Oscar and the Bechdel Test
How do you know this is a really really bad year for women characters in film? Of all of the films nominated for Best Picture this year only one of them has a Best Actress nominee in them – Viola Davis for the Help. Compare that to last year when Natalie Portman, Jennifer Lawrence, Annette Bening all had corresponding Best Pics. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo would have passed this test based on Lisbeth’s conversations in the research library. Melancholia would have also passed. Bridesmaids, of course. But the Academy failed to nominate that film. Last year’s, with TEN Best Picture nominees (as opposed to the herding cats version of this year that Tom Sherak seems to think is a success — hey, I’m fine with their sexist offerings as long as they’re GREAT films — erm, um…), was far better in all ways.
Feminist Frequency has decided to nail them for this year’s offerings:
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It’s kind of sad when someone who puts so much effort into deriving the real meaning of things from immediate context then turns around and reduces something as complex as “War Horse” into “a story about boy and his horse”. It’s not fair and it’s not remotely true.
(Let’s get it straight people, the horse wasn’t even his
)
But then I guess it’s easy to miss war for all the pretty horses.
An otherwise enlightening video tough.
I do kind of wish we could al agree that there is a difference between sexism and sexiness that plays towards male fantasies. The argument is that the fantsies belong to both genders.
Hey, Young Adult was my #2, although I know Sasha’s not a fan…
Dragon Tattoo was the year’s finest and really got jobbed. I think it will fall into the “How the hell was THAT not nominated??!!” elevated genre category populated by Cool Hand Luke, Marathon Man, and Casino. All guy movies, though…
Actually Dragon Tattoo doesn’t pass, because Lisbeth mentions the guy she works for, and tells the receptionist to call him if she has a problem. (Pretty sure that’s how it went.)
Uh yeah, Proman — it is about a boy and his horse – that’s the love story, the poor blue-balled fellow. But yeah, lots of war, lots of men, lots of men and war.
Na, they talk longer Rashad about her access, what kind of access she has and how she’s not yet finished. Also theoretically you could include the love scene with another woman.
I will say that last year’s nominations were much better, but I still think 2011 was the better year for films. The Academy had plenty of options and they made the wrong choices for Best Picture (except for Hugo, War Horse, and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. I loved those films).
It’s not a bad year for women. The Best Actress field as a collective is much better than previous years. Plus others who didn’t get in but were still great, like Charlize Theron and Mia Wasikowska.
But to criticize War Horse for not representing women… I’m sorry but women were not in the trenches during the war. Plus the main character is a horse, not a man.
I laughed when Toy Story 3 didn’t pass the test. Really, applying this test to a film about toys? To me, Barbie was one of the most memorable characters in that film. But I guess she is invalid because she talks to Ken, a “male” toy.
We can all agree that there should be more stories about women, particularly with strong female lead roles. But the Bechdel Test is flawed and proves nothing. It’s not enough for the feminists to have one female and one male talking in a scene, as equals. It has to be two women talking.
@Rashad: If the lead is female and its characters have goals beyond finding Mr. Right, I don’t think you really have to worry. Lisbeth’s more about trying to find a connection with someone, anyone. That she provides the most value to the case grants her character an immense amount of agency rarely found in crime movies.
God, Ryman, really? Yikes. 2010 WAY WAY better.
I wonder how many films of various director’s filmographies pass the test, specifically: Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese and George Lucas?
I think those three, more than any other directors, are the most emulated directors and I can only think of maybe a couple films apiece which might pass the Bechdel Test.
I think overall movie quality increases as gender equality in pictures increases (whether it be through storytelling, roles, directing or whatever). Up through the 60′s, women had a very strong presence in Hollywood and female stars were better boxoffice draws than they are today.
It’s not really about singling out War Horse – it’s just a way to highlight how lacking it is to even have the simplest of things – two women talking to each other — in any of the Oscar nominees. Easy for you to say it “proves nothing.” It’s quite telling, in fact. Can you imagine using it for other minorities?
