Ceasing the Cycle: Reforming Hollywood’s Toxic Culture towards Women

Name your top five favorite female movie directors. You most likely cannot, unless you have an extensive cinematic arts background or passionately follow Hollywood women. In film’s early beginnings, women shined in roles that men dominate today. Screenwriter Frances Marion, businesswoman Mary Pickford, and director Lois Weber gained fame as some of Hollywood’s earliest innovators (Ogilvie). Today, “women only direct 1.9% of the top-100 films” (Dowd). Over the past century, Hollywood transformed from a hub of liberal female pioneers to a male dominated field. Gender inequality persists in contemporary Hollywood, including “the presence of women in central roles in a variety of genres; the narrowness of the acceptable age-range, size, sexuality, race, and appearance of women on screen; whether women assume roles of equal power and status to those held by men; and sexual harassment in the workplace” (Press, Liebes). In light of high profile cases that have uncovered its misogynistic practices, Hollywood must address gender inequality because the current system perpetuates a cycle of female exclusion and promotes a toxic culture. By exposing perpetrators of misogyny and promoting women on screen and off screen, Hollywood can recover from its historic discrimination and alienation of women.

The entertainment industry, through a culture of greed and sexism, has created a system built on sex and male power. Many famous female stars confess that men in positions of power would offer “the casting couch” route — trading sexual favors for a role, representation, or any other step to stardom — when they first began their careers. Gwyneth Paltrow told “Elle Magazine that when she was just starting out it was suggested that a business meeting be finished in the bedroom” and Lisa Rinna “claimed she missed out on a role in a prominent television series because she refused to give a producer a quickie” (McKay). This sex for play system, where powerful men exploit powerless women for sexual favors, fails to empower women in Hollywood. Recently, brave women have called out individuals like Weinstein for their actions, but the problem lies more in power structure. In the production process, men dominate almost every role. Men account for “89 percent of screenwriters, 82 percent of editors, and 77 percent of producers” in the top-100 films in Hollywood (Dowd). This imbalance leads to cases of men abusing their positions to exploit women trying to make it in the industry. While many would like to idealize Hollywood, the “casting couch” system and unequal representation in positions of power hinders its reputation.

This combination of sexualizing females and male dominance has created a culture in which male producers and casting directors often prioritize attractiveness over talent when hiring women. Writer and actress Victoria Frings researched the common descriptors on cast lists sent to talent agents and found that while producers want men “who are confident, funny, smart, and passionate,” they want women “who are smoking hot, attractive, fit, and sexy” (Clifton). This double standard, where Hollywood producers judge men for their personality and talent and judge women based on appearance, exposes another toxic Hollywood practice. The dilemma comes down to morals. Unfortunately, sex sells. Popular magazines like Maxim often experiment with its covers, and overwhelmingly, a semi-naked woman on the cover always performs better than a male star (Suggett). While it makes sense that filmmakers sexualize women on screen to sell their films, simplifying females down to sex perpetuates gender equality. The more Hollywood promotes women as sex symbols instead of intelligent human beings, the longer it will take to empower females as intellectual beings in popular culture. Hollywood must emphasize talent over attractiveness, like casting directors and producers do for men, when they cast women.

The sexism and inequality caused by Hollywood’s culture occurs because of a cycle of men associating themselves with other men and double standards. Often times, men tend to exclude women from their projects. Frozen co-director Jennifer Lee states that her friend Phil Johnston “would just happen to be at lunch with one of the guys that was hanging out with guys and… all of a sudden they’re making Cedar Rapids — a movie written by a man, edited by a man, directed by a man and produced by five men” (Ogilvie). In this cycle of men making movies with other men, Hollywood excludes women from being integral players in the process of film production. This perpetuates inequality because as HBO Girls creator Lena Dunham claims, “if they don’t have experience, they can’t get hired, and if they can’t get hired, they can’t get experience” (Dowd). This dark loop occurs repeatedly in Hollywood and prevents women from competing on a level playing field.

Another fundamental part of this dark loop is the repeated cycle of people in positions of power giving opportunities to up and comers who remind them of themselves. Famous animation director Brad Bird states that he saw a younger version of himself in Colin Trevorrow, an aspiring director at Sundance, so he used his connections to contact his pals Frank Marshall and Steven Spielberg, and soon Trevorrow was tapped to direct Jurassic World (Dowd). This cycle of directors, producers, and writers giving opportunities to beginners that remind themselves of their younger selves often prevents women from becoming more involved. The younger versions tend to be of the same sex, so naturally the male majority funnels more male newcomers into roles. This reflects the importance of putting women in positions of power to increase the number of females in Hollywood.

