forwarded by Michael Hoover > Hey, Hollywood: What's Wrong With This Picture? > Run Date: 09/18/00 > > By Jeannine Yeomans > WEnews correspondent > > In the roles they play, the shows > and movies they direct and edit and the jobs they fill, women are both > misrepresented and underrepresented. The numbers of key jobs and > positive characterizations are falling. Stay turned for a November > girl-cott. > > HOLLYWOOD--The real story for women in Hollywood is more > gloomy than glamorous. New research reveals that men still dominate all > movie and TV jobs in vast numbers compared with women. In fact, the > numbers of women in some key Hollywood jobs have decreased in recent > years. > > "It's as if the women's movement never happened in Hollywood," says Emmy > winner Jan Wahl, who reviews movies for the NBC-TV affiliate in San > Francisco. "It's a tragedy for all women." > > New research by Martha Lauzen, Ph.D., a professor at San Diego State > University, reveals that among the 207 top grossing films last year, > women constituted only 17 percent of all creators behind the scenes, > including producers, directors, writers, and editors. > > Only 4 percent of directors were women, a drop from 8 percent the > previous year. There were other significant declines in the numbers of > executive producers from 21 percent to 15 percent, and female editors > from 13 percent to 8 percent. The picture for television is similarly > bleak. > > "People think we're doing better than we are," says Robin Swicord, a > respected film screenwriter whose credits include, "Little Women." She > laments that women in Hollywood "have worked so hard and tried to get > more jobs for other women, but it's discouraging that we have so far to > go." > > Stay tuned for a nationwide girl-cott against TV, movies > > In November, Chicago-based Merge Magazine and the Media and Women > Project are calling for a second annual "Girl-cott of the Movies," a > nationwide protest against Hollywood and movies that unfairly represent > and employ women. > > "We hope to get thousands of people involved in staying away from > bad-for-women movies," says Tamara Sobel, founder of the Media and Women > Project. "We have to start speaking up with a single voice," Lauzen > agrees. "If we don't, no one will." > > And it's not just an issue of jobs in an industry that rakes in over $22 > billion a year. > > When the numbers of women working on a movie or TV show decline, females > are more likely to be portrayed unrealistically on screen as what Lauzen > calls "adorable dopes." They are powerless, indecisive and childlike, > with men at the center of their universe and a need to be rescued. > > "These are the Ally McBeals and the Dharmas, just one step up from the > classic bimbo," Lauzen says. "When women have more powerful roles in the > making of a movie or TV show, we know that we also get more powerful > female characters onscreen, women who are more real and more > multi-dimensional." > > Blood and sex sell big overseas--the biggest-grossing market > > "Hollywood is only interested in what guys want, like old geezer movies > and slob sex comedies where all girls are bimbos," says Wahl, a member > of the Directors Guild who has reviewed movies for 20 years. "I've never > seen our culture in such bad shape." > > Wahl and other Hollywood observers blame the bottom line: money. They > say a hit movie can take in most of its gross--as much as 80 > percent--overseas. > > "Overseas audiences still want sex and violence. That's what sells > outside the U.S.," says Wahl. "The whole world may have to change before > the picture for women in Hollywood gets brighter." > > "It is very hard to get movies made that are genuinely feminist, or even > portray women in a fair way," Swicord says. "I genuinely believe there > is a big domestic audience for this kind of movie, but if there is only > a domestic audience, it won't get made." > > Quality and realism improve with more women on the sets > > Swicord and Lauzen agree that it's not a male conspiracy and it doesn't > help to label men in Hollywood as sexists. Lauzen's research also shows > that women who have jobs behind the scenes in Hollywood try to help > their sisters. > > "When women have power roles behind the screen, we get more women on the > crew and we get a different kind of portrayal on screen, which is a more > powerful female character," she says. > > But women working for their side are up against a conspiracy of the > money-hungry, whose job is to pull in the big bucks--and often the > grosser the movie, the bigger the gross. > > The TV picture appears to be just as dim. > > Research released by Lauzen last week shows that in the latest primetime > TV season, 1999-2000, women accounted for only 40 percent of all > characters, and overall they were portrayed as being younger and less > powerful than men. Male characters were identified more by their > occupation, while women were identified more by their marital status. > > "Veronica's Closet" is a good example of a bad show, Lauzen says. > > At first blush actress Kirstie Alley seemed to be a great character. She > was over 40, not stick-thin and she was CEO of a multi-national company. > "But then the show's creators 'youth-enized' her by making her very > childlike and indecisive," Lauzen says. She cites one episode when she > said she couldn't leave her husband even though he cheated on her dozens > of times. > > "That was supposed to be a source of humor," Lauzen says. > > Revealing bias that had been suspected but never proven until now, > Lauzen's newest study also shows that the scheduling practices of the > major TV networks systematically favor shows where men dominate over > women both on camera and off. > > "When the networks dole out time slots, they are doling out the fate of > a show," Lauzen says. "So the networks can be doling out a death > sentence or guaranteeing that a show will be a hit depending on its time > slot." > > On the major networks (ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox), as the percentage of > females increased both onscreen and as creators of a show, the more that > show "got moved around and surrounded by programs not getting high > ratings or shares," Lauzen reports. > > "In other words, the female shows got a much tougher batting order," she > says. > > Best shows for and about women get shabby time slots > > The picture was just the opposite--brighter--for women in the scheduling > practices of the smaller networks studied, UPN and WB, where more > favorable time slots were given to shows with higher percentages of > women characters and creative talent behind them. > > Overall in primetime TV, women constituted only 18 percent of the > creative talent, including executive producers, writers, and editors. > Only 7 percent of all directors were women. > > The cause of these low numbers, Lauzen believes, is the power of the > status quo. "People like to work with other people who are like them, so > men tend to hire men, women tend to hire women, and so forth." > > Lauzen began researching the state of female employment in movies and TV > because she kept hearing that women were making progress in Hollywood, > "while the numbers didn't seem to jibe with what I was seeing on film > and on the air." > > She admits changing Hollywood "is going to be like turning around a > battleship. It will take time, but awareness is the first step." > > Jeannine Yeomans is a former television correspondent and creative > consultant based in San Francisco. > > For more information about the "Girl-cott of the Movies," visit: > http://www.merge.simplenet.com/