ErinLaing.com

The cineplex is dominated by male protagonists. Films are mostly geared towards male audiences and men make up a large number of the writers, directors, producers etc., working in the industry. According to the Celluloid Ceiling report, Martha M. Lauzen writes that “women comprised a scant 15% of all directors, writers, producers, editors, and cinematographers working on the top 250 films of 2007.”

So it comes as no surprise that her recent study reveals the lack of female film critics in the top 100 U.S. Daily Newspapers. A discouraging but evident statistic:

Films with women filmmakers (directors and writers) and films with female protagonists and ensemble casts comprise a larger proportion of films reviewed by women than men. Thus, the under-representation of women film critics, writers and freelancers may cause films featuring females or with women filmmakers to receive less coverage.

Anne Thompson (one of my favorite industry bloggers) has a look at the study and a few comments of her own.

Let’s put it this way. Some men are better able to adopt the female POV, and tap into their femme side, than others. Many men are not trained to see things from the perspective of the opposite sex. All women are. That’s one reason why today’s movies are so geared toward men, while women starve for material aimed at them. Women are accustomed to going along and accepting slim pickings in pictures by and about men.

To add to Thompson’s statement. Women, from an early age, are raised to see things from a male perspective. Not just from cinema, but from all forms of mass media. Unfortunately, because of this, women tend to look at one another from a male perspective as well, which gives rise to the cattiness, competitiveness and dislike for one another that we are constantly hearing about, seeing and propagating (which is a whole different can of worms). It drives me mad and the way the industry is heading is certainly not helping matters.

On the iPod: Nina Simone: Feeling Good.