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The potential towards change: stereotypes of females in Hollywood films and the #MeToo Movement

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The potential towards change: stereotypes of females in Hollywood films and the #MeToo Movement

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Content The Potential Towards Change: Stereotypes of Females in Hollywood Films and The #MeToo Movement by Adrine Keosian ______________________________________________________________________________ A Thesis Presented to the FACULTY OF THE USC ANNENBERG SCHOOL FOR COMMUNICATION AND JOURNALISM UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree MASTER OF ARTS (STRATEGIC PUBLIC RELATIONS) May 2021 Copyright 2021 Adrine Keosian ii Dedication This thesis would not have been possible without the unwavering support of my family. Thank you for all the love, support, and words of encouragement throughout this journey. Mom and Dad, thank you for always believing in me and for teaching me to always follow my dreams. iii Acknowledgements While writing a thesis can be stressful and overwhelming, the task is much less daunting with a network of supporters rooting for your success. Firstly, I would like to thank my thesis committee chair, Burghardt Tenderich, for his guidance and support. My work would not have been possible without you. I am so grateful for your positive words of encouragement and the reassurance provided along the way. I would also like to thank my committee members, Mary Murphy and Jennie O’Hagan, for their much appreciated feedback and guidance. In addition, I would like to thank Mary Lou Belli for being my interviewee and providing me with amazing insight about where the entertainment industry might be headed in the future. iv Table of Contents Dedication ii Acknowledgments iii Abstract v Introduction 1 Chapter One: The History of Females in Hollywood Films 3 Chapter Two: The Three Common Stereotypes 10 The Cold Careerist 11 The Trophy Wife 15 The Manic Pixie Dream Girl 20 The Damage Is Done 23 Chapter Three: The History of the #MeToo Movement 25 Its Effect on Female Roles and Industry Leaders 27 Chapter Four: What Does the Future Hold? An Interview with Mary Lou Belli 34 Chapter Five: Hollywood, Get to Work 39 Bibliography 43 List of Appendices: Appendix A 47 v Abstract As much as sexism is present in our daily lives, it also has found its way into films. It is not only apparent in the way females are treated in the workplace, or behind the camera, but also how they are portrayed on the screen. Over the years, degrading stereotypes have remained consistent. Although the percentage of females in leadership positions in the entertainment industry has not remained completely stagnant, the numbers remain low and there is still room for growth. With the rise of the #MeToo Movement in 2017, women who had been sexually assaulted and harassed spoke up after decades of silence about their experiences and finally demanded change. As a result of the movement, a spotlight was placed on females in the entertainment industry and the ways their stories were being told on screen. The inappropriate ways females are being represented in films and the lack of women behind the camera leave us wondering whether there is potential for change. There has been some recent positive change within the entertainment industry. When Warner Bros. CEO Kevin Tsujihara left in 2019 after an alleged inappropriate sexual relationship, the company hired Ann Sarnoff, the first female chief in studio history. Netflix has reported in their first Diversity and Inclusion Report that women now make up almost half of their workforce. Warner Media named Jennifer Biry as their Chief Financial Officer. Regina King, Chloe Zhao, and Emerald Fennell were nominated for Best Director by the Golden Globes in 2021; the first time more than one woman has been short listed in a single year. While women may be reaching higher positions of power and receiving record highs in nominations for awards, the question remains from where this change is coming. Has the #MeToo Movement served as an opportunity for potential change in regard to positions of power and the negative stereotypes 1 and inappropriate representations of women in Hollywood films? This thesis will provide insight into the industry, before the #MeToo movement, and explore if there has been measurable or potential change in female roles on and off the silver screen after the movement was launched. Introduction Females have been misrepresented in Hollywood films throughout history. The silver screen has portrayed women and girls in degrading roles that have become, for the most part, acceptable in society. Actresses like Katherine Hepburn and Rosalind Russell, known for their headstrong and independent personalities, and the spirited characters they play, were leaders in Hollywood for over 60 years. But are they the exception? The more common female tropes were the cold careerist, the trophy wife, and the manic pixie dream girl that all shed light on the inappropriate ways in which films depict females. These stereotypes, present in films made as early as the 2000’s, are not only a poor representation of females, but frame women negatively as objects of sexual desire, having no opinion, and serving no purpose other than progressing the storyline for the male character. As women continue to be misrepresented on screen, they continue to seek change. Society continuously changes, but it seems as though some industries aren’t as quick to follow or adapt. Over the years, women in the entertainment industry continue to be ridiculed on screen and behind the camera (Fallon and Gray). With the rise of the #MeToo Movement in 2017, women have gained strength to speak out about sexual harassment, abuse, and mistreatment they have experienced by powerful men in the industry. In response to the #MeToo movement, and the accusations of sexual harassment and abuse, a new spotlight has been placed 2 on the lack of female characters shaping storylines in Hollywood films. Hypersexualization of women in films is being scrutinized more than ever. People are paying attention to the issues present in Hollywood films and the industry itself. The number of females who work behind the screen, such as directors, producers, and screenwriters, is extremely low when compared to their male counterparts. A study was conducted on the 100 top grossing films in 2017-2018. Focusing on directors, 112 were hired. 107 of these directing jobs were filled by males and 5 by females (Smith et al., “Inequality in 1,200 Popular Films” 2). In 2020, women comprised 16% of directors working on the top 100 films. This represents an increase of 4 percentage points from 12% in 2019, leading to a recent historic high (The Celluloid Ceiling 2020 1). Has the rise of the #MeToo Movement served as an opportunity for potential change of these negative stereotypes and inappropriate representations of women in Hollywood films? Has there been any change within female representation in films or in the number of women creating films since the #MeToo movement? Is the industry changing for the better or staying stagnant? These are all questions this thesis aims to explore and answer. The first topic of discussion this thesis addresses is the history and background of female roles in Hollywood films before the #MeToo Movement in 2017. The author looked at portrayals of females in film as far back as the 1970’s. She also explored the number of females behind the camera as well as industry leaders. By understanding how females are portrayed in films and who is behind the filmmaking process, she has narrowed down three common and recurring stereotypes in Hollywood films. The author has analyzed the cold careerist, the trophy wife, and the manic pixie dream girl. Each of these stereotypes are defined and examples will be provided of each film that encompass these stereotypes from the year 2000 through 2017. These inappropriate representations of females on screen are often oversexualized and more damaging 3 than we think. Next, this thesis has provided a brief history of the #MeToo movement. Discussed will be the successes and the change, or lack thereof, it has made on female industry leaders behind the camera, the number of female directors, producers, and writers after the #MeToo Movement, and the importance of having women shape female characters and story lines. The final section of this thesis discussed the most interesting findings from an interview with a female leader within the entertainment industry. This section focused on where the interviewee predicts the industry is moving in the future and what changes these industries need to make or have already been making. This thesis observed the ways in which females have been negatively portrayed in top grossing Hollywood films, and the potential towards change. It has provided insight into the industry prior the #MeToo movement and explore if there has been measurable change in females on and off the silver screen after the movement took storm. Chapter One: The History of Females in Hollywood Films One of the strangest things about the history of movie making is that women have been there all along. In the early twentieth century, women worked in almost every aspect of silent- film making as directors, producers, writers, editors, and even camera operators. As the film industry modernized, became a capitalist enterprise, and slowly consolidated around a few small studios, each with their own specialized departments, it grew harder for women to get involved (Talbot). Newcomers had a challenging time getting their foot in the door due to favoritism in the unions. Film credits were assigned haphazardly in the early days of filmmaking which made it difficult to see who actually did what. Although Hollywood gradually began employing women as movie directors and there was fluidity between jobs, they still faced institutionalized sexism. The contributions of women in the early days of filmmaking were largely unrecorded. 4 Beginning in the 1970’s, prime time television not only presented more men than women, but men were shown as being more competent and dominant in diverse occupational roles (Levy 54). On the other hand, women were presented in a limited number of occupations and were depicted as less competent and authoritative. As a way for men to show their control, women were kept in their place by being confined to show business or domestic roles, which were two very traditional female domains. All in the Family, which aired between 1971 and 1979 on prime-time television, centered on the domestic concerns of the Bunker household in Queens, New York. Although Archie Bunker, is seen as a loving father, he is hot headed and constantly refers to his wife, Edith, as a “ding bat” and tells her to “dummy up” or “stifle yourself.” He is constantly in arguments with his liberal son- in- law Michael, about controversial issues such as race, sex, and politics, without leaving any room for Edith to voice her opinion. Another popular prime time television show Bewitched, which aired between 1964 and 1972, follows the life of Samantha, a witch played by Elizabeth Montgomery, who marries Darrin a human played by Dick York. Samantha’s existence revolves around withholding, hiding, and moderating her superpowers to please her husband, his colleagues, and their friends. Although Darrin expresses his love, it comes at the price that she must maintain her inferior status in both the mortal and magical world. Another common pattern found in films during the 1970’s was having not only heroines that were young and beautiful but having heroes that were middle aged and not necessarily handsome or young like their female counterparts (Levy 60). In addition, the American screen has perpetuated traditional gender roles with differing sets of ambitions for women. Women were allowed to be ambitious if confined to the domestic sphere. Their only desirable goal was to get married - no matter what their personal needs were. Over the decades, Hollywood has neither 5 assigned professional success to women or let them decide what should be the right balance between their personal and professional lives. The underlying assumption in most Hollywood movies has been that women cannot have it all. This assumption was not only present in films in the 70’s but has also made its way into the 2000’s in films such as The Devil Wears Prada, How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, and Miss Congeniality. Throughout the decades, there have been changes in the cinematic roles assigned to women. The first major changes appeared after the rise of the women's rights movement in the mid 70’s. The film Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore (1975) was considered to be a turning point. It was the first film where a woman Alice, played by Ellen Burstyn, held a strong role, which also challenged male dominance (Levy, 70). In 1977, four out of the five Academy Award best picture nominees had a strong female character. The Oscar winner was Woody Allen’s Annie Hall, played by Dianne Keaton. On top of this film being a big turning point for Woody Allen, due to his unusual cinematic techniques, the main character Annie plays a strong female character. The character Annie rejects the usual feel good fantasy we see on screen and instead takes a more grounded take on love. Annie is smart and becomes increasingly more confident and independent throughout the film. She has an effortlessly quirky style, a mix of baggy trousers, hats and oversized jackets, which would inspire a wave of imitators (“Annie Hall Beats Out Star Wars for Best Picture”). Dianne Keaton played a huge role in how women characters were represented. She mixed her intellect and heart, her innocence and yearning which has infused dozens of roles in the past 45 years. She has taken on comedic roles as well as more dramatic ones such as Kay Adams-Corleone in The Godfather. She is a risk taker and makes her roles her own. As time went on, films began transforming the ways in which women were being portrayed. Women began having more diverse and career oriented roles. The occupational role of 6 women outweighed their marital status and asserted their worth as individuals. Kramer vs. Kramer (1979) was the first major Hollywood movie which dealt with a married woman, played by Meryl Streep, leaving her family in order “to find herself” and regain her self-worth (Levy 71). Kramer vs. Kramer was also about the hardships of redefining gender roles of a mother and father, one of the first films to address this. As women’s roles slowly began to be taken more seriously, progress was being