I wish Albert Nobbs had gotten more traction. It’s both women and trans friendly. Also, did Wuthering Heights qualify for this year’s awards? I noticed it got some mention in the UK.
Also, if A Separation had gotten a bit more of push, perhaps it could have been counted here, as well?
I don’t think Dragon Tattoo passes the test, the interactions with librarian or whatever were so brief and insignificant, just like “where are these files” and “how much time left?”.
So Dragon Tattoo fails too. I think the only David Fincher film that might pass the test is Panic Room.
I am now wondering how many Woody Allen films would pass. I actually thought most of his might pass.
Jesse: So the conversation just can’t be romantic? That’s not what the girl said in the video.
@Rashad: I’m not going by the exact parameters of the Bechdel Test. I’m just saying that in my mind, a film based around someone like Lisbeth is as worthwhile as two female supporting characters interacting briefly. I mean, I don’t think Sophie’s Choice passes the test but it created one of film’s most enduring female protagonists.
@Red_Wine: Yeah, Allen’s great with creating impressive sketches of men and women, often in the same film. I just watched Another Woman for the 1st time and it’s a perfect display of middle-aged anxiety and intelligence in a woman.
Also theoretically you could include the love scene with another woman.
Passes the “interaction” requirement of the test — not only because of the wordless love scene (can’t we agree that kissing and other stuff counts more than words on the scale of “female interaction”?) But beyond that, in the brief sequence when Lisbeth asks the club girl to leave and her friend asks if Lisbeth is sure she doesn’t need her to stay I felt a more genuine sense of intimacy and mutual concern between the two than in 20 other rote hetero encounters in movies last year.
Interesting video Sasha. Thanks for posting it.
While this test by no means encompasses the problems of female representation in film (or lack there of) it demonstrates the shear extent of the problem in broad strokes. It’s rather shocking to think it’s that difficult to find female characters who aren’t even momentarily concerned about anything other than a man.
It would be interesting to do this test on BP nominations or top 10 or 20 films of each year to see if there was any trend…
It would be interesting to do this test on BP nominations or top 10 or 20 films of each year
Would be interesting to compare results of the top 10 films from 2012, 1992, 1972, 1952
Two of the biggest hits of the year were women driven and were met with both box office and critical acclaim: The Help and Bridesmaids. Let’s not start creating stories out of thin air. When people look back on 2011 in film, Bridesmaids will go down as the funniest film of the year. The Help won the SAG Ensemble. The Female acting Oscar winning performances will probably be more celebrated than the male ones. In short, the notion that it was a bad year for women in film is complete and utter hogwash.
In short, the notion that it was a bad year for women in film is complete and utter hogwash.
for real, ladies.
one or two films out of every 100 should satisfy your emotional needs. Stop trying to take over!
(imagine the reverse: a year when only 2 movies featuring men got any Oscar attention. All the other Oscar movies, girls girls girls.)
Maybe Hollywood would prioritize Women and their stories if the movies that do made more money. I think we can expect to find more films prioritizing those subjects in the future thanks to the financial successes of Bridesmaids and The Help (I wish Albert Nobbs made more money, I thought that film was great). I believe Hollywood follows the $$$$$.
“(imagine the reverse: a year when only 2 movies featuring men got any Oscar attention. All the other Oscar movies, girls girls girls.)”
That’s where i think the lady in the video was smart. To limit the discussion to the best picture nominees helps her case.
(I wish Albert Nobbs made more money, I thought that film was great).
And I thought it was great. So that makes you and me and one of my Twitter followers.
I get that women are clearly not given the same prominence that men are in films, but I don’t think that this is intentional. The business is, for better or worse, dominated by male writers/directors – and of course they identify more with male characters/stories.
Analyzing this as it relates to Best Picture nominees, as if the male/female ratio of the nominees should be 50/50, is not fair because I would estimate that the films featuring male leads outnumber the female ones 90/10. When you get into female filmmakers, the stats are even worse. So why would the demographics represented in the Oscar nominations be any different?
The real problem is that there are not enough powerful women in the business. I think that there are many people who would love to see more women directors and more strong female roles – I am definitely one of them. I just don’t think applying to Bachdel Test to Oscar nominated films is a particularly effective way to make the point.
