two films, yet men seem to direct way more. Eliana Dockterman of TIME makes a point that more if Hollywood hired more female directors, this could lead to more females in other behind the scenes roles. I think that major studios shy away from hiring female directors because they are concerned with …show more content…
Last year’s Wonder Woman ended up being one of the highest grossing films of the year. Ricardo Lopez of Variety.com believes that with the success of Wonder Woman, there is now a possibility for there to be more female directed movies. He writes, “Although summer looks to be a strong season for women directors, nearly halfway into the year just a handful of female-led films have been announced by the majors. At this juncture, Sony Pictures has more movies helmed by women in its lineup than its competitors.” Something that I think goes hand in hand with box office earnings is who produces these movies. Movies from major studios, such as Sony, are much more likely to do better at the box office than something