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Women's Stories, Movies and the Oscars

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    As you might have guessed, I watch a lot of movies, my favourites are science fiction
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    but also action, dramas, and thrillers and I'll even admit the occasional romantic comedy.
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    If you go to the movies a lot too you may have noticed something that the vast majority of these films
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    have in common, most of the movies seem to be stories about men.
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    One of the primary reasons Hollywood continually churns out films about men is because we live in a male centered society.
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    Most simply, male centeredness is an aspect of patriarchy that shows us that we place and prioritize
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    our attention on men, men's stories, the things men want to do and the things men don't do.
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    As a result, the images we see in the media often focus on male-centered stories.
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    One way to demonstrate male centeredness is not only to look at the films being made
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    but which films are most celebrated and honoured.
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    To do this, I looked up the films that won the Academy Award for best picture over the last 50 years.
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    Let's see whose stories are being told?
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    Starting in 2009 is The Hurt Locker which although directed by a woman is still all about men.
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    Slumdog Millionaire - men
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    No Country for Old Men - need I say more
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    The Departed - is about men
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    Crash - is an ensemble
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    Million Dollar Baby - is interesting because it's pretty equally a story about a man and a woman.
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    Lord of the Rings - men
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    Chicago - is woman centered
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    A Beautiful Mind - men
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    Gladiator - is about a man who fights other men
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    American Beauty - man
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    Shakespeare in Love - man
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    Titanic - is from a man's perspective
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    The English Patient - man
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    Braveheart - man
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    Forrest Gump - man
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    Schindler's List - man
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    The Unforgiven - is about men on horses
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    The Silence of the Lambs - is about a man who eats people, and this is interesting because although
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    Jodi Foster's character plays a pretty big role in the film, you would never describe it as a movie about
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    an FBI agent who... you would describe it as a movie about Hannibal Lecter.
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    Dances with Wolves - man
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    Driving Miss Daisy - is about a man and a woman
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    Rain Man - is about a man and his brother
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    The Last Emperor - man
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    Platoon - man
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    Out of Africa - is woman centered
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    Amadeus - is about a man
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    Terms of Endearment - is woman centered
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    Gandhi - is about a man, albeit a pretty extraordinary one
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    Chariots of Fire - men
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    Ordinary People - is about a family
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    Kramer vs Kramer - is about a couple
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    The Deer Hunter - men
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    Annie Hall - is about a man and his love life
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    Rocky - is about a man who fights other men, again
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    One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest - man
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    The Godfather, Part II - men
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    The Sting - is about two con men
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    The Godfather, Part I - men
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    The French Connection - is about men
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    Patton - men
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    Midnight Cowboy - is a man
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    Oliver! - is a boy
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    In the Heat of the Night - is about men
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    A Man for All Seasons - man
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    The Sound of Music - is woman centered
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    My Fair Lady - is another interesting one because it's pretty equally about both a man and a woman's story
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    Tom Jones - man
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    Lawrence of Arabia - is so male centered that there aren't even any female speaking roles in it
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    West Side Story - is about both a man and a woman
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    And finally in 1960 is The Apartment which is from a man's perspective
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    So only 4 out of 50 of these films are exclusively centered on women's lives.
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    The vast majority are films about men and their lives and although there are some ensemble casts
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    women often play secondary or stereotypical roles.
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    Year after year we see men's stories being created, produced, celebrated and honoured
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    while women's stories take a back seat or aren't even represented.
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    And it's also behind the scenes in Hollywood that is dominated by men.
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    It's astonishing that Kathryn Bigelow is the only woman to have ever won an academy award
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    for best director in it's 83 year history, and she won for "The Hurt Locker" in 2009,
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    which is most definitely a male-centered film.
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    In fact only 4 women have ever even been nominated for best director.
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    And what's more startling is that women only account for 7% of all Hollywood directors.
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    Hollywood executives, production companies, financial investors and backers are most interested
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    in marketing to young men and funding stories that they, as men, can relate to.
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    Thus they fund and produce the majority of Hollywood films to appeal to this demographic.
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    Obviously, I want to see a many, many more films that are centered on women's lives,
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    however it's important to note that just because a film is women centric films doesn't mean it can't still be sexist.
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    For instance, in so called "chick flicks" women are often depicted in stereotypical gender roles
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    being obsessed with shopping, love and finding "Mr. Right".
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    I want to see more films that depict women as full and complete human beings
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    not stuck in stereotypical gender roles.
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    And just so we are absolutely clear... I'm not saying men's stories aren't good, important or interesting,
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    but I want to point out that they are disproportionally valued and most rewarded in our society.
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    Here are a few simple questions you can keep in mind next time you're watching a movie,
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    to help you identify whether a story is male centered or female centered.
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    Who has the most screen time?
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    Whose perspective do we see the scene from?
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    Whose story arc does the plot revolve around?
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    Do we see them make decisions?
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    Who do we most identify with?
Title:
Women's Stories, Movies and the Oscars
Description:

Oscar season is a time when members of Hollywood are celebrated and reward for the work that they do. But it is also a time when we see just how male centered the movie industry really is. As Allan G. Johnson points out, "If you want a story about heroism, moral courage, spiritual transformation, endurance, or any of the struggles that give human life its deepest meaning, men and masculinity are usually the terms in which you must see it," and since the vast majority of Hollywood films are about these narratives then that might explain the overabundance of stories about men's lives.
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Video Language:
English
Team:
Feminist Frequency
Duration:
05:11

English subtitles

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