made off the screen as well. During the late 80’s a large number of women began to engage and initiate film projects featuring strong female roles. Barbra Streisand directed Yentl in 1983, becoming the first woman to write, produce, direct, and star in a major studio film. The story centers on a young woman who defies tradition by discussing and getting involved in Jewish theology with her rabbi father. Streisand claims that her lack of creative control is what drove her to direct her own movies. She commented, “I directed because I couldn’t be heard.” The film won an Oscar for Best Score and a Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture Musical. Goldie Hawn directed Hope in 1997 which revolved around a young girl who stands up to bigoted neighbors in the 1960’s to reveal the truth about a black youth’s death. These were just a few of the women using their platform to promote ideologies that they believed in and that their male counterparts most likely would not have explored. The ideologies that were pushed onto women by their male counterparts have confined the roles they played through the years and even affected present day portrayals of women. Through the 1990’s and the 2000’s, the amount of females on and off screen, as well as the portrayal of females, did not experience as much change as we would expect. A study conducted by Stacy L. Smith, founder of the Annenberg Inclusion Initiative, analyzed 400 of the top grossing G, PG, PG-13, and R theatrically released films in North America between 1990 7 and 2006. She found that thin and attractive portrayals of women were still dominant in showcasing girls and women in film, similar to the late 70’s. A significant number of females continue to be shown in a hypersexualized fashion, meaning an overemphasis on their attractiveness and sexuality by the way they are dressed (“Gender Stereotypes” 14). Cameron Diaz in Bad Teacher (2011) is an example of showing women in an oversexualized fashion. Her character is all about raising enough money to get breast implants to impress one of the other middle school teachers. She throws a car wash event, where she wears shorts, a cropped t shirt, and heels, washing a car in a seductive way, and of course in slow-motion. The research also showed females were over five times as likely as males to be shown in any sexually revealing clothing or attire that calls attention to any part of the body from neck to knees. A quarter of females in films had particularly small waists, yet only 8% of males were featured with such a comparatively misshapen midbody, or a larger chest. Overall, females were nearly three times as likely as males (10.6% v. 3.4%) to be shown in a thin and hourglass figure. Mr. and Mrs. Smith, created in 2005, is an example of Angelina Jolie portrayed in a highly sexualized manner. Despite her being a highly skilled and powerful female assassin in the movie, she is exploited through her sexuality which then she uses to kill her targets. In regard to ratings, R-rated films were more likely than G-rated films to represent females as thin. The results across these four ratings reveal that 73% of characters are male and 27% are female (“Gender Stereotypes” 13). In 2018, females were far more likely than their male counterparts to be shown in sexually revealing attire (29.2% vs. 7.4%) and some nudity (27.3% vs. 8.5%). Girls and women were also more likely than boys or men to be referenced as attractive by other characters (10.2% vs. 2.7%). (Inequality in 1,200 Popular Films 1). Despite the Civil Right Movements in the 1950’s and 8 1960’s, the second rise of Feminism in the 1970’s, the #MeToo and #TimesUp Movement more recently, the work towards on screen gender equality has a long way to go. Another study conducted between 1990 and 2006, focused on 13 G-rated films. They discovered that almost all females were praised for their physical appearance or body, their aspirations are shortsighted, and there is a longing for the female lead pursuing a romantic relationship, which is oftentimes the primary focus of the plot (“Gender Stereotypes” 13). Some examples referenced are Mulan, The Princess Diaries, and Ice Princess. Females in top grossing films of 2012 were still more likely than males to be shown in sexy attire, or partially naked. The hyper sexualization of women has increased over the years in films. From 27% of hypersexualized female characters on screen to 31.6% in 2012, shows an upward trend in females acting as “eye candy” and reinforces female’s self objectification. While there are women in executive positions, who have broken through the glass ceiling in the entertainment industry, their influence has had limited results with respect to gender portrayal and on the number of women working off screen. A study conducted by Stacy Smith in 2012, reveals that 2012 had the lowest percentage of on screen females (28.4%) over the previous five year span. The percentage of gender balanced casts in 2012 is 5% lower than in 2007, 2008, or 2009 (“Gender Inequality in 500 Popular Films” 3). The under representation of females on screen is quite surprising due to the fact that girls and women represent half of the U.S. population as well as buy half of the movie tickets that are sold (“Theatrical Market Statistics” 14). Although the numbers for female directors increased and then decreased between 2007 and 2010, females still represent less than 5% of all directors across 4 of the 5 years studied. This year’s Golden Globe nominations appear to be exceptionally high, as three out of the five best director nominees are women. Ultimately, there were almost no changes observed in 9 female employment patterns across 2007-2012, which is quite disappointing (“Gender Inequality in 500 Popular Films” 3). For there to be a change, women have to be involved in key decision making positions; writers, producers, and directors. The percentage of women/girls on screen is significantly higher when at least one female is employed in the directing or writing process. There is a 10.6% increase of females on screen when one or more women are involved in directing a major motion picture. There is an increase of 8.7%, a similar but less pronounced increase, when films have one or more female screenwriters attached (“Gender Inequality in 500 Popular Films” 7). These numbers represent room for growth within the industry. There is very clearly a lack of women in leadership roles which has had an effect on the portrayal and roles women tend to play on the screen. Hollywood has definitely not had a problem maintaining the double standard in the portrayal of age and gender in popular films over the years. It is reported that films overrepresent female characters in their 20’s and 30’s and male characters in their 30’s and 40’s, and underrepresent women and men ages 50 or older. As popular films continue to favor male characters in their 30’s and 40’s and female characters in their 20’s and 30’s, women typically enjoy a shorter screen life than men. In 2018, women 40 years of age and above received only 25% of all speaking or named roles. The percentage of females 40 years of age or above has not changed over the 12-year span of the study conducted from 2007 to 2018 (Inequality in 1,200 Popular Films 1). Women disappear from the screen at an earlier age, which reinforces cultural beliefs that women’s value continues to reside in their youthful appearance (Lauzen and Dozier 437). Superstar actresses like Meryl Streep, Nicole Kidman, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Viola Davis appear to be exceptions to this rule. Meryl Streep is still starring in films at the age of 71. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal in 2016, she admitted that her career should have 10 been over decades ago due to her age. Nicole Kidman, nearing 53, just starred in The Undoing on HBO in 2020 and was cast in the series Big Little Lies from 2017 to 2019. Sarah Jessica Parker just announced the return of Sex and the City in 2021. Viola Davis, 55, has been nominated by the Golden Globe’s for best actress in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom in 2021. Although there has been a shift in the ways in which females have been portrayed since the 1970’s, there are still many degrading depictions of women in Hollywood. There hasn't been much change in the number of females on or off screen or in the ways they are being represented and the roles they play. People may think that we have made huge progress and moved so far and beyond how Hollywood used to represent women, but in reality, we are still dealing with the same underlying issues. These core issues are still present in films today and have created harmful stereotypes in every genre of film. Chapter Two: The Three Common Stereotypes In this section, we look at three stereotypes or common themes that are prevalent in Hollywood films today. The first will be the cold careerist. The second, is the trophy wife or girlfriend. Lastly, the manic pixie dream girl. The author will discuss in depth each of these harmful stereotypes and provide examples of films that employ these stereotypes before the #MeToo Movement. She will also look at the sexism that is still very much present in storytelling and its effects on filmmaking and the industry as a whole. 11 Stereotype 1: The Cold Careerist Bitchy, bossy, angry, and no time for anything or anyone outside of work are just a few of the ways females are depicted as the “cold careerist.” This stereotype is not only degrading to females but also creates a double standard. Women who are focused on their career and their jobs are also presented as unhappy and unfulfilled in their lives because of the lacking presence of a boyfriend, husband, family, or children. Do women need a man to live a happy and fulfilled life? On the other hand, males who have a successful job and are focused on their careers, are found to be more of a ladies man, picking and choosing which woman to go out with. Lurking behind this stereotype are deep rooted expectations about how we expect men and women to behave. Women are sensitive and nurturing, they are mothers and are not meant to be leaders. Men are the opposite. Women in power have long been punished for exhibiting qualities of assertiveness, because it very much veers from the “feminine” mold. This has presented itself in films dating back to the 50’s and is still present in Hollywood films today. The Devil Wears Prada (2006), is a prime example of what a cold careerist looks like on screen. Meryl Streep, who plays Miranda Priestly, a powerful New York city based editor-in- chief of the fictional fashion magazine, “The Runway,” is feared by her fellow employees. She is dedicated, passionate, and courageous about her job and won’t let anyone interfere. Miranda’s reputation for being ambitious in the workplace is tainted by representations of being obsessed with her career and consequently exhausted and lonely. The film narrative expands on the characterizations of female boss meanness which we see in Miranda Priestly. In the film, we see employees scramble and panic at her early arrival, while her right hand man Stanley Tucci, hollers “Gird your loins,” meaning prepare for what is to come or hold on tight. In another scene, 12 several employees turn around and walk the other way in the office at the sight of Miranda entering. Miranda is later seen unraveling. Her marriage is falling apart due to her work commitments. She is seen as being a miserable divorcee with twin daughters, with no spare time for family or men. She is so busy that she sends her assistant Andy Sachs, played by Anne Hathaway, to get her hands on the new unfinished Harry Potter manuscript for her twins. Shortly thereafter Andy falls under the same stereotype as Miranda. As she works harder and harder to impress Miranda, she begins to get too busy for her boyfriend and friends. Conversations during dinner, between Andy and her boyfriend, revolve around how demanding Miranda is, without Andy acknowledging her obsession over her own career. There is a scene where Andy meets her friends at a restaurant for her boyfriend, Nate’s, birthday. Andy comes straight from work, and suddenly receives a message from Miranda about attending a very important gala. Later that night, Nate refuses to speak to her. When Andy is apologizing, Nate says “Don’t worry about it. I’m going to bed.” This scene shows us that Nate thinks he is more important than Andy’s career. Later in the film, Andy and Nate break up resulting in a conversation when they meet back up. Andy admits to turning her back on everything she cares about and asks, “for what?” Although we think this is a rhetorical question, Nate jumps in and says, “For shoes, shirts, jackets, and belts.” Once again, Andy’s career and her dreams aren't taken seriously and are not supported by any of the characters in the film, not even her boyfriend. On the surface, this movie appears to demonstrate the power of women by casting two females as the main characters. However, as you delve deeper into the film's exploration of gender and stereotypes, it is clear the movie reinforces the common idealization of women: one that states that women must be attractive and depend on men for a balanced and acceptable life. This film 13 puts forward ideas that women can pursue a career, but not if it means sacrificing their friends or the men in their lives. Another example of the cold careerist stereotype appears in Jurassic World (2015). This film was released nine years after The Devil Wears Prada and still portrays the female role as the cold careerist. Claire Dearing, played by Bryce Dallas Howard, is Jurassic World’s Senior Asset Manager. She is sought by a humanitarian effort to help save the dinosaurs on Isla Nublar. We know immediately that she is in a position of power from the very way she is dressed. A business outfit, high heels, and always on her cell phone. Instead of getting a glimpse of her personality in the beginning of the film, Claire gives us an aesthetic that conforms to the stereotype of a boss lady. A crucial component to the cold careerist trope is the idea that women who devote themselves to their careers can’t possibly be fulfilled, because they don’t have children (Berlatsky). Even if the character denies it, she must be secretly longing for children. Early on in the film, Claire is shamed by her sister. She wants to know “not if, but when” Claire will finally have a baby. Claire waives away the comment but later in the film, when she sees a baby, the camera lingers on her staring at the child. Claire is also made fun of multiple times for not knowing how to act as a motherly figure to her two nephews who come to visit Isla Nublar. She