I saw some of her other vid and she is quite demagogic.
In one of her video on women-centered movies that won Best Picture, she’s talking Titanic: «Well, it is a movie about a love story, but form a MAN’S PERSPECTIVE» and she goes on classyfying Titanic male-centered.
Has she ever seen Titanic?
The last time I did (4 days ago), Gloria Stuart was still a woman and the story is about Rose sharing her memories…
Albert Nobbs … eugh.
Some of my favorite films of the year featured strong, independent females (Martha Marcy May Marlene, Dragon Tattoo, A Separation, Elena, Miss Bala, Bridesmaids .. ) and countless other films showcased powerful female acting. I don’t get what all this fuss is about to be honest, but, then again, I’m not a woman in Hollywood.
There should be more films with strong female leads in box office smash hits, this is true.
Nik Grape,
Martha Marcy May Marlene, Dragon Tattoo, Elena, Miss Bala, Bridesmaids…
Melancholia, Margaret, Jane Eyre, Certified Copy, Hanna, Pariah, Meek’s Cutoff
I think we’ve now counted nearly all the countless other films.
and those dozen movies combined got about 6 Oscar nominations — as great as they are, most were totally ignored, yes?
while movies featuring men received around 60* Oscar nominations
*(or 70, 80 — some large number that I didn’t take time to verify)
Does anyone happen to know the male/female ratio within AMPAS? I have a feeling that the numbers may correlate with the number of male-centric films that get nominated.
We all know the problems: the studios only want to finance certain types of films, and they clearly have a narrow view of what audiences want. And I think there aren’t enough women in the business to advocate for female stories/characters.
But again, Oscar voters should be assessing the quality of the films above all else. The best films should win awards, regardless of any demographic or minority statistics. Maybe this year the films starring women just weren’t good enough to deserve a Best Picture nomination (The Iron Lady and Albert Nobbs, anyone?).
Does anyone happen to know the male/female ratio within AMPAS? I have a feeling that the numbers may correlate with the number of male-centric films that get nominated.
John, that’s a great question, great point.
For the past few year, the AMPAS has been releasing the names of all the new members. (You can google “AMPAS invitees 2011″ for example, and find these lists easily.)
Last year the Academy added 175 new members. We might expect if there is an imbalance then they would be trying to fix the ratio. Or not.
Out of 175 news invitees to the AMPAS last year, 55 were women. Less than 1/3.
What they say about the films last year is factually incorrect because Inception, The Fighter and 127 Hours contains dialog between women that isn’t about men. Though all are one or two liners and don’t pass her new rule.
In Inception Cottilard asks Paige about whether she has been in love, in The Fighter Mellissa Leo harasses one of her daughters about money and I believe in 127 hours the two women talk about how lost they are.
Point is still made and they don’t come close to meeting the 1 minute requirement but I’m just saying they are incorrect on the old rules.
And Sasha, I greatly doubt there is a minutes worth of dialog between Lisbeth and that other lady. If Toy Story 3 doesn’t make the cut with the dialog between the mother and daughter then I doubt GWTDT has more.
Ok, it’s a fair point I guess…but why does there have to be two or more women talking to one another to pass her stupid test? I mean there are plenty of films with prominent female characters/roles that get overlooked with this constraint.
The key is to not take “the test” personally and just think about it. Applying it to Oscar works as well as applying it to any other group of films. Make it the AFI top ten. Make it the GGs. Make it Critic’s Choice. I think all will get similar results. The point is that you will always gets a very low percentage of films that pass the Bechdel Test, even though women make up 51% of the population. And that is worth thinking about and talking about.
Tree: I’m thinking b/c the point is to find women showcased as not always in relation to men. If there was the opposite of the Bechdel Test, you’d find the overwhelming majority of the films feature two men talking to each other about something other than women. It doesn’t mean the films are bad. None of this means the films are bad. It just means it’s something for everyone to think about and question. Why aren’t there more films not just about women, but that can even simply feature two women speaking to each other about something other than men?
