That’s it Hollywood, you need a time out.
At a time when the film industry is being called out for a lack of diversity and just a general aversion to treating anyone who’s not a privileged white male with even a modicum of respect (I feel like there’s an ointment for that? There should be) the incredibly sexist way in which woman are depicted in movie scripts has been brought to light.
And we’re not just talking the cookie cutter action scripts where the female lead is only required to stare longingly after Shia LaBeouf (read -every Michael Bay movie ever created). We’re talking scripts where woman are depicted in an array of careers, ages and categories that, while seemingly different on the surface, all have one thing in common- nearly every single one of them is described as ‘stunning’.
This delightful fact was brought to light on Twitter (where else?) by filmmaker Ross Putman when he started an account that shares the first descriptions of female characters in film scripts.
Spoiler alert: they’re usually pretty sexist.
The hero account in question is called @FemScriptIntros, and during its brief life on this earth has already managed to amass 25.1K followers.
The character name in every description has been changed to “Jane” to protect the sexist-writers in question, but still, you get the gist.
Watch Nigella Lawson tell Mia Freedman why women shouldn’t worry about being ‘sexy’. Post continues after video.
So, what did we learn from this account? It’s that women can be broken, tired, mysterious and even complex-as long as they’re also attractive.
Take a bow Hollywood… then perhaps take a long hard look in the mirror and re-evaluate your life choices.
“The more that I read, the more I started to recognize some pretty awful constants,”Ross Putman told Jezebel.
“Women are first and foremost described as “beautiful,” “attractive,” or—my personal blow-my-brains-out-favorite, “stunning.” They’re always “stunning” in a certain dress or “stunning” despite being covered in dirt because they’re a paleontologist—or whatever.
“I went back and combed through past scripts too, and the patterns were pretty disconcerting. I plan on posting every one that I read, and there are plenty that aren’t offensive, but honestly, most of them have some element—subtle or overt—that plays into latent objectification.”
Just in case you weren’t quite depressed enough to start banging your head against your keyboard until you have the entire alphabet etched into your skin, here’s an extra fun fact.
According to a new study, women accounted for just one third of all speaking characters in films in 2015, a three percent increase from the previous year.
This year’s “It’s a Man’s (Celluloid) World” examined 2,500 female characters in the top 100 domestic grossing films, and the study revealed only 34 percent of major characters were female, representing a modest increase from 2014.
Like I said, Hollywood, maybe you need to take a moment and sort this situation out.
Top Comments
That's some disparity there. You'd think creatives would actually be more creative. If writers are going to be that slack, theyre eventually going to lose work to people with better character creation skills.
It's not being slack, it's a necessary way of introducing the character to the reader (which includes the casting director and the actor). They have a handful of words to get across how the character first appears. When you're auditioning for things, this is exactly how the character briefs read.
My bigger concern as an actress was how many roles I had to turn down because they included nudity (partial or otherwise). For many actress, you have to weigh up going nude, or letting someone else have the role. That is SO unfair - you can't just be a good actress and right for the role, we have to be allowed to ogle your naked tits too. Male actors do not have to worry about that shit.
That's part of what I was referring to in saying they're slack. To me, it looks like laziness that writers resort to the clichés. Nude scenes for the women, the lead named Jack, a sex scene in the first 15 minutes, the female characters lacking substance. At least we're not shown tripping over so often these days or screaming at mice, I suppose. For men, there must be a heap also, such as the male lead being alpha and single, rewarded/cured by getting the woman at the end.
I'm with you, as an actress, when there are so many stories, there should be more scope for you to flex; to play different characters who actually are significantly different from each other. Without having to nude-up in every second role.
Btw, I wish you all the best with your acting. And I hope you find many opportunities and have great experiences along the way.