is initially awkward with them and shuffles them off to her assistant. A woman who shows emotion in the workplace is often cast as too fragile or unstable to lead, therefore resulting in the stereotype that Claire takes on. Later in the film, when the dinosaurs attack and everyone is scrambling to stay alive, Claire and Owen, who is played by Chris Pratt, save the kids from a close call. The kids ask, “Can we stay with you?” as Claire is touched by their sweetness and says yes, the kids say “No, no you!” pointing to Owen. Yet again, the film doesn’t create an opportunity for Claire to represent a role as a caregiver. They keep her in her lane, as the career 14 obsessed lady, who can’t have the best of both worlds. It’s almost as if the film is implying that if Claire wasn’t so into her job, her nephews wouldn't be in this big mess. Femininity is, by and large, a social construct that is oftentimes played around in films. In 2015, when this film was released, to embrace one's “femininity” doesn't have to mean choosing motherhood or a man over a successful career (Wilmore). No matter how high these women climb, the fact that they don’t have a partner is evidence that something is wrong with them, that they are incomplete. Aside from the topic of motherhood, Claire’s fear, when running around the park with loose dinosaurs, is not being used as a way to reel in the audience, but rather to show how heroic Owen is. Throughout the film, Owen is seen saving people, he is portrayed as a manly man. He is not afraid of violent man eating dinosaurs or riding on a motorcycle neck to neck with Velociraptors. Towards the end of the film, Owen is in need of being rescued from a Pterodactyl. Claire reverses the hero role and saves Owen by shooting the dinosaur mid air. She has a moment of empowerment, but it is short lived. After Owen is saved by Claire, he jumps to his feet and immediately kisses her as she was preparing to say something. This move allows him to both assert and regain power and control of the situation. Claire is reduced to a blushing and embarrassed girl. Owen takes back the gun and is the alpha of the group once again. One observation that a lot of moviegoers also seemed to recognize was that during the entire film Claire was wearing heels. She was running around the jungle in her three and a half inch heels rather than changing into something more comfortable or appropriate like boots. While it may seem silly for her to be trying to outrun a T-Rex in heels, it can also be seen as a way to represent her powerful job. This may show that Claire is still very much the career obsessed woman as she does not want to ruin her professional appearance. She decides to keep her heels on throughout the movie to keep the aesthetic of a boss lady. Claire’s character could 15 have been developed more, they could have made her feel something for her nephews, or shown more emotions rather than make her seem cold and reserved in order to still be viewed as a professional. Perhaps the most recent stereotypical depiction of a cold careerist is Rosamund Pike’s, portrayal of Marla Grayson in the 2020 Netflix feature film I Care a Lot. She is the ultimate bossy, angry, and vengeful career woman. She describes herself as a “lioness” who never loses and will go to any lengths to carry out her scheme of defrauding the elderly. In no way is abusing and taking advantage of the elderly acceptable but like Marla says in the film, “To make it in this country, you need to be brave and stupid and ruthless and focused. Because playing it fair, being scared, that gets you nowhere. That gets you beat.” Marla is a criminal, her actions clearly harm others, but is it fair to characterize her as ruthless, vicious, aggressive, and heartless instead of a bad ass boss who gets what she wants? Women should not have to be given ultimatums between being successful in their careers or having a personal life. They should not be shamed by men for having too busy of a work life. In order for a woman to be taken seriously, they don't have to have a cold personality or feared by co-workers. Women should be portrayed as being successful because they are simply smart and know how to work hard. They are assertive, not bossy, they are passionate, not angry, and they for sure do not have to choose between their career or a love life. The cold careerist stereotype has been around for ages and quite frankly is not welcome any longer. Stereotype 2: The Trophy Wife The second inappropriate stereotype is the “trophy wife.” A trophy wife is defined as a young and attractive woman regarded as a status symbol for an older successful man (Merriam 16 Webster). The term is often used in a derogatory way, and the fact that there is no prevalent trophy husband stereotype for men makes the trophy wife label unfair. For as long as time, women have been pressured to be thin, beautiful, and to dress fashionably, basically to conform to the “attractive” stereotypes. Women are hypersexualized and their exterior has always mattered more than what they offer intellectually. This representation of women is still present in reality and translated into films. Women are shamed for not looking “attractive,” whereas men aren't. Men are valued more for their accomplishments rather than their looks. The trophy wife is seen as an object who is bought or won over by a husband. She only accompanies her husband and elevates his status. The concept of a trophy wife is more focused on the man than the woman in the sense that he has gotten a trophy. He has been able to snag, in a sense, a spouse or wife that other men are envious of (Friedman). This stereotype helps elevate the man's status. The one thing trophy wives don’t do is outshine their husbands. Although times have changed and this may no longer be as popular a way of viewing a relationship as it once was, the notion still lives on today in many Hollywood films. Just Go With It (2011) portrays a trophy wife in a bit of an unconventional way. In this film Danny Maccabee, played by Adam Sandler, is a successful plastic surgeon who meets Palmer, Brooklyn Decker, a sixth grade, attractive, math teacher. They end up sleeping together the first night they meet. When Palmer finds a wedding ring in Danny’s pocket, she assumes he is married and refuses to date him. In reality, Danny uses his wedding ring scheme to get women to sleep with him, by creating a story that his wife cheated on him and he is in the midst of a divorce. It just so happened this time he didn't have the ring on when he met Palmer. Instead of confessing to the scheme, he plays on the lie and says he is getting divorced from Katherine Murphy, played by Jennifer Aniston, who is his assistant’s best friend, with two kids. 17 Palmer, the perfect 10, typical white girl with blonde hair and blue eyes and a killer body, ends up wanting to meet Katherine. Danny takes Katherine shopping to completely revamp her in new clothes, shoes, and hair creating the illusion of his first wife being “hot.” As Katherine arrives for their lunch date, she walks through the doors and all the men stare at how beautiful she looks. During their lunch, Katherine jokes, “I’m just happy to hear his thing a ding can go ring a ding, cause he’s got a serious small issue with ED.” Palmer, looking so young and innocent, asks, “What’s ED?” when Katherine responds, “Oh gosh, I forgot you're 15.” In this scene, Palmer is portrayed as the young, beautiful, but clueless girlfriend that Danny is trying to win over. Katherine’s comment about how she forgot Palmer is 15, alludes to the characteristics of a trophy wife. Later when they are leaving the lunch date, Katherine says, “I mean look at you two. It’s like Barbie and grandpa Ken.” erupting in laughter. Again, bringing attention to Palmer's and Danny’s age difference, as well as making a statement about her good looks. Contemporary relationships in Western societies have moved toward a new model of intimate relationships based upon self fulfillment and personal satisfaction (Meszaros, 227). Yet this entire film revolves around Danny trying to win over Palmer in order to achieve that personal satisfaction of having a younger and beautiful girl wrapped around him. He not only convinces Palmer he is in the midst of a divorce, but takes them all on a trip to Hawaii, proving how good of a father he is to his two fake children. He makes up an entire fake family, in order to impress Palmer and win her over. Later in the film, during the excursion in Hawaii, Palmer decided to cool down in a waterfall. As she undresses and begins to walk to the water, Danny says, “Look at that.” and yells after her, “Does the hotel know you took those pillows honey?” referring to her breasts. A few seconds later, Palmer yells, “You guys have to come in the water is magical.” Danny’s 18 friend, Dolph responds, “I got something magical too, in the downstairs area” pointing downwards and with a creepy grin. This is not the only time Danny, or the other male characters, make untasteful comments about Palmer’s breasts or her body. If it’s not Danny’s comment then it is surely the camera angles and the choices made creatively, such as using slow motion as Palmer comes out of the water. With every comment or stylistic decision, they are very clearly depicting Palmer as the trophy wife of Danny, a successful and older in age plastic surgeon. They objectify and hypersexualize the character of Palmer by throwing in “funny” comments but ultimately leave a damaging and lasting impression of women on the screen. Another example of the portrayal of a trophy wife is in the film, The Other Woman (2014). Kate Upton plays Amber, one of the women who is being cheated on by Mark King, a successful, powerful, secure, and good looking businessman, played by Nikolaj Coster-Waldau. When Mark’s wife, and one of the other woman Mark has been going out with, finds out he's been cheating on both of them with Amber they lose their mind. Amber is the typical American sweetheart who is young, beautiful, and has long blonde hair. The camera once again uses slow motion on her when she is walking out of the ocean. She is seen as the youngest of the group of women, making her the victim of trophy wife/girlfriend. She is literally referred to as “the one with the boobs.” When the other women spot her one of them says, “She is the perfect 10, lemon tart, double D obviously, natural double D, it’s like a mid life crisis mistress. She’s like a cliche version of every wife’s waking nightmare.” She is not noticed for anything other than her looks. She is also used by the other girls, for her good looks, when getting back at Mark. When deciding on how to get back at Mark, one of the girls says, “So what do you want us to do?” and Mark’s wife responds, “I want him to feel pain.” Amber jumps in suddenly and says, “We should kick him in the balls.” One of the girls says, “No, I really like the way your brain works but I 19 think we are going for something a little bit bigger.” Although Amber's character is sexy, she is also an airhead and her ideas are always rejected by the other girls. She seems to have no real or impactful opinion that is validated by the girls. It seems as if she is purely in the film for her looks and to represent a trophy wife/girlfriend. Not only is it important to notice how women are being represented as trophy wives but why? Most of the time it relates to how men want to feel. “Much like a trophy wife, marriage to a traditional younger woman allows a man to have a daily embodied performance of his masculine status” (Meszaros, 238). Men want to feel a sense of empowerment and confidence and that is achieved by having a beautiful and younger wife/girlfriend. His co-workers may think, “A man who can have a woman like that on his arm must be a real go getter.” The “culture of self indulgence” plays a large part in the trophy wife phenomenon. This “culture of self indulgence” can be explained “as a tendency to view women as passive victims, pawns, and in this case, trophies who are manipulated, controlled, and traded according to the whims and fancies of all powerful and omniscient men” (Kenrick et al. 36). In the case of the trophy wife, it is acceptable for the husband to go from woman to woman, maneuvering them like pawns, until he sets on a younger and more attractive prospect. Men treat women like they are disposable when their needs are not met but also use them to their advantage as an unrestrained way to seek pleasure. Helen Singer Kaplan attributes the trophy wife phenomenon “to the man’s desire to present a successful public image” (Kenrick et al. 36). It looks as though this stereotype has more to do with men and their needs than respecting women. It’s all about improving the reputation of the man while the woman is on standby. 20 Stereotype 3: The Manic Pixie Dream Girl The Manic Pixie Dream Girl is a well known pop culture cliche. The term was coined by film critic, Nathan Rabin in 2007 after watching Elizabethtown (2005), in order to describe a nascent filmic female trope as “that bubbly, shallow cinematic creature that exists solely in the fevered imaginations of sensitive writer-directors to teach broodingly soulful young men to embrace life and its infinite mysteries and adventures” (Rodriguez, 168). Since then, the concept of The Manic Pixie Dream Girl has acquired enormous widespread recognition in Hollywood. The early 2000’s is when The Manic Pixie Dream Girl (MPDG) became increasingly popular, specifically within the context of American independent productions. Film critic Rabin says the MPDG character is most memorable when played by Zooey Deschanel in 500 Days of Summer (2009), Natalie Portman’s Sam in Garden State (2004), Kate Hudson’s Penny Lane in Almost Famous (2000), and Kate Winslet’s Clementine in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004). The MPDG is characterized as free spirited, spontaneous, and full of life. Their sole dramatic and narrative purpose in the film is to inspire the creativity and the passion of the fragile, insecure male protagonists (Rodriguez 169). This also perpetuates the myth of women as caregivers rather than independent entities with a life, dreams, and ambitions of their own. The male in the story line is oftentimes in need of saving and the role of the MPDG is about helping regain his sense of masculinity and reasserting his ego. This role takes away the importance of the female character and instead uses her as a device to acknowledge the depth of the male character and his aspirations rather than the female character’s. Her own needs are once again looked as secondary in the film. The viewers of the film don’t actually learn anything from these women, they are just there to be exciting and to prop up the hurting male lead whenever he needs to be fluffed. 