“The point is that you will always gets a very low percentage of films that pass the Bechdel Test, even though women make up 51% of the population. And that is worth thinking about and talking about.”
And what that notion let’s conduct a more common sense sort of test to see what the % is like. So here I’ve taken the cast listings for the 4 Best Picture nominees that were also nominated for the SAG Ensemble (feel free to do this for the other 5 films but you’ll have to use some discretion on who the primary character ares) So here we go…
THE ARTIST (The Weinstein Company)
BÉRÉNICE BEJO / Peppy
JAMES CROMWELL / Clifton
JEAN DUJARDIN / George
JOHN GOODMAN / Al Zimmer
PENELOPE ANN MILLER / Doris
Females- 2/5
THE DESCENDANTS (Fox Searchlight Pictures)
BEAU BRIDGES / Cousin Hugh
GEORGE CLOONEY / Matt King
ROBERT FORSTER / Scott Thorson
JUDY GREER / Julie Speer
MATTHEW LILLARD / Brian Speer
SHAILENE WOODLEY / Alexandra King
Females- 2/6
THE HELP (DreamWorks Pictures / Touchstone Pictures)
JESSICA CHASTAIN / Celia Foote
VIOLA DAVIS / Aibileen Clark
BRYCE DALLAS HOWARD / Hilly Holbrook
ALLISON JANNEY / Charlotte Phelan
CHRIS LOWELL / Stuart Whitworth
AHNA O’REILLY / Elizabeth Leefolt
SISSY SPACEK / Missus Walters
OCTAVIA SPENCER / Minny Jackson
MARY STEENBURGEN / Elaine Stein
EMMA STONE / Skeeter Phelan
CICELY TYSON / Constantine Jefferson
MIKE VOGEL / Johnny Foote
Female- 10/12
MIDNIGHT IN PARIS (Sony Pictures Classics)
KATHY BATES / Gertrude Stein
ADRIEN BRODY / Salvador Dali
CARLA BRUNI / Museum Guide
MARION COTILLARD / Adriana
RACHEL McADAMS / Inez
MICHAEL SHEEN / Paul
OWEN WILSON / Gil
Females- 4/7
Add ‘em up and divide by the total and you get 16/30 = 53.3% (a tad greater then the 51% you cited actually) :p
Um, actually it’s 18…lol guess I should not do math in my head this late at night.
So actually that comes out to 60% of the major characters being female…for those 4 films at least. Like I said, you can go ahead and expand to include the others if you wish.
it’s an interesting theory and I quite enjoyed the clip, however, it has its limitations.
“The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo” is about a strong female, working her ass off to solve the mystery of a missing/dead female. So there you go, tons of conversations between Lisbeth and Blomkvist (yes, he’s a man, so?) about women and how to find them.
As far as the 2011/2010 topic comes to mind, to me 2010 outclasses 2011 in so many ways.
Narrowing it down to women: the performances were better and the films were better.
“The Kids Are Alright” + “Black Swan” + “Rabbit Hole” + “Blue valentine” + “Winter’s Bone”
>>> (by a mile)
“The Iron lady” + “The Help” + “Albert Nobbs” + “My Week With Marilyn” + “The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo”
The 2010 nominated characters were so much more real and above all surprising/intriguing than the 2011 nominated ones.
It’s a shame “Hanna” (when was the last time we had such an outstandingly cool movie + with a female protagonist + a female antagonist + a kick ass soundtrack + stripped of sexuality?)
& “Bridesmaids” were not given proper attention, it would have been more than a breath of fresh air at the stiff ceremony that is about to unfold.
You know what’s funny? That movies like “Annie Hall”, “Kramer vs. Kramer”, “Ordinary People”, “Silence of the Lambs” have one of the most brilliantly written and complex female lead characters, and yet they would still probably fail the bechdel test.
2011 >>>>>>>>>>> 2010, but Oscar made poorer choices. That’s it, because you can’t find in 2010 performances as great as Binoche’s, Dunst’s and Yoo Jeong-hee’s, sorry. Just look outside the box.
