There's good news as far as representation of women in Hollywood is concerned. Last year, of all the films released, at least 29 per cent had female protagonists. This is the highest in recent times, up by seven per cent from 2015.
The Centre for the Study of Women in Television and Film, which published the study yesterday, conducts research on a variety of gender-based issues in the entertainment industry. The author, Dr Martha M. Lauzen, also found that women represented a record 37 per cent of major characters in films, a rise of three per cent from last year. The study is an analysis of 2,595 characters from the top 100 highest grossing films of 2016.
The study also noted that there is an increase in the appearance of women protagonists in genres other than romance. About 28 per cent appeared in comedies, 24 per cent in dramas, 17 in horror, 14 in sci-fi, and only 3 per cent in action. Male protagonists were more in dramas and action (30 per cent both).
Represented in highest-grossing films
Most notably, a few of the highest-grossing films—such as Rogue One, Arrival and Ghostbusters—had strong female protagonists, and some of them also passed the Bechdel Test. According to the creators of the Bechdel Test, a film must have three of these requirements: at least two named women, who speak to one another, about something other than a man.
Films such as Captain America: Civil War, Fantastic Beasts, Bad Moms, Dawn of Justice and Suicide Squad (though debatable) are reported to have passed the Bechdel Test, while animated films include Moana, Zootopia and Finding Dory. On the other hand, films like The Legend of Tarzan, The Magnificent Seven and The Jungle Book failed the test, portraying women only as damsels-in-distress or even as non-existent.
Rogue One was the highest grossing female-protagonist film, with its box office crossing a billion dollars worldwide.
Younger female characters, still stereotyped
The Legend of Tarzan failed the Bechdel Test
On the negative side, Lauzen said that gender stereotypes were still reinforced in films. “Female characters were less likely than males to be seen at work, actually working, and were less likely to be portrayed as leaders,” she wrote.
Also, female characters were younger. “Males 40 and over accounted for 52 per cent of all male characters,” she said, “Females 40 and over comprised 32 per cent.”
Another report, published last week, by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission found that women directors feature women leads in their films 57 per cent of the time, compared to 18 per cent with a male director. The report said that female directors were “systematically discriminated” against, and that the Commission was likely to take legal action against studios for this.
Can 2017 set a new record?
Wonder Woman is one of the most-anticipated and long-awaited female-centric superhero film
In 2017, the most anticipated films with female protagonists include the Oscar-nominated Hidden Figures, Emma Watson musical Beauty and the Beast, and superhero flicks Wonder Woman and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. Also watch out for historical drama Killing Margaret, Pitch Perfect 3, Scarlet Johansson-starrer Ghost in the Shell and Star Wars: Episode VIII.
Slowly but surely, women are getting accurate representation, both on the screen (as Lauzen's study shows) and off-screen. Last year, stars like Jennifer Lawrence and Jessica Chastain have been vocal about the wage gap between the best female actors and the male actors.
On the other hand, the #AskHerMore campaign trended on social media during award functions, calling out on the sexist coverage of female actors on the red carpet. The media is notorious for asking only about their clothes and not about their work. Reese Witherspoon and Gloria Stenheim are among the numerous female actors supporting this campaign for the upcoming Academy Awards.
