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Films that star women, pass Bechdel test, out perform those that don't


Chris-

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The C.A.A. and shift7 report looked at the top films at the global box office each year from 2014 through 2017, using information from Gracenote, a data and technology provider owned by Nielsen. (The time frame was based on a database C.A.A. created for its diversity study.) “Lead actor” was determined by the performer listed first on Gracenote. This meant that both “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” and “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” were designated male-led films: Gracenote listed Harrison Ford and Mark Hamill as the leads for each, rather than Daisy Ridley. “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” was led by Megan Fox and “Trolls” by Anna Kendrick.

 

That's actually more impressive considering they didn't count behemoths like the Star Wars episodes.

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2 hours ago, 5timechamp said:

Its great and all but (sorry is not meant to discredit)... can female led movies succeed without the "extra" backing: comic book film, Disney feature etc...

can a female launch its own franchise/property if its well made?

 

The film Lucy is a good example, it was rather succesful..

That seems like more of a question about the film industry in general right now. Looking back at the top 10 domestic grossers since 2010 and more than half of the movies that get there that aren't part of an established brand are animated: Zootopia, Sing, Inside Out, Big Hero Six, Frozen, Brave, Tangled. Of the others (The Martian, American Sniper, Gravity, Ted, Inception), one has a female lead (though Gravity doesn't actually pass the Bechdel test.)

 

Expand that to the top 20 and it mostly holds. More animation (CoCo, Lego Batman, Moana) , a few special effects films (Dunkirk, San Andreas), and a few female lead films (Crazy Rich Asians, Hidden Figures.)

 

I haven't thoroughly gone through the numbers, but a quick look tells me that there doesn't seem to be much to the idea that female-led films perform worse at the box office.

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This is good news, and I'd like to see more women-led movies. But allow me to nerd rage a bit:

 

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“You’ve got superhero fans that haven’t seen innovation in superhero movies in 36 years,” she said.

Please bring on more diversity in superhero movies but that is a really silly statement given the explosion of different takes we've seen in this now-enormous genre.

 

 

 

14 minutes ago, RedSoxFan9 said:

good news for hundreds of women.  maybe some of the money will trickle down to other women. 

 

It's not just about female actresses being paid more. Movies have cultural impact, and so there is a societal impact that comes with increased representation in film.

 

 

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1 hour ago, Amazatron said:

Also, the sample size on "female-led" movies is a lot smaller.

That's kinda the point though. Fewer female-led movies are made because of the assumption that they won't make as much money.

 

I would imagine that one consequence of that is the female-led movies that are made do better because they're a rarity and possibly because they face increased scrutiny during production. There are also the obvious financial implications when there is an expectation that female-led films will do worse (actresses paid less than actors, etc.).

 

The movie going audience is pretty much 50/50. If female-led films made up half of the movies made, my guess is that they wouldn't necessarily gross more or less than male-led films. 

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5 minutes ago, legend said:

?

 

I wouldn't be able to give it the same amount of edge, but basically, kind of hard to care much about Hollywood's gender pay gap for millionaires when there are millions of working class women in an even more precarious financial position, let's burn down their homes to warm the homeless, etc.

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42 minutes ago, Chris- said:

 

I wouldn't be able to give it the same amount of edge, but basically, kind of hard to care much about Hollywood's gender pay gap for millionaires when there are millions of working class women in an even more precarious financial position, let's burn down their homes to warm the homeless, etc.

 

Not sure I missed anything then. My very point was the value of this change was more than the financials for actresses or "trickledown" from it. That is, you should care about this independent of the payouts.

 

37 minutes ago, RedSoxFan9 said:

I apologize for not believing in trickle down justice :peace:

 

No worries. I wasn't objecting to your rejection of that :p Well. I suppose it depends on what you mean by "justice." That's not how I would characterize the impact.

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