Additionally, double standards have given an unfair advantage to men in Hollywood. Female players bear more pressure than male players because fewer females have succeeded. According to former Sony head Amy Pascal, when men flop, the studio gives them a second chance, but when women flop, they often disappear from the mainstream (Dowd). This double standard is incredibly unfair to women and highlights not only the inequality in the industry, but also the inequity. Furthermore, contrary to popular belief, women and men have similar levels of talent. According to a study by the Sundance Institute, “women and men who graduate from Sundance’s prestigious labs in Utah finish their films at the same rate and get their films accepted to the world’s top independent festivals at the same rate” (Ogilvie). Issues such as men associating with other men, men picking protégés that remind them of their younger selves, and double standards prevent women from making a jump from Indies to big pictures. This highlights the importance of trying to promote women into positions of power; they simply lack the institutional opportunity to do so. Despite their equal ability to men, women fail to integrate into more prominent roles in Hollywood because of these cyclical issues.

Hollywood can end this discrimination and determent and solve inequalities by promoting females in positions of power behind the screen. The first step to promoting females off screen is to punish the men who perpetuate this toxic culture. In May of 2015, “the ACLU of Southern California… asked the federal and California state governments to investigate blatant and rampant discrimination against women directors in film and TV” (Lapidus). By punishing those who hinder gender equality, Hollywood can cleanse itself of its toxic sexualized culture. Coupled with the ACLU’s efforts, more women speaking out about sexual harassers would also improve the plight of women. The issue is not about whether contemporary America believes in gender equality; it resides in a lack of awareness that this inequality occurs and a lack of punishment for abusers. Besides weeding out toxic individuals, Hollywood must also encourage young females to enter the industry. At SCA and NYU’s Tisch School of Arts, female and male students are equally represented, compared to only one-third of seats ten years ago (Ogilvie). Educational institutions recognize the important of equal gender representation, but Hollywood lags behind. The equal representation in the best film schools in the country fails to translate onto the set. In 2008, of the “745 films that have earned more than $50 million in box office sales since 1992, only 20 were directed by a sole woman” (Dergarabedian). In order to solve this discrepancy, studio heads should attempt to hire equal numbers of female and male producers, writers, actors, and directors involved in his or her studio’s films each year. On the other hand, women must also push for greater roles in Hollywood. Callie Khouri “wrote “Thelma and Louise” and insisted that the story not be changed in the screenplay,” and it achieved critical success (Abramowitz). Women must stand up to men in Hollywood when they can. Nevertheless, due to Hollywood’s toxic culture, Hollywood must allocate space for women to alleviate inequality.

In addition to hiring more women off screen, promoting women on screen can also help by capturing a greater portion of the box office. Tom Rothman, chairman of Sony Pictures, states that “there’s a myth that young males drive the box office…maybe a decade or so that was true” (Dowd). Naturally, males tend to enjoy male-orientated films with male leads and women tend to enjoy female-orientated film with female leads because of relatability. If men dominated the box office, then it makes financial sense to green light more male-orientated films. However, like Rothman claims, males no longer dominate the box office; according to Theatrical Market Statistics, “52% of all movie theater goers in 2013 were women, yet only 15% of all movies released that year starred women” (Nunez). This glaring discrepancy disputes the false notion that men drive the box office. More importantly, major studios have missed out on millions in revenue by not producing more female-lead films that would attract 52% of the box office.

Some skeptics argue that they fail to gain as much profit as male lead films, especially because of traditional views held by international markets, yet the domestic appeal and importance of battling stereotypes trumps their concerns. Female actresses often portray similar roles in film that create misleading stereotypes. Many actresses who portray businesswomen “are portrayed as nasty and mean, again reinforcing the association between career women and the “bitch” stereotype” (Ezzedeen). Even if portrayals are satirical, characterizations in film, if repeated enough, can integrate into popular culture. When young girls watch these depictions, these stereotypes falsely enter their minds. Films like Wonder Woman indicate that a positive portrayal of females can empower women and still generate box office returns. Wonder Woman boldly promotes women as strong, independent leaders and still garnered box office success. The domestic gross accumulated to $411 million dollars, the third highest domestic gross of twenty superhero movies in the past decade (Cain). It proved that a female-lead film could promote female power and independence while also dominating the box office. Continuing to create similar films, with female directors and female leads and a theme of female empowerment, will change the perception of females in popular culture and alleviate a toxic culture that constantly demeans women.

Through off screen and on screen promotion of women and exposing those who abuse their powers, Hollywood can improve the current climate for females in Hollywood. With issues such as the “casting couch,” prioritizing attractiveness over talent, and a lack of equal numbers of men and women in positions of power, Hollywood must change. Critics may argue for equity over forcing equality; however, with double standards for women and a cycle of female exclusion, despite women being equally qualified as men, forcing equality and promoting female power is the best way to solve the unjust inequality that exists. The American public has certainly accepted that men and women deserve equality, but Hollywood continues to run on a power structure where men oppress and exploit women. By improving equality through off screen and on screen promotion and exposing misogyny, Hollywood can catch up to modern standards of gender equality and enhance box office returns. Hollywood must undergo sweeping changes to remove sexual harassment and female exclusion from its culture so that one day, every movie fan can name their top five female directors off the top of their head.

Works Cited

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