21 In the film Elizabethtown (2005), Claire Colburn, played by Kirsten Dunst, is given the label of the MPDG. Claire takes an immediate liking to a stranger to whom she offers life changing advice. Drew, played by Orlando Bloom, has just lost his job, is going through a break up, and to make matters worse is dealing with his father’s death, which brings him on this flight back home to Kentucky. He meets Claire, a flight attendant, who tries to teach him to embrace life once again. Drew is met by his family and makes arrangements for his father’s cremation. Claire suggests he go on one last road trip with his father, handing him a map with special stops along the way. She says, “Everybody’s gotta take a road trip at least once in their lives. Just you and some music!” Drew follows the map home, spreading his father’s ashes at memorable sights until reaching a farmers market where he is given a series of notes that give him a choice to follow the map home or follow a new direction. In the midst of Drew’s suicidal thoughts, heartbreak from his ex-girlfriend, and his father's death, Claire is the one constant positive in his life and at the end of the film he admits to falling in love with her. There are certain scenes where Claire is seen giving Drew a pep talk. There is nothing wrong with uplifting or encouraging a friend to do better or get out of a dark time in their life, but when it is the only purpose Claire has in the movie, it becomes problematic. “You have five minutes to wallow in the delicious misery. Enjoy it. Embrace it. Discard it. And proceed.” As great as this advice sounds, it is followed by another pep talk by Claire. “You're an artist man, your job is to break through barriers, not accept blame, and bow and say thank you I’m a loser I’ll go away now. You wanna be really great? Then have the courage to fail big and stick around. Make them wonder why you're still smiling.” All this advice is bound to change lives, more specifically the lives of men. This depiction that men like Drew, who are lonely, depressed, or 22 timid need a MPDG to emerge successfully and tackle life's challenges condescends realistic female characters, and quite honestly undermines what a female character has to offer. This character type has lineage in much older movies such as The Palm Beach Story (1942) and Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961). For some, the original MPDG is Susan Vance the flighty heiress played by Katharine Hepburn in 1938 classic Bringing Up Baby, who torments a paleontologist played by Carry Grant. Susan is quirky, rash, and relentless in her dedication for a man that doesn't seem too interested in her. In the film, Annie Hall, Annie is flighty, a distinctive dresser, characterized as unlike other women, and seen through the eyes of Alvie Singer. One characteristic that sets Annie apart is that she is also her own person who is not content to be just Alvies fantasy object. In the end, Annie and Alvies' relationship fails but at least Annie did more than only try to inspire the lives of men. In 500 Days of Summer (2009), Tom, played by Joseph Gordon Levitt, rediscovers his true passions in life while reflecting on the past 500 days he has shared with his girlfriend, Summer, played by Zooey Deschanel. Summer is quirky, fun, outgoing, and is unlike other girls, her main purpose in life is to complete Tom, whatever he may need so that he can grow. Although Summer has a lot of the characteristics of a MPDG, she has her own wants and desires, she doesn't exist just to complete Tom. In a bar scene with Tom she states, “You don't believe that a woman can enjoy being free and independent.” But because the film is shown from Tom’s perspective, we don’t see much of Summer’s interests or achievements. Throughout this film we only see what Tom experiences, a girl that comes into his life to simply just better it, rather than pursue her own needs. Tom says things like “I love her smile. I love her hair. I love her knees. I love the sound of her laugh. I love the way she looks when she is sleeping. I like the way she makes me feel.” or “I know that she's the only person in the entire universe that would make me 23 happy.” Tom has idealized Summer as the girl he’s always dreamt of. In a scene where they both lay in bed, Summer opens up and shows her vulnerable side, she says, “I've never told anybody that before.” where in response Tom makes it about himself and says, “I guess I’m not just anybody.” Throughout the film, we see Tom’s perspective of his world. We see his nerdy best friend, we see his weird boss, and we see Summer as the girl of his dreams and the MPDG he views her as. Towards the end of the film, during the office engagement party scene, we finally see some proof and evidence of the impact Summer has made on Tom. Summer asks Tom if he's always wanted to write greeting cards and Tom responds saying, “No, I don’t even want to do it now.” She then says that he should do something else resulting in him opening up about his dreams of becoming an architect. In the last scene of the entire film, we see Tom at an interview to become an architect. Summer’s role in this film was to help Tom grow up and realize what things are important to him. Although Summer doesn't end up with Tom, the film makes it seem like her role was just to serve Tom and carry on with her life as soon as Tom found his way back. This trope can not only become an example of a toxic relationship but affect the ways in which films are made in the future and how they represent young females on the screen. The Damage Is Done: Stereotypes after stereotypes; these damaging depictions of females on screen must stop. Females have long tried to withstand these representations but without recognizing them and eliminating these roles, they will leave a lasting impression in society. All the films listed above, are directed by males and only two of the screenwriters are female. It just so happens that The Devil Wears Prada and The Other Woman are written by females but still present women 24 negatively. Geena Davis, an actress, who also founded the Institute of Gender in Media, has written on how to improve the ways women are portrayed in media. She expresses how a female’s function in a film is very often “to serve as eye candy or be the girlfriend of the person that’s having all the adventures” (Petrecca). She also states, “By seeing positive and empowering and inspiring images of female characters, that will impact girls positively to say, 'Hey, I could be that.” A recent study conducted by Geena Davis and Movio, a company collecting data analytics for the film industry, revealed that people want to see themselves reflected more on the screen. In an attempt to right the wrongs of the past, Hollywood has made some bold moves in how they have been representing women in their Marvel characters, such as Wonder Woman, Black Widow, Elektra, and Captain Marvel. These characters are an example of how Hollywood has gone to the other extreme. These women are depicted as super strong, super tough, and super sexy. Although these women possess such great power, they are commonly depicted in sexy cat suits or even completely naked. These extremes do not do justice to the stories of real women and women in independent films such as Nomadland. Why not depict the true successes of strong women such as Michelle Obama, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Oprah, or Kamala Harris in a feature film? As the world changes and women continue to break barriers whether through the careers they choose, or decisions made in their personal lives, films should also depict females more accurately. There is a correlation between the representation of demographic cohorts on screen and their share of the total audience to a particular film. Moviegoers being able to identify with the characters in a movie drives their attendance behavior (“I Want to See Me” 4). If and when Hollywood changes the way they represent women in their films, more women that relate to the 25 characters on screen will be encouraged to attend films. This revelation alone, shows that people want to see a part of themselves on the screen, they want to relate, and if Hollywood is still portraying outdated and inaccurate representations of women on screen, females will be less inclined to view films. Hollywood needs a revamp, it needs to wake up, to re-create an entirely new image of their female characters. The film industry has to stay relevant and up to speed with the times or else they will face consequences. Although a lot of damage has been done throughout the years, there is always a way to improve and grow in order to make a better future. What matters is how this industry decides to move forward. What steps will they take in order for there to be a positive and a lasting change within the industry? Chapter Three: The History of The #MeToo Movement The History: In 2006, Tarana Burke, sexual assault survivor and activist, founded the “MeToo” Movement. As a young girl, she joined a youth development organization called 21st Century Youth Leadership movement, a group which taught kids to be creative and resilient leaders. She launched initiatives around issues including racial discrimination, housing inequality and economic justice. Upon moving to Selma, Alabama, her career took a turn toward supporting survivors of sexual violence. She encountered a Black girl who shared her story of sexual violence and abuse (metoomvmt.org). Soon after this encounter she began trying to raise awareness for women who had been sexually abused and her commitment to the cause led her to develop a stronger foundation for her movement. It wasn’t until 2017 when the #MeToo hashtag went viral and woke the world up to the true magnitude of the problem surrounding sexual 26 violence and rape. Alyssa Milano, an American actress, accused Harvey Weinstein, an American film producer, of sexual assault. After Milano, other actresses found the strength to come forward and also use the hashtag #MeToo. Angelina Jolie, Cara Delevigne, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Lena Heady are just a few who have encountered an uncomfortable situation with Weinstein (Nath). Weinstein, who co-founded the film studios, The Weinstein Company and Miramax, has had over 80 women accuse him of uncomfortable or inappropriate situations, sexual assault, and rape (Nath). Besides Harvey Weinstein, other powerful men in Hollywood have been accused of creating a toxic work environment or sexually assaulting women. Dustin Hoffman, known for his role in Rain Man and The Graduate, has also been accused of sexual harassment by several women (Romano). Kevin Spacey, the star of House of Cards and All the Money in the World, has had more than 30 allegations ranging from harassment to rape of young men. Matt Lauer, the former American television news anchor on NBC’s Today show has also been accused of sexual misconduct from several women back in 2001. This evidences that these were not isolated instances, not just one bad apple in the bunch. This has been a widespread issue in Hollywood that has just recently been put in the spotlight due to the #MeToo Movement. What had begun as local grassroots work became a global movement. The reporting of Megan Twohey and Jodi Kantor, both American journalists with The New York Times, has helped bring attention to the severity of sexual harassment. Women outside of the entertainment industry and all over the world began telling their own stories about sexual assault. The #MeToo Movement created a community and formed a support system for survivors. Not only did this movement create an opportunity for women to connect with one another, but it focused on supporting survivors of sexual violence and their allies by connecting survivors to resources for healing, justice, and leadership (metoomvmt.org). Burke’s goal was “to spread a message for 27 survivors: You're heard, you’re understood” (North). She wanted survivors to know that they do not stand alone and that when they show up in numbers, no one can turn them away. Yet, other than a global movement that has encouraged women to speak up about their experiences, what has the movement accomplished within the entertainment industry? Its Effect on Female Roles and Industry Leaders: #MeToo has become more than a movement, it has changed our laws. State legislatures have been under pressure, more than ever, to curb sexual assault and harassment in private workspaces. The movement has also shed light on the lack of women shaping female characters and story lines. The hundreds of allegations and resignations due to sexual assault have put the entertainment industry and lawmakers to work. Lisa Banks Esq., a partner with Katz Marshall & Banks LLP in Washington D.C. has noticed improved efforts by corporations in response to sexual harassment, including better training, investigations, and follow ups (#MeToo It’s Impact). Non disclosure agreements, (NDA’s), are still one of the many hurdles America is facing. Although there have been some tweaks made to NDA’s to limit how they may be used for harassment claims, Banks states, “these agreements have allowed sexual harassment complaints to continue to fester and victims should have a choice whether or not to come forward after a non-disclosure agreement has been signed in a settlement.” There are currently six states, Arizona, Maryland, New York, Tennessee, Vermont, and Washington, which have made changes to their NDA laws, but there is still work to be done (Beitsch). “Obviously the #MeToo movement has had a huge impact on our conversations and that’s been terrific, but I’ve been concerned that many movements that are dialogues and open conversations don’t necessarily produce real change, so I wanted to make sure we were seizing the moment,” said 28 Washington state Senator Karen Keiser, a Democrat who sponsored NDA legislation enacted in 2018 (Beitsch). Although Congress has not passed comprehensive sexual harassment legislation in the wake of the #MeToo Movement, a new and exciting bill is being introduced, “Be Heard in the Workplace Act.” This bill sets forth provisions to prevent discrimination and harassment in the workplace and raises the minimum wage for tipped employees (Congress.gov). First, this bill would make it an unlawful employment practice to discriminate against an individual in the workplace based on sexual orientation, gender identity, pregnancy, childbirth, a medical condition related to pregnancy or childbirth, and a sex stereotype. Second, it prohibits employers from entering into contracts or agreements with workers that contain certain nondisparagement or