Thank you so much for this video Sasha. I heard about the Bechdel Test many years ago, and I think it is a great way to determine women’s overall representation in Hollywood.
Whenever someone brings up the Bechdel Test, you always have to deal with the sort of equivocating you are seeing in these comments. The author of this video said repeatedly that passing the Bechdel Test does not prove a movie is:
1) Good
2) Pro-woman
All it proves is how Hollywood is using women in the movies it makes. Are they viewed as nothing more than companions for males? This could be romantic or non-romantic companions. The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo is a good example of both. Lisbeth is the romantic partner for Mikael, but also his partner in solving the crimes. However, it still barely passes the Bechdel Test since it is the story of a male and female partnership rather than female leads working together. It does not mean the movie is not well made or is anti-woman, all it means is this is still a man’s world. One strong female lead in a movie is fine, but any more than that and the men start getting nervous.
“That’s it, because you can’t find in 2010 performances as great as Binoche’s, Dunst’s and Yoo Jeong-hee’s, sorry”
Well, Certified Copy is a 2010 film, only released later in the US.
But. yeah, I agree that 2011 was a better year for film, although the 2010 Oscar choices were superior.
When you actually go out in society and ask people if 2011 was a good year for women in film, they’re gonna say yes. They will point to Bridesmaids, The Help, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. Society as a whole rarely cares what Oscar chooses to reward or not. Most of these people will be more familiar with the 3 films I just mentioned than they will be with Winter’s Bone and The Kids Are Alright – 2 of BP nominated films from 2010 which the Bechdel Test would have you believe is the great indicator for the year of women in film.
@ caleb roth
1) I think I make it more than clear that I’m talking about the Oscar choices, having mentioned the titles of the films and all.
2) the thinking outside the box theory is a fine cliché, yet, you have one that’s even finer, it’s called personal opinion, and it stands above any adamant theories about which film/performance is/was better.
I think it’s rather ridiculous to deny there is a lack of decent representation of women in Hollywood film; it must require quite a degree of self-delusion to achieve this. I’ve had (intelligent) male friends try to convince me that scantily clad action heroines with giant, bouncing, breasts, in skin tight leather suits, are really feminist figures. But any positives of such characters (eg. activeness and self-determination etc) are undone by the fact that she basically exists for the purpose of turning on male viewers.
And there have been other such tests that back up the divide. Such as one on the top 100 releases from 2008. Some of the data on the characters:
Speaking roles: Men 67%, Women 33%
Wears sexy, provocative clothing: Men 5%, Women 26%
Partial nudity: Men 8%, Women 24%
http://www.usatoday.com/life/movies/2011-04-21-movies-men-women-roles-speaking-sexy.htm
So… I guess we can’t demand Meryl Streep to lead movies with more quality… since the industry right now is really NOT giving the chance of having REALLY good and important woman-centered films (and for women above 50… let’s just forget about it).
Let’s be honest, I don’t see any reputed director captable of giving high quality films (aka. oscar baity) with a woman as a lead. I just don’t see the likes of Cristopher Nolan, Quentin Tarantino, Martin Scorsese, Woody Allen, Danny Boyle, Alexander Payne, Steven Spielberg, Ridley Scott or even Stephen Dadly doing that (heck, not even Tim Burton is going to do that!!!). I can only think of “average” and very “rare” directors (Von Trier, Arofonsky) who have given juicy an important women roles lately. Eastwood is the only exception of “oscar baity director” who has been giving a few woman-centered films.
But looking back to the oscars… for 5 man-centerd films we can barely see a woman-centered one. The only woman-centered film that won best picture in the last 20 years was “Chicago”. But how many good “oscar films” about women we have had in the past? I can only thin of the Clint Eastwood exceptions (Changeling, Million Dollar Baby), Black Swank (writen and directed by a “rare” director), Juno (written and directed by a woman),The Queen (english are different), Chicago (directed by Rob Marshall… a director not very “manly”), The Others (written and directed by a spanish… and yes, gay too), Elizabeth (british film directed by an indian) and Far From Heaven (another independent film director).
