This week Charlize Theron told Variety “I am ashamed I’m part of an industry that has never allowed a woman to work with a budget higher than what the budget has been on Wonder Woman“. The Oscar winning actress known for her tenacious roles in Monster and Mad Max: Fury Road, deplored the way the “cave man like” male dominated industry does not capitalise on the successes of female driven work.
Although Wonder Woman, directed by Patty Jenkins, made 582 million world-wide and continues to break box office records globally, the superhero remake still echoes an air of old fashioned sexism where Diana Prince (Gal Gadot) is continually objectified by men throughout the film. It seems her appearance and effect on men plays a bigger part in her fight scenes than actually showcasing her out of this world skills.
This is not the first time recently that women have felt let down by sexism in the film industry.
Last week Michelle Rodriguez, star of the Fast And Furious films, has hinted that she may be forced to leave the franchise if the way women are represented in TV and film does not improve. The actor known for her tough-chick roles in Hollywood blockbusters spoke out after the release of the latest Fast and Furious film, F8, was released and in her opinion once again does not do the female characters justice.
On the contrary, French actress Marion Cottilard recently denied the existence of sexism in Hollywood and the need for feminism in the industry. In an interview with Porter magazine Cottilard stated “Film-making is not about gender. You cannot ask a president in a festival like Cannes to have, like, five movies directed by women and five by men. For me it doesn’t create equality, it creates separation. I mean, I don’t qualify myself as a feminist. We need to fight for women’s rights but I don’t want to separate women from men. We’re separated already because we’re not made the same and it’s the difference that creates this energy in creation and love.”
In recent years the TV industry has come on leaps and bounds in the representation of women, with the recent appointment of Jodie Whittaker as the new first female Dr Who and series such as Phoebe Waller Bridges’ gritty “Fleabag”. Waller Bridges’ dark, comedy series addresses topics we rarely see explored on television; including the angry, sexually liberated and unapologetic woman. The show creator talks about wanting to create a character who “had a front and a confidence about sex that seemed completely impenetrable, and that was how she controlled her emotions and the way she was in the world. And then skewering it by saying, no one can be that confident about it, that relentlessly.” This rage revolution comes with no apologies and audiences were so enchanted that the original one-woman play returned to the Soho Theatre for a sell-out run, which is eagerly followed by a second TV series due to be aired next year.
There has also been a rise in female presenters with the likes of Emma Willis and Davina McCall dominating prime time television shows as people recognise the importance of having strong women on their screens at home. At Rogan Productions, we are constantly pushing for more gender balance within the industry. Currently, we are producing a documentary for BBC Two, behind which the driving force is a team consisting of a female producer, director and presenter.
Although women are gaining more substantial roles in film and TV, there needs to be a closer correspondence between characters and life. While the box office success of films such as Wonder Woman are a positive step forward, we must learn to sustain this trajectory of female focussed work.