nondisclosure clauses. Third, it prohibits predispute arbitration agreements and postdispute agreements with certain exceptions, and establishes grant programs to prevent and respond to workplace discrimination and harassment. Lastly, it provides legal assistance for low-income workers related to employment discrimination and establishes a system of legal advocacy in states to protect the rights of workers (Congress.gov). Other changes at the state government level require companies with more than 50 employees to report their number of sexual harassment claims they have settled, expand sexual harassment training and education, and requires all publicly traded companies to include at least one woman on their boards (Greenberg). While over the past few years, corporations have changed their contracts, some states have changed their laws, and some men have fallen from positions of power, there is still a long way to go. Although the #MeToo movement emerged in response to accusations of sexual harassment and abuse by powerful men in Hollywood, it has also highlighted the lack of women shaping female characters and story lines. It has brought into question the way businesses and 29 industries function. Film studios have begun to pay attention. Tarana Burke states, “These institutions, these big corporate entities, have such a big role to play because they are like islands of their own. We have the way our country works, we have government, we have a process that we go through to change policy. But what we don’t have are enough examples of corporations making bold moves that change culture, the way business is done, and demonstrate a commitment to the safety and agency of their employees” (Burke). Oftentimes the media and entertainment industry make decisions that are disconnected from the larger process of change. A corporation like NBC Universal or Warner Bros. may change their sexual harassment policies, but it is still profoundly different from the law itself. Corporations have a responsibility to always protect the people who work for them and provide a space that feels safe for everyone. Movie studios should be setting an example. It is evident that the upcoming younger generation are not afraid to step up and create change. If sexual assault in the workplace was affecting the profit of companies, it would be a little more understandable as to why these necessary changes are taking more time. The fact that what these studios are being asked of don’t take away from their profits leaves no excuse for the lack of change (Burke). It appears the studios are simply stuck in their old ways. They are settled in their privilege. They must realize that times, cultures, and dynamics are changing. What these institutions need to realize is that they need to be moving with the times, or face the risk of being swept over (Burke). It’s important to remember that these corporations are tied to their employees. If employees begin to demand change there will have to be a new mode of operation and an entirely new narrative. Ultimately what we need these corporations to be is courageous. It’s always hard to be the first one to stand up tall and say “we’re going to try something different” rather than put a band aid over the problem and pretend it has been fixed. They need to start digging deep and find real 30 ways they can make a lasting impact within the industry. Although the #MeToo Movement sparked much needed reform within Hollywood guilds and agencies, the law, and the corporate world, it will take years for Hollywood to catch up and persistently hire women in positions of power and offer creative roles. Since the inception of the #MeToo Movement, male characters continued to dominate the screen in 2018. In a study conducted by Martha Lauzen, the founder and executive director of the Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film, 35% of top grossing films featured 10 or more female characters, while 82% had 10 or more male characters in speaking roles (“It’s a Man's Celluloid World 2018” 1). Females comprised 35% of all speaking characters, an increase of 1 percentage point (34% in 2017.) Males on the other hand comprised 65% of speaking characters in 2018. Overall, audiences were twice as likely to see male characters as female characters in the top grossing films. The percentage of top grossing films featuring female protagonists increased to 31% in 2018, rebounding from 24% in 2017, also a slight increase from 2016 which had 29%. Although this is a small increase it is actually a historical high (“It’s a Man's Celluloid World 2018” 1). When it comes to demographic traits of characters, Lauzen found that female characters remained younger than their male counterparts. The majority of female characters were in their 20’s (29%) and 30’s (28%). The majority of male characters were in their 30’s (35%) and 40’s (25%). This is a pattern that has held true since 2002. While males 40 and over accounted for 45% of all male characters, females 40 and over comprised 31% of all female characters (“It’s a Man’s Celluloid World 2018” 3). It is evident that men still have a longer screen life than women in 2018. How females are represented on screen when it comes to their career, work, leadership, goals, or family could still be improved. Lauzen found that female characters were more likely 31 than male characters to have a known marital status. 47% of female characters and 36% of male characters had a known marital status. A larger portion of male than female characters had an identifiable occupation, as well as seen in their work setting, actually working. In 2018, male characters were more likely than females to even have work related goals (70% vs. 30%). Alternatively, we see more female characters having goals related to their personal lives. When it comes to leadership positions, females were more likely to be social leaders (44% vs. males 56%), followed by religious/spiritual leaders (33% vs. males 67%), white collar leaders (31% vs. males 69%), political leaders (24% vs males 76%), professional leaders (22% vs. males 78%), blue collar leaders (18% vs males 82%), and lastly criminal leaders (17% vs. males 83%) (“It’s a Man’s Celluloid World 2018” 5). From this research, we can see as the leadership roles increase in “importance”, the number of females assigned to those roles are less and less. The same underlying stereotypes, and portrayals of women that existed in the 60’s and 70’s still exist today. While it is important to analyze how females are being presented on the screen, it is important to note how many women are being employed behind the screen. In 2018, the comparison between the representation of female characters in films with at least one female working behind the screen is astonishingly lower than males working behind the camera. Lauzen found that in films with one woman director and/or writer, females comprised 57% of protagonists. In films with exclusively male directors and/or writers, females accounted for 21% of protagonists. In films with at least one woman director and/or writer, females comprised 47% of speaking characters. In contrast, films with exclusively male directors and/or writers, females accounted for 32% of all speaking characters. In 2017, women comprised 18% of all directors, writers, producers, executive producers, editors, and cinematographers working on the top 250 32 domestic grossing films. This represents an increase of 1 percentage point from 17% in 2016 and is unchanged from that in 1998. Going back to 2016, only 1 percent of films employed 10 or more women. In contrast, 70% of films employed 10 or more men. Women have also accounted for 11% of directors working on the top 250 grossing films in 2017, up 4 percentage points from 7% in 2016. More specifically, women do best as producers (25%), followed by executive producers (19%,) editors (16%), writers (11%), directors (11%), and cinematographers (4%) (“The Celluloid Ceiling” 6). To really understand the progress of women in films, we must make a historical comparison of women's employment from 1998 to 2017. The percentages of directors, executive producers, and producers have increased. The percentages of female writers and editors have declined, and the percentage of female cinematographers has remained the same. Between 2016 and 2017 the percentages of female directors, producers, and executive producers increased, while the percentages of females working as writers, editors, and cinematographers declined. For the years of 2018 and 2019, no women were nominated in the directing category at the Oscars, despite numerous acclaimed female-helmed movies, including Greta Gerwig’s “Little Women” and Lulu Wang’s “The Farewell” (Faughnder and Perman). Although disparities remain, studios are slowly beginning to hire more female filmmakers. A study by USC’s Annenberg Inclusion Initiative found that 10.6% of the directors of last year’s 100 highest-grossing movies were women, up from 4.5% in 2018 (Faughnder and Perman). There are a handful of 2020 films directed by a female, namely, Black Widow by Cate Shortland, Nomadland led by Chloé Zhao, One Night in Miami by Regina King, Promising Young Woman by Emerald Fennel, Patty Jenkins in the DC sequel Wonder Woman 1984, and the recent female villain movie Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey directed by Cathy Yan and written by Christina Hodson. While there is a 33 rise of female directors, are they being given a fair chance? A recent study found that films with female leads/co leads and those with underrepresented leads/co leads do not receive the same resource allocation across production, marketing, and distribution that their white or male counterparts do (“The Ticket to Inclusion”). The numbers are even worse for women of color. Films with underrepresented female leads receive lower median production budgets ($19,232,500) than those with white females ($31,280,000), underrepresented males ($38,505,000), or white male leads ($51,995,000) (“The Ticket to Inclusion”). Movies that star a woman of color are budgeted less money than those featuring individuals from other demographic groups. This sets a whole other set of challenges for females who are already in the entertainment industry. After all these “changes” in the law and policies established by the studios, there are still changes to be addressed within the industry that the #MeToo Movement has not been able to reach. While these are positive changes, do they flow to the types of films being made? One film that was released after the #MeToo Movement was The Assistant 2019 by Kitty Green. This film follows the life of Jane, a recent college graduate and aspiring film producer, who has landed her dream job as a junior assistant to a powerful entertainment mogul. Her days seem to be filled with tasks that any assistant would be occupied with, such as photocopying, making coffee, scheduling calls and meetings. She soon becomes aware of the abuse she has been experiencing in her everyday workday. An accumulation of degrading comments and behavior which she decides to take up with HR. This film quite literally shows us the harassment and uncomfortable situations women can be placed in the entertainment industry. The Assistant serves as a rallying cry to institutionalized exploitation that reminds us how much further there is to go. This film acts as a benchmark to what a film about sexual assault in the entertainment 34 industry should aim for. Bombshell 2019, directed by Jay Roach, is a real story of three ambitious and strong women who risk everything to stand up to their boss. The film is based upon the accounts of the women at Fox News who set out to expose CEO Roger Ailes for sexual harassment. The Loudest Voice 2019, a mini-series about Roger Ailes life, addresses the sexual harassment accusations and settlements that ended his career. These are just a few films that are #MeToo oriented. These films are holding a mirror up to the industry itself and encourage individuals to continue to fight for a problem that is not yet solved. Chapter Four: What Does the Future Hold? An Interview with Mary Lou Belli The author has interviewed Mary Lou Belli, a two time Emmy award winning producer, writer, and director. She is the author of three books, The Sitcom Career Book, Acting for Young Actors, and Directors Tell the Story. She has been directing television for over 20 years. Some of her work consists of NCIS New Orleans, Monk, Hart of Dixie, Wizards of Waverly Place, Sister Sister, Girlfriends and The Game. She is currently working on Black Lightning on the CW network and her own film called America. Being in the entertainment industry for over 20 years and having experienced being both an actress and working behind the scenes, Belli is a professional with insight into the industry. She has seen how characters get casted, she has seen how scripts are written, and has written her own, as well as directed and produced several shows which have aired on television. Although Belli’s career has mostly focused on television, she has seen how the industry works as a whole and knows what is most important when shaping a show or film. Being in the industry pre and post #MeToo Movement, Belli’s predictions of where Hollywood might be headed as an industry in regard to the ways in which females are represented, and how they are employed and seen in 35 the industry, are valued. Since the #MeToo Movement, has the industry been moving in a more positive direction? Has the #MeToo Movement been as powerful and life changing as we thought it was? How much has the movement actually changed? Belli answers some of these questions while also giving us some insight as to what the industry might look like in the future as well as what she remembers from the #MeToo Movement itself. Is the industry moving in a slight upward trajectory towards change, are we at a plateau, or are we moving downhill and not making the changes that need to be made? To understand if the #MeToo Movement led to substantial change in 2017 or if change occurred over the course of years prior to the movement, the answer isn’t straight forward. It is important to note that prior to the movement there was already some change taking place in the industry in regard to females in the workplace. “There was an upswing of programs that started more than six years ago by the Directors Guild of America contract in which every studio was mandated to have a diversity program.,” said Belli. ‘Because women were underserved and underrepresented they were considered a minority in terms of employment rates. And because these diversity programs were put in place, the trend began way before the #MeToo Movement.” Knowing that there was change occurring