Jodie Foster Ingeniously Puts Hollywood's Problem with Female Directors in Perspective
If Catherine Hardwicke's comments regarding why she was never asked to direct The Fighter didn't point enough to Hollywood's celluloid ceiling, Jodie Foster's explanation in the Los Angeles Times on Wednesday adds psychological reasons to the issue. Why do female directors only account for 7 percent of Hollywood movies? Is there a specific resistance from executives? The two-time Oscar-winner lays it out.
Said Foster, who was promoting her movie The Beaver, the dearth of lady directors has to do with a pervasive (and shallow) executive idea of "risk aversion."
"I don't think it's a plot and these guys sat around and said let's keep these women out," Foster said. "I think it's like race psychology. When a producer hires a director, you're hiring away your control completely. You're bringing on somebody that will change everything. When you give that amount of power up, you want them to look like you and talk like you and think like you and it's scary when they don't, because what's gonna happen? I'm gonna hand over $60 million to somebody I don't know. I hope they look like me."
When it was mentioned that many studio executives do, in fact, look like her -- a 48-year-old white female veteran of the industry, Foster nodded. "And name the lists that come out of the female studio executives: guy, guy, guy, guy," she said. "Their job is to be as risk-averse as possible. They see female directors as a risk."
This is the kind of news that makes me extra-excited for director Lorene Scafaria's upcoming comedy with Steve Carell, Seeking a Friend for the End of the World, and angrier about Sigourney Weaver's offhand remark that The Hurt Locker won Best Picture because director Kathryn Bigelow "had breasts." Still stings, Ripley. Still stings.
[UPDATE: Foster chats with Movieline about her role in Neill Blomkamp's Elysium and her interest in exploring genre filmmaking.]
· Jodie Foster: Even female execs 'see female directors as a risk' [LAT]
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Comments
I believe Catherine Hardwicke's general point is valid, but in the case of THE FIGHTER: the film has been Marky Mark's baby/vanity project from the start, and he hand-picked David O. Russell to direct because they're "brothers" after working together on HUCKABEES. Both men said so over and over in interviews.
Jeez, even if David O. Russell were just my half-brother, I would definitely take to the crack pipe.
"The Hurt Locker" won because of anti-sci-fi prejudice, not fear of backlash against anti-female prejudice.
Erm The hurt locker won because it was an excellent film maybe?
yeah i call bulls**t on jodie. too many times do women believe they have more incite because they are a women. what was that dumb ass movie that came based on the premise of aliens experimenting on the strength of bond between mother and child... really?! haha
Two other possibilities:
1) Men are less likely to get distracted from advancing their careers by the desire to take time off to have children.
2) Higher levels of testosterone leads to an average higher level of "drive", which is a key asset for film direction.
Of course, it's unfashionable to imply that there are any differences between the sexes other than societal constructs, but I believe that biology DOES play a role.
1. I'd like to see any evidence suggesting the reason that there are dramatically fewer female directors of Hollywood movies is because they took time out to have children. Perhaps this happens on an individual basis, but not on such a huge scale. If the numbers were 60/40 men to women, maybe that could be an explanation, but 93/7 is ridiculous.
2. I'd also like to see some evidence that testosterone increases someone's drive (other than sex drive.) I suspect women are every bit as driven as men are, particularly in competitive fields.
I would say that sexist attitudes (both from producers and the viewing public at large) are far more likely reasons.
maybe because of the same reason why most used car salesmen are men
more pushy and keep demanding the attention of the people producers
and of cause also society's view of men not being bitches when they act like that 😛