But let’s be honest. Scorsese is never going to do a “Huga”, and I don’t think it was in Christopher Nolan’s mind to do an Inception with a Cate Blanchett or a Marion Cotillard as the lead and not a Leo DiCaprio…
I’m going to corrext myself inmediately, Diablo Cody didn’t directed “Juno”, she only wrote it. Jason Rietman directed it.
Wow, this test is sort of ridiculous. I like the intentions involved, but it’s silly to say that True Grit doesn’t represent women enough because Maddie doesn’t talk to another woman for at least 60 seconds.
Some stories don’t require it. Not a big deal. And for a film like True Grit . . . well, are you just going to go back and change the novel so the film version, years later, can pass a silly little test?
Better ways to focus on the subject, really.
You know what’s funny? That movies like “Annie Hall”, “Kramer vs. Kramer”, “Ordinary People”, “Silence of the Lambs” have one of the most brilliantly written and complex female lead characters, and yet they would still probably fail the bechdel test.
You didn’t just include Annie Hall and Silence of the Lambs with Kramer vs. Kramer did you? I really hope not. At any rate you have a female lawyer and Meryl Streep interacting for a long while – they aren’t JUST talking about the dude. And in Annie Hall you have Annie taking drugs with another female and talking with her female therapist for quite a while. In Ordinary People you have Mary talking to another wife on the golf course for a bit and then talking with her mother for a very long time in the kitchen. And in Silence of the Lambs you have extended scenes with Clarice in her dorm with her friend, who is a girl. Don’t you tell me my business again.:-)
Ryan: “I think we’ve now counted nearly all the countless other films.
and those dozen movies combined got about 6 Oscar nominations — as great as they are, most were totally ignored, yes?
”
Yes, definitely. Even though they were bad or dividing critics, I was also counting strong female performances in Contagion, The Help, Iron Lady, The Artist, Nobbs too. I think strong female performances can go a long way to fuel the power of women in Hollywood. But I definitely agree about the misrepresentation of female roles in the Academy Awards. I’m just of the mind that it has to be a quality film first and foremost, and not just praised or going to the Kodak because it features strong female characters/stories. I’m sure these films are out there.
I believe that the problem stems from what others have voiced here about the number of powerful women in Hollywood. You would think that someone like Megan Ellison would make a push for more high budgeted female-centered roles that didn’t have them be cardboard babes (Transformers) or superfluous wives (Hugo).
Also, I think this test is severely limited. The rules are way too strict, it’s a fun experiment and all but “The Problem” isn’t really addressed, it’s almost mocked.
Also, if you haven’t seen it I recommend a small indie film called “Without” to you and to Sasha. A strong female lead performance, about a girl dealing with a terrible loss. It touches on homosexuality, women, and features many scenes with women talking to each other, not about men. It’s really good and the director will be going places, I’m sure.
It’s rather shocking to think it’s that difficult to find female characters who aren’t even momentarily concerned about anything other than a man.
Yeah I know. I wrote something about this much earlier in the year, how all of the women were absent and in their place men. Male fathers replacing absent female mothers, etc. The only film that works against that grain is The Help but of course. Even Bridesmaids has to have a wedding as the happily ever after, and Kristen Wiig has to end up with a guy. Is it any wonder women are driven mad by this continually?
While I admire the point of the test, it’s difficult to take it seriously in regards to film criticism. And to include “Black Swan” seems hypocritical. Yes it passes the test, but one probable reason it did so well was how it sold its sexuality. Would it have still had an audience if it didn’t allude to lesbianism or possible nudity? I have doubts.
Also: Perhaps it’s not the filmmakers who are the problem, but rather the audience that doesn’t go to films that can’t pass this test. Look at all the independent films that pass that never get seen by a larger audience — not just in the theater, but on DVD. Most people don’t want to watch movies that don’t have explosions or center on flippant romantic conundrums.