before the movement means that the movement definitely didn’t invent this idea of making females more inclusive in the industry. People were thinking about ways in which they could do this by creating diversity programs, as referenced by Belli. When asked if the #MeToo Movement and the changes prior, by the Directors Guild of America, contribute to one another in terms of cross pollinating? Belli says, “I’m not sure. But what I do know is the stats for women directors in the last two years, in TV, not features, but features haven't been in great shape for at least the last ten years, it was hard to get a feature made unless it was a tentpole, and we have seen a couple of those tent poles have women 36 directors, but we have seen huge uptick in terms of TV directors who are women.” When asked what the underlying reason is in the difference between TV’s doing exponentially better than feature films she says, “There are a lot of reasons, but the main reason is that the way features are monetized is completely different than how TV is monetized. In the last ten years the business of features has changed completely, it's harder to get a movie made period, as opposed to TV, where the exponential growth of the industry has literally exploded in a great way.” Since the movement began, more women than ever have been speaking out about the mistreatment and assault they have been experiencing in the workplace. Women who have stayed silent for decades have a safe space to tell their story. Although there was a trend in women speaking up about assault perpetuated by Weinstein, many were still fearful of losing their jobs. Belli stated, “Having a defense fund so if you got caught in a position where it was going to jeopardize your work was important. That's why in almost all cases women who were harassed, or treated differently, badly, or illegally, never spoke up because they feared whether they can work in the business or they would say I’m tough it’s a man's world, I can handle myself.” A defense fund would cover any legal expenses, including attorneys fee, court filing fees, and litigation costs, for a woman who chose to speak out about being violated in the workplace by their boss or any other person they worked with. Believe it or not, there was a lot of backlash received when these women would speak out. Belli stated there was a lot of “resentment from white men who thought their jobs were being displaced by women.” Most of the time men, in reference to women, will ask themselves, “Have they earned it? Are they the best candidate for the job?” These worries would also be accompanied by distasteful comments such as, “oh she's the diversity hire” or “we had to hire a woman.” There is so much resistance from the male power structure. Although women are being hired, the way in which they are seen 37 by their male co-workers, does not seem to lend support for their hiring. Rather, they wonder whether the hire was a mistake, whether hiring a woman instead of another white male was the right thing to do. This type of thinking has to end in order for there to be a genuine move to female empowerment in the workplace. Everyone must feel on board with these decisions in order for there to be measurable change for the future. Working in an environment where your co-workers are already doubting your abilities before coming into the job is damaging and is not ideal for growth within the company, trust within relationships, and productivity, creativity, and ultimately collaboration. A preconceived sense of division is being created before the woman hired is given a chance. The inconsistent numbers of females working, as well as the representations of women over the years, is shocking in the film industry. As female employment rates in television continues to grow, it seems as though feature films are staying mostly stagnant. When Belli was asked to elaborate on this topic, she stated “Films haven’t kept abreast. Features is where the Directors Guild of America is concentrating next. Part of the inconsistency in female employment in films is the auteur factor, there are fewer jobs. TV is a machine, it has huge amounts of opportunities.” The auteur theory dates back to 1954, created by Andre Bazin and Alexandre Astruc, and holds that the director, who oversees all audio and visual elements of the motion picture, is more to be considered the “author” of the movie than is the writer of the screenplay (Britannica). This makes the jobs of everyone else seem a little less important on set, minimizing the amount of roles open for others, because the director already knows the direction he is to take, he has the vision, so he has the say. Even with this auteur factor, others on set hold a responsibility as to how females are portrayed. Writers and producers have just as much say as the director and each of them are responsible for portraying females without degrading 38 stereotypes. Belli claims that everyone absolutely has a responsibility in trying to fix the issue. She says, “In a casting meeting, she [casting director] has four police officers, two are men and two are women. The Chief of Police started as a man and now is a woman. People are looking for casting opportunities.” Not only is Belli being conscious of who ends up on her show but knows people within the industry who do the same. “I have volunteered at an organization called Girls Inc. They honored one of my bosses, Mara Brock Akil, writer and producer, she created a show called Girlfriends, The Gang, Being Mary Jane, and is the executive producer to Black Lightning. She was putting women in positions of power in every sector of the cast and crew and writing a huge amount of great roles.” When it comes to women getting into the industry, Belli thinks it has become easier for women to get their foot in the door. She says, “The industry itself has taken a look at itself and said we can do better and change policies.” When asked if she thinks the #MeToo Movement had anything to do with making it easier for women to get involved in the industry, she states “I think the MeToo movement put eyes on it. In such a way it became emotional because it wasn't just statistics that were embarrassing; it was people's stories that touched people's hearts because of the rampant misogyny and discrimination.” The #MeToo Movement did not suddenly spark change but it definitely progressed it and shed a light on the issues existing about the unfair treatment of women in Hollywood and the workplace. The movement was a “catalyst, a booster rocket.” While there was change already happening years before, the #MeToo Movement brought more attention to the issue and more changes began to take place. Lastly, when asked about what the future looks like for the entertainment industry, Belli gives a hopeful response. She says, “I knew the statistics of people graduating from the directing and production program was over 51% women. And I said wouldn't it be great if someday the 39 industry looked like that. And it will because the women who are getting the opportunity for the most part are rocking it.” It is true that the entertainment industry is beginning to conform to the new realities, but it is also still evolving. As more females attend and graduate from directing and production programs, the more they will be injecting themselves into these positions over the years. Because the entertainment industry is a money making business, there will always be room for growth. There also has to be proof that hiring more females does not interfere with the business. In a discussion Belli had with Maria Burtin, the co-chair at the Women's Steering Committee of the Directors Guild of America, Belli commented “We just have to try harder and earn it when given the opportunity and then it will be equal” and Maria said “No, it will be equal when we fail miserably and we still move up because that's what men have been doing for decades.” Although the direction this interview took was hopeful about Hollywood getting better, it also highlighted some of the downfalls within the industry. For women to be equal to men they first have to be given the same opportunities as men. The #MeToo movement has helped with providing these opportunities but there is much more work to be done. Chapter 5: Hollywood, Let’s Get to Work The interview with Belli concluded with a conversation about where the entertainment industry might head in the future. While looking at some of the improvements within the industry, it's important to remember the pitfalls and focus on how we can improve. Over the years, women have been depicted in degrading stereotypes. The cold careerist, the trophy wife, and the manic pixie dream girl are all examples of recurring stereotypes of females in Hollywood feature films. These stereotypes have been around for some time and should be long gone. The rates of female employment as well as the ways in which females are being depicted have not 40 improved substantially. There is no upward trend to provide evidence of the change within the industry. Although some studies show an improvement from year to year, this is just a small change which has not been consistent. However, 2020 has proved to be a year of positive change for women within the entertainment industry. The Change Makers List: 30 Women Who Saved Entertainment in 2020, identified these accomplishments. Actress and director Regina King made sure the talent she hired for Beale Street was diverse as possible, more than 70% were women, people of color, or members from the LGBTQ community. In her hit series Power, writer and producer Courtney A. Kemp featured female-driven narratives. Actress Margot Robbie collaborated with Hodson Exports to create a screenwriting lab for women, the Lucky Exports Pitch Program (Murphy and Willens). The times are changing and so should the industry. Rather than choosing the same worn-out stereotypes present in the early 2000’s, portraying women in a new and more accurate way should be the direction we are headed. After the #MeToo movement in 2017, Hollywood was given a reality check. Women finally speaking out about sexual assault and the disturbing and inappropriate ways they have been treated in the workplace was an immediate call for change. While the industry saw some room for improvement, such as new policies and laws being put in place, as well as white men of power being replaced because of their unacceptable behavior, there was still no comparable change behind employment rates and the ways women are being stereotyped on screen. A study was conducted on the 100 top grossing films in 2017-2018. Focusing on directors, 112 were hired. 107 of these directing jobs were filled by males and 5 by females (Smith et al., “Inequality in 1,200 Popular Films'' 2). Even after the movement, there is a very low percentage of females in leadership positions. Although these types of patterns continue when it comes to females 41 within the industry, there have been some historic highs. Women made unprecedented gains as protagonists in 2019. The percentage of films featuring female protagonists jumped from 31% in 2018 to 40% in 2019, reaching a recent historic high (“It’s a Man’s Celluloid World 2019” 1). And while there have been some historic highs, there has also been some regression. Females made up 34% of all speaking characters in 2019, a decrease of 1 percentage point from 35% in 2018 (“It’s a Man’s Celluloid World 2019” 1). As women move into positions of power on the set, we can hope the sexism we are witnessing will slowly reverse itself. The many roles women possess now are in the boardrooms, behind the scenes of any set. Women are the script readers, the make-up artists, the hair stylists, and they are sometimes involved in wardrobe and set design. On the other hand, men are hired in the power positions of director, assistant director, and cinematographer. As women begin to hold positions, such as directors, head writers, and camera operators, we will begin to see an added perspective behind the scenes. Whether there are some major wins or some major losses, one thing that is staying constant is the upswings and downswings. Good or not, the industry is fluctuating and plateauing at different times. Although we have recently seen some positive changes, we can only hope this upward trend in women directors, stronger roles, and award nominees will continue. For the first time in the Golden Globes 78-year existence, the Hollywood Foreign Press nominated three women in the category of best director in 2021 (Yamato). This past Golden Globes in 2021, Chloe Zhao won best director for Nomadland, the first woman to do so since Barbara Streisand for 1983’s Yentl. This once again emphasizes the stark gender imbalance that has been present in award shows like the Golden Globes and the entertainment industry at large. It is difficult to determine if we are moving forward due to the inconsistency found in the research and studies. Hollywood, known internationally as the place where movies and television series get made, 42 should be setting an example. The show business capital of the world needs to refocus money and power into programs that will benefit the people who are mistreated and working in the industry, more specifically women. The industry must stand up for what is right and show the rest of the world how diversity and inclusion can benefit films being made on a grander scale. We may not have a final answer just yet about where the industry is headed, but there appears to be potential for change. It may take time but it has been done and is evident through research, it's just a matter of keeping it consistent and creating lasting change. Sexual harassment and oversexualization of female characters should not be part of the job. Women must not stay silent. To do so would normalize these behaviors which has been done for decades. Women must take advantage of this moment and continue to write movies, learn to direct, and ultimately enter the pipeline moving towards the jobs that will eventually help balance the industry. Founded in 2016, Reese Witherspoon’s production company Hello Sunshine, is focused solely on telling women’s stories. Ava DuVernay’s production company, Array, is dedicated to narrative change by women and people of color. Although there will continue to be pushback, women who have earned their place are reaching out to bring others along. Recognizing a broken system and taking action is where we stand now. The rise of the #MeToo Movement sheds light on the issue and has created opportunities for change. Although the movement has caused some change, Hollywood as an industry, needs a reality check, to get over its ego, and needs to start getting to work. 43 Bibliography: “Annie Hall Beats Out Star Wars for Best Picture.” History. <https://www.history.com/this-day- in-history/annie-hall-beats-out-star-wars-for-best-picture>. “Auteur Theory.” Britannica. November 29, 2020. <https://www.britannica.com/art/auteur- theory>. Beitsch, Rebecca. “#MeToo Has Changed Our Culture. 