Tag: Question of the Day

Question of the Day: Biopic Wishes

Every week the Women’s Media Center hosts a tweetup–called #sheparty–to discuss issues of women and, uh, media. Last Wednesday the topic of biopics came up–specifically, the fact that there are currently two films in production about Linda Lovelace. Who? I had to look her up to remind me of where I’d heard that name before (it’s not the math genius, Ada Lovelace, who immediately came to mind for me). Linda Lovelace was the star of perhaps the most notorious porno of all time: Deep Throat.
Now, in theory I don’t think it’s unacceptable for a biopic to be made about a woman who happened to star in a famous porn film, though I’m immediately concerned about characterization, whose perspective we’ll see, who viewers will be encouraged to sympathize with, and all those other things that make films not just entertainment but social commentary.
What is unacceptable is that Lovelace herself testified that she was coerced into making porn. In 1986, she testified before the Meese Commission that “Virtually every time someone watches that movie, they’re watching me being raped.” While we can’t know the content of the films until at least scripts are released, this fact should give us pause, and make us consider Hollywood’s motivations for greenlighting two projects based on her life.
What is also unacceptable is that two films are being made, when there are so many other women out there–who’ve had major social, cultural, scientific, or political impacts–who haven’t had major motion pictures made about their lives.
During the tweetup, we asked participants who they’d rather see as the topic of a biopic–and the suggestions poured in. Below I list some–though not all–of the responses we received, and want to open the question up to all our readers.
Who would you like to see a Hollywood biopic made for?
Here are some of the suggestions that came to us via Twitter:
Emma Goldman
Alice Walker
Betty Friedan
Bette Davis
Alice Coltrane
Minnie Riperton
Hannah Arendt
Gloria Steinem
Nellie Bly
JK Rowling
Harper Lee
Margaret Atwood
Hillary Clinton
Margaret Mitchell
Mary Shelley
Gertrude Ederle
Louise Erdrich
Marilyn Monroe
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf
Victoria Woodhull
Margaret Chase Smith
Amelia Earhart (better than Amelia and less focused on her love life)
Vita de Sackville West
Aayan Hirsi Ali
Audre Lorde
Marie Curie
Margaret Sanger
Eleanor Roosevelt
Thanks to all who suggested these women. Add your wishes in the comments!

Question of the Day: Do We Need a Best Female Director Category?

Last March, Kim Elsesser wrote an Op-Ed in the NYT called “And the Gender-Neutral Oscar Goes To…” in which she argues for a single acting category. 
Since the first Academy Awards ceremony in 1929, separate acting Oscars have been presented to men and women. Women at that time had only recently won the right to vote and were still several decades away from equal rights outside the voting booth, so perhaps it was reasonable to offer them their own acting awards. But in the 21st century women contend with men for titles ranging from the American president to the American Idol. Clearly, there is no reason to still segregate acting Oscars by sex. 

When the piece was published, the typical response was “But then no women would be nominated!” Elsesser makes a good argument for equality, but in an industry so dominated by men and sexist attitudes, don’t we still need categories for male and female actresses? Tatiana Siegel of Variety took up the question again last November.
With the current system of sex-divided categories (and there is a real problem with that kind of division), there are an equal number of men and women garnering attention for their performances. However, in the category for Best Director, only one woman has ever won (Kathryn Bigelow for The Hurt Locker), and only three women have even been nominated (Bigelow, Sofia Coppola for Lost in Translation, and Jane Campion for The Piano). Will there be any women nominated this year?
Here’s my question–one that Elsesser sarcastically posed at the end of her editorial, but that I ask sincerely:  
Do we need a Best Female Director Category?
Leave your thoughts in the comments!

Reader Question: Finding movies for girls

Perhaps in response to our Quote of the Day from Geena Davis, founder of the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media, a reader asks:
As the father of a nearly year-old daughter, I’d be interested in getting some informed takes on children’s movies. We’ll undoubtedly be watching many in the next few years. Can we apply this Bechdel test to some of the classics of the genre or are there more complex forces at …work? If there are other considerations, what would they be?

While the Bechdel test is certainly a great place to start–seeing whether girls talk to each other about something other than boys–it’s not the end-all of determining feminist media. Female characters with true agency represent real role models for girls. So…avoid Disney? Certainly someone can offer better advice.

Help us out: What specific movies/television programs would you recommend for young girls?