Ethical and Legal

Gender Representation

Women and Directing

Gender Representation

• How are women represented on film?

• How are women treated by the film industry?

• What messages do we get from film about women?

• Are things getting better or worse?

Women in the Industry – Top Grossing Films of 2007

• 98% of the films featured at least one male director

• 96% featured at least one male writer

• 2.7% of the films had a female director

• 26% of the films had one or more female writers

Women in the Industry – Quiz!

• Name three women known for directing films

Ida Lupino

Dorothy Arzner

Kathryn Bigelow

Betty Thomas

Deborah Kaplan

Gurinder Chadha

Antonia Bird

Lotte Reiniger

Leni Reifenstahl

Facts

• Women are under represented in the industry

• Only one woman has won an Oscar for best film, and she has had to struggle to get her films made over the years

• Women face uneven treatment regarding criticism of their films

Kathryn Bigelow

Near Dark (1988)

• Contemporary vampire film

• Accused of glorifying violence

• Originally cut by the BBFC for an 18 certificate

• Criticised for being made by a woman– Women shouldn’t make horror films

Blue Steel (1989)

• Women shouldn’t make violent films

• However Blue Steel was hailed as a feminist film due to the strong central character

Point Break (1991)

• Women “can’t do action”

• Criticised for glorifying theft and violence

Strange Days (1995)

• Dystopian Sci-fi film

• Written by James Cameron (her partner and director of Titanic and Avatar)

• Vilified for:– Violence– Sexual violence– Misogyny

Strange Days (1995)

• One of the most hated films

• Bigelow was hauled across the coals

• Women’s Hour spent almost an entire programme attacking her over the film

• Heavily cut by the BBFC at 18 rating

• Still cut!

• …all because of her gender

Strange Days (1995)

• Lost money at the BO• For a male director this would be

unfortunate• For Bigelow it meant seven years before

making another film• …and when that only recouped the budget

it would be another six years before she could make another

The Hurt Locker (2008)

• A low budget film in a box office poison genre (Iraq war films = flop in general)

• But:– Critical success– Won BAFTA’s and Oscar’s– And still made hardly any money…

“I long personally for the day when that modifier [women director] is a moot point. I anticipate that day will come. I think we’re close. If ‘The Hurt Locker’ or the attention

that it’s getting can make the impossible seem possible to somebody, it’s pretty

overwhelming and gratifying. At leastwe’re heading in the right direction.”

Kathryn Bigelow – Feb. 2010