I’m no one now, but I half a dozen scripts written the center on a woman or women. Everyone who reads them agrees they’re good, but there’s no way for them to get made. Why? They won’t make any money. Why? Because that’s not waht an audience wants to see. So, even as a filmmaker wanting to make more female driven films, it behooves me to pursue more “traditional” stories that have women as the romantic partner or romance-impaired protagonist. The way producers/executives see it: Movies about women talking about men sell; let’s make more movies like that. The sad truth is that we’re stuck in a Catch-22 with only a random film breaking the cycle, but that film tends to more often be the exception rather than the rule.
The thing is, there is an audience for Bechdal passing films. It might not be big enough to bring in $100 million on opening weekend (or at all), but it’s there and it’s wanting more films to enjoy. It’s just that no one who can help wants to invest in what they see as a losing cause.
“And in Silence of the Lambs you have extended scenes with Clarice in her dorm with her friend, who is a girl.”
But aren’t those scenes focused on the serial killer? A man? It’s not as if they talk about if their training is going well or how each other’s moms are doing. They talk about a man.
I just saw Dragon Tattoo this past weekend, and being a fan of the book, I was really disappointed in the movie. I feel like if you hadn’t read the book it could be ok, but to me I was just constantly upset by how they left out the entire Vanger clan, I mean no Isabella at all?? In the book the characters are fleshed out slowly and the list of suspects grows with it, but in the movie there is really only one person who could be the killer so for me it just sucked the life right out of the story.
Same with Berger, in the book she has life and purpose, but in the film she is resigned to one or two useless scenes, and then we are supposed to understand the impact of the final scene with her in it…I didn’t buy it at all.
Did you want a 5 hour movie? Because that is what it would have had to be to include everything in the book. Isabella had her hissing hospital scene.
I really enjoy this test. It really is kind of shocking how few BP nominees have female leads – typically I’d guess one for every five nominations, if that. (This year we’re 1/9.) Even allowing for women who talk to each other… yeah, it’s an awful ratio.
Interesting question though: Are we blaming the Oscars, the ticket buyer or the studios? Yes, the Academy could have brought in The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo or Bridesmaids if there were ten (though for all we know it was Drive or Tinker Tailor just missing), but that’s still 2/10. How many films with leading ladies were serious contendors for anything but Actress? How many times in a review about Streep or Williams or Davis have we read “she’s so much better than the material”? Do we doubt that an audience-championed film would play well with the Academy given a certain quality level? And are studios misreading what the public wants to see, when it seems every female-led hit is deemed a “surprise hit”?
BTW I, for one, love the new BP nominee process. People have been complaining for years about whatever movie being in the sixth slot… well guess what? If The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo was in spot #10, everyone and their dog would assume it was actually in spot #6 or #7 based on the nomination count. This process lets us see what they really think. I find that interesting. Everyone screaming about The Blind Side a couple years back can look at the Extremely Loud nod and realize it may not have been (and I’ll bet wasn’t) in that last slot. THIS is their taste. They like hopeful weepies more than they like dark, disturbing work, though if they love a dark film enough, they’ll send it over the top. They’ll nominate a film like The Tree of Life based on respect and, more than likely, the desire to preserve their reputation. I also think this means the #1s were widespread – in a year when five films are way out in front, I expect we’ll see fewer nominees. I want to find out though. I also don’t think for a second the Academy sees this new system as a failure. Personally, I don’t get the backlash.
@eurocheese what about Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2?
2010, so much better. What a great year for movies… Made me love the Oscars again right up until the point the snubbing of Fincher and The Social Network left a bad taste in my mouth.
Bridesmaids is the biggest piece of crap. Totally not even funny, a huge disappointment.
This is feminism for the sake of feminism at its worst.
The video is still interesting though.
Sel – strike Tarantino from your list of directors who don’t make great films with a female in the lead. That’s just wrong.
Half of the time when I’m intentionally or unintentionally eavesdropping on two women speaking not in the workplace… What are they talking about? The real thing here is how we are still stuck in a world where having a man in a woman’s life is THE MOST IMPORTANT THING EVER!!! You don’t need to look farther than the top grossing film that females paid to see. NOT The Help, but Twilight 4.