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Faughnder, Ryan and Perman, Stacy. “Five Things That Have Changed in Hollywood Since Weinstein Case Broke.” LA Times, February 24, 2020, <https://www.latimes.com/entertainment- arts/business/story/2020-02-24/five-things-that-have-changed-in-hollywood-since-the-weinstein- case-broke>. Friedman, Emily. “Blond and Beautiful. What Really Makes a Trophy Wife.” ABCNews. <https://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=3372209&page=1>. Greenberg, Zoe. “What Has Actually Changed in a Year.” NYTimes, October 6, 2018, <https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/10/06/opinion/sunday/What-Has-Actually- Changed-in-a-Year-me-too.html?action=click&module=RelatedLinks&pgtype=Article>. “I Want to See Me. Why Diverse On-Screen Representation Drives Cinema Audiences.” Movio. 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Lauzen, Martha M., “It’s a Man’s Celluloid World: Portrayals of Female Characters in the Top Grossing Films in 2018.” Web, <https://womenintvfilm.sdsu.edu/wp- content/uploads/2019/02/2018_Its_a_Mans_Celluloid_World_Report.pdf>. Lauzen, Martha M. “It’s a Man's Celluloid World: Portrayals of Female Characters in Top Grossing Films of 2019.” Web. <https://womenintvfilm.sdsu.edu/wp- content/uploads/2020/01/2019_Its_a_Mans_Celluloid_World_Report_REV.pdf>. Lauzen, Martha M., “The Celluloid Ceiling: Behind the Scenes Employment of Women on the Top 100, 250, and 500 Films in 2017.” Web. <https://womenintvfilm.sdsu.edu/wp- content/uploads/2018/01/2017_Celluloid_Ceiling_Report.pdf>. Lauzen, Martha M., “The Celluloid Ceiling: Behind the Scenes Employment of Women on the Top U.S. Films of 2020.” Web. <https://womenintvfilm.sdsu.edu/wp- content/uploads/2021/01/2020_Celluloid_Ceiling_Report.pdf>. Levy, Emmanuel. “Empirical Studies of the Arts.” Stage, Sex, and Suffering: Images of Women in American Films. Vol 8. Baywood Publishing Co. 1990, pp. 53-76. <https://journals-sagepub- com.libproxy2.usc.edu/doi/pdf/10.2190/90LJ-PX9T-Q0J8-KB0G>. Meszaros, Julia. “American Men and Romance Tourism: Searching for Traditional Trophy Wives as Status Symbols of Masculinity.” Women's Studies Quarterly, vol. 45, no. 1/2, 2017, pp. 225–242. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/44474129. Accessed 29 Nov. 2020. Murphy, Mary and Willens, Michelle. “The ChangeMakers List: 30 Women Who Saved Entertainment in 2020.” The Wrap, https://www.thewrap.com/changemakers-2020-30-women- saved-entertainment/. Metoomvmt.org. <https://metoomvmt.org>. Accessed Nov 29, 2020. “#MeToo: It’s Impact and What’s Happening Now.” American Bar Association. September 2019, <https://www.americanbar.org/news/abanews/publications/youraba/2019/september- 2019/-metoo--its-impact-and-whats-happening-now/>. Nath, Ishani. “The Disturbingly Long List of All the Women Who Have Accused Harvey 45 Weinstein So Far.” Flare Magazine, <https://www.flare.com/celebrity/harvey-weinstein- victims/>. North, Anna. “7 Positive Changes That Have Come From the #MeToo Movement” Vox, <https://www.vox.com/identities/2019/10/4/20852639/me-too-movement-sexual-harassment- law-2019>. Petreca, Laura. “Geena Davis: Stereotypes in Movies Has Negative Effects.” USA Today. <https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2014/09/23/geena-davis-hollywood- sterotypes-remain/16080085/>. Rodríguez, Lucía G. V. “(500) DAYS OF POSTFEMINISM: A MULTIDISCIPLINARY ANALYSIS OF THE MANIC PIXIE DREAM GIRL STEREOTYPE IN ITS CONTEXTS.” Prisma Social, 2017, p. 167-201. ProQuest, http://libproxy.usc.edu/login?url=https://www- proquest-com.libproxy2.usc.edu/docview/1968339746?accountid=14749. Romano, Aja. “The Sexual Assault Allegations Against Kevin Spacey Span Decades. Here’s What We Know.” Vox, <https://www.vox.com/culture/2017/11/3/16602628/kevin-spacey- sexual-assault-allegations-house-of-cards>. Smith, Stacy L. and Cook, Crystal A. “Gender Stereotypes: An Analysis of Popular Films and TV.” The Geena Davis Institute. 2008. Web. <https://seejane.org/wp- content/uploads/GDIGM_Gender_Stereotypes.pdf>. Smith, Stacy L. “Gender Inequality in 500 Popular Films: Examining On Screen Portrayals and Behind the Screen Employment Patterns in Motion Pictures Released between 2007-2012.” Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism. 2013 Web. <https://annenberg.usc.edu/sites/default/files/MDSCI_Gender_Inequality_in_500_Popular_Film s_-_Smith_2013.pdf>. Smith, Stacy L., et al. “Inequality in 1,200 Popular Films: Examining Portrayals of Gender, Race/Ethnicity, LGBTQ & Disability in 2007 to 2018.” USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative. September 2019. Web. <http://assets.uscannenberg.org/docs/aii-inequality-report-2019-09- 03.pdf>. Smith, Stacy L., at al. “The Ticket to Inclusion: Gender & Race Ethnicity of Leads and Financial Performance Across 1,200 Popular Films.” USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative. February 2020. Web. < http://assets.uscannenberg.org/docs/aii-2020-02-05-ticket-to-inclusion.pdf>. Talbot, Margaret. “The Women Who Helped Build Hollywood.” The New Yorker. October 28, 2019. <https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/11/04/the-women-who-helped-build- hollywood>. “Theatrical Market Statistics 2016” Motion Picture Association of America. 2016. Web. <https://www.motionpictures.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/MPAA-Theatrical-Market- Statistics-2016_Final.pdf >. “Trophy wife.” Merriam Webster. November 2020. <https://www.merriam- webster.com/dictionary/trophy%20wife >. 46 Willmore, Allison. “Upending the Stereotype of the Careerist Ice Queen.” Buzzfeed. <https://www.buzzfeed.com/alisonwillmore/the-redemption-of-the-careerist-ice-queen>. Yamato, Jen. “Chloe Zhao is Now the Second Women Ever to Win a Golden Globe for Directing.” The LA Times. February 28, 2021. <https://www.latimes.com/entertainment- arts/movies/story/2021-02-28/golden-globes-2021-best-director-chloe-zhao>. Zoom Video Interview Mary Lou Belli 30 minutes. 47 Appendix A: Industry Interview Mary Lou Belli, a two time Emmy award winning producer, writer, and director. Questions: So, let me just start off by telling you a little bit about my thesis topic and then why you’re here and how you can help me. My thesis is about the misrepresentations of females in Hollywood films pre and post #MeToo Movement. I looked at an overview from the 60’s and70’s of how women were represented in films, the types of roles they were assigned, their goals, their occupation, and also, I looked at employment behind the screen all the way up until now. So ultimately what my thesis aims at answering is if there is a potential towards change when it comes to these things in the entertainment industry. Has the #MeToo Movement led to actual change within the industry in the representation of females and employment? Has it caused more hype around the situation? A: Great! So, diversity programs started more than 6 years ago by the Directors Guild of America. There were contracts every studio was mandated to have a diversity program. Because women were underserved and underrepresented they were considered a minority in terms of employment rates. Because these diversity programs were put in place the trend began then, so way before MeToo. Did they contribute to one another in terms of cross pollinating? I’m not sure. But what I do know is the stats for women directors in the last 2 years, in TV not features, but features haven't been in great shape for at least the last 10 years, it was hard to get a feature made unless it was a tentpole, and we have seen a couple of those tent poles have women directors, but we have seen huge uptick in terms of TV directors who are women. In terms of women of having a safe place to tell their story and I did see a trend happening once the Weinstein’s stories coming out in terms of women who had been staying silent for more than 10, 20, 30, 40 years being willing to at least tell their story amongst other women and willing to and, thank you to Ronan Farrow, to a bigger audience. And that's because of champions like Kerry Washington and Tracie Ellis Ross. So we started having spokespeople who said, “ It's not just you telling these stories” and especially with the #MeToo Movement having a defense fund, so if you got caught in a position where it was going to jeopardize your work ,that's why in almost all cases women who were harassed, treated differently, badly, or illegally, never spoke up but it was because they feared whether they can work in the business or they would say “I’m tough it’s a man's world, I can handle myself.” Have I been in the position where there were people swatting my ass...yea! Have I heard unbelievable insensitive things like “Oh she's the diversity hire” or “We had to hire a woman.” There was also a trend/backlash or resentment from white men who thought their jobs were being displaced by women. Now you can't argue the 48 numbers because women to have an opportunity, and just one, do they deserve it? Have they earned it? Are they the best candidate for the job? In that case those who get asked back repeatedly, such as directors like: Stacey K Black, Karen Gaviola, Hannelle Colepepper, Valerie Wice, not all women of color, some of them are white women who just got a chance, their careers have skyrocketed. When that's the case it's not about “let’s give her a chance.” It's “Omg she's remarkable at her job” then you get competitive with men also doing that job and often get hired instead and you have proved yourself. Q: There is so much inconsistency in female employment when it comes to the industry. What do you think about that? A: Films haven’t kept abreast. Features is where the Guild is concentrating next. Part of the inconsistency in female employment in films is the auteur factor, there are fewer jobs. TV is a machine, it has huge amounts of opportunities. When COVID struck everyone thought we needed to go back to the same experienced people. So the same people were getting hired, we were getting rid of new people. Q: Do you think one job has more of a responsibility to fix this issue? Like do directors have more say or writers, editors? A: Absolutely. There's a trend, in a casting meeting. I have 4 police officers in my show, 2 are men and 2 are women. The Chief of Police started as a man and now a woman. People are looking for casting opportunities. Other than that, there is a responsibility. I have volunteered at an organization called Girls Inc. I thought their mission was amazing, they had honored one of my bosses, Mara Brock Akil, writer and producer, created a show called Girlfriends, The Gang, Being Mary Jane, executive producer to Black Lightning. She was putting women in positions of power in every sector of the cast and crew and writing a huge amount of great roles. In terms of responsibility we have to push that rock up the hill and that’s fine and I have to say in terms of studios, as far and TV goes, we have huge help pushing that rock. TV is doing hugely better. Q: Why do you think TV is doing so much better than films? A: There are a lot of reasons but the main reason is that the way features are monetized is completely different than how TV is monetized. In the last 10 years the business of features have changed completely, it's harder to get a movie made period, as opposed to TV where the exponential growth of the industry has literally exploded in a great way. There is always this prejudice that it's a woman's story, it's not as big box office but they say that “Oh it’s an African American film, it's a limited audience” and “It's not gonna sell internationally.” So there are all these, often many cases, erroneous assumptions. 49 Q: Do you think it has become easier or harder for women to get into the industry in positions such as directors, writers, producers now over the past years? A: Easier. No comparison. The industry itself has taken a look at itself and said we can do better and change policies. Q: Do you think this happened more after the MeToo movement? A: I think the #MeToo movement put eyes on it. In such a way it became emotional because it wasn't just statistics that were embarrassing; it was people's stories that touched people's hearts because of the rampant misogyny and discrimination. Q: I feel like what the #MeToo Movement did was put everything under a spotlight and like you said over the past 6 years there has been change. It could be that after the #MeToo Movement happened they felt more pressured to make these changes, but I don't think the #MeToo Movement was a direct effect of change. A: I think it's a catalyst, I think it's a booster rocket. Q: What do you think the future looks like for the industry? A: When I stopped my tenure and I taught at USC for 10 years, a couple years before I finished, I knew the statistics of people graduating from the directing and production program was over 51% women. And I said wouldn't it be great if someday the industry looked like that. And it will because the women who are getting the opportunity for the most part are rocking it. Listen, it's a money making business. There has to be proof that these hires do not impede business. Maria Burtin, co-chair at the Women's Steering Committee. And I said we just have to try harder and earn it when given the opportunity and then it will be equal and Maria said no, it will be equal when we fail miserably and we still move up because that's what men have been doing for decades. There is a system in place now for instance the Directors Guild of America has a first time directors program. You don't go into that first job without knowing there is a support system behind you and it's coming from your own guild behind you. That's saying “this is hard, we all make mistakes'' but we want to ensure your success so here are the best practices by the 100 directors who contributed to this course that continue to get better each time we teach it. There is a huge amount of people that have come through that and nearly all of them say “taking this one 50 day class has made a difference of not making an embarrassing mistake.” Knowing you could pick up the phone and call another director and ask them “how do I do this?” and they say, “oh I didn't know how to do that either when I started let me help you.” So there's a camaraderie and a fraternity, I don't mean that in a male sense, in the guild where we want the success of these programs to work so that one day like I said 50 or 51%.

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Asset Metadata

Creator Keosian, Adrine (author)

Core Title The potential towards change: stereotypes of females in Hollywood films and the #MeToo Movement

School Annenberg School for Communication

Degree Master of Arts

Degree Program Strategic Public Relations

Publication Date 04/26/2021

Defense Date 04/25/2021

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag #MeToo Movement,cold careerist,Entertainment,entertainment industry,female characters,Hollywood,Hollywood films,industry leaders,manic pixie dream girl,OAI-PMH Harvest,stereotypes,trophy wife,women in film

Language English

Contributor Electronically uploaded by the author (provenance)

Advisor Tenderich, Burghardt (committee chair), Murphy, Mary (committee member), O'Hagan, Jennie (committee member)

Creator Email adrine.keosian@yahoo.com,keosian@usc.edu

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-c89-454150

Unique identifier UC11669762

Identifier etd-KeosianAdr-9540.pdf (filename),usctheses-c89-454150 (legacy record id)

Legacy Identifier etd-KeosianAdr-9540.pdf

Dmrecord 454150

Document Type Thesis

Rights Keosian, Adrine

Type texts

Source University of Southern California (contributing entity), University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses (collection)

Access Conditions The author retains rights to his/her dissertation, thesis or other graduate work according to U.S. copyright law. Electronic access is being provided by the USC Libraries in agreement with the a...

Repository Name University of Southern California Digital Library

Repository Location USC Digital Library, University of Southern California, University Park Campus MC 2810, 3434 South Grand Avenue, 2nd Floor, Los Angeles, California 90089-2810, USA