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Chattanooga: Female-driven summer flicks one step down a long road

By: Holly Leber
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Melissa Silverstein

With an opening weekend gross of $55.7 million, Variety called “Sex and the City” “an unprecedented takeover of the box office by women.” But what does that mean for subsequent female-driven films?

“After ‘Sex and the City’s’ success, is everything following that going to be a failure?” said Melissa Silverstein, New York-based author of the popular blog Women and Hollywood. “There are so few movies out there for women to choose from that we are held to higher standards.”

Several female-centric movies are being widely released this summer, including “Kit Kittredge: An American Girl,” “Mamma Mia!,” “Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2” and a remake of 1939’s “The Women.” At first glance, it may seem like girl power is abundant at the box office.

However, with only 6 percent of the 250 top-grossing films of 2007 being directed by women, according to annual study “The Celluloid Ceiling,” the release of these female-driven movies are only a small step down a long path toward gender equality in film.

A major part of the problem is the societal notion of what is acceptable for women to see versus what is acceptable for men to see, experts say.

“Girls will read boys’ books, but boys will not read girls’ books,” said Dr. Marcia Noe, director of the women’s studies program at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. “It’s the same with movies.”

The discernment starts young. Danny Drysdale, 12, said he would be hard pressed to see a “chick flick,” which he described as “a girly movie with a lesson at the end.”

This sort of label sheds negative light on female-driven movies. Men avoid them for fear of being emasculated. “This means that men aren’t seeing the experiences of women (on screen),” said Ms. Silverstein.

Tim Finley is a married father of two girls. He said he would have to be influenced to watch a romantic movie. His wife had to cajole him into viewing “The Bucket List,” which stars two of Hollywood’s men’s men, Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson, because of its emotional depth.

And “Sex and the City”?

“You couldn’t pay me to watch that,” said Mr. Finley, 31, of Murfreesboro, Tenn..

“Men don’t like (the love stories),” said Donna Wilke of Soddy-Daisy, who noted her husband’s opinion that the first half of “Titanic” was “wasted” on the romantic plot. She said good movies to go to with women are the more lighthearted, carefree ones with more “female issues.”

Such an attitude distresses Ms. Silverstein, who has worked for the Ms. Foundation, the White House Project and Women’s Media Center.

“What’s going to happen to your boyfriend if he sees a movie about romance or love or a story?” she said. “Nothing. Yet, it’s perceived as saying ‘it’s okay to say that, because you’re a guy. It makes you more of a guy not to see a girl movie.’ I mean, what’s up with that? It’s plain sexism. Somewhere along the line, movies that are women-centric become less than.”

Marginalizing Women

Indeed, in 2007, only five of the top 50 grossing films had a female lead or focused on women’s experiences. One of these films is “Juno,” which Molly Stevenson, of Missionary Ridge, enjoyed watching with her 14-year-old daughter. However, she added: “I don’t think my husband would have enjoyed it one bit.”

A number of current and upcoming films that are directed by a woman or focus on women are being released only in a limited capacity. These films include “Brick Lane,” “Then She Found Me,” “How the Garcia Girls Spent Their Summer,” and “Frozen River.”

Oftentimes, there is a lack of exposure of smart, insightful movies about women’s experiences. Emily Garner, an employee of New Moon Gallery in North Chattanooga, enjoyed the movie “Caramel,” a film focusing on women living in Beirut. The movie opened on 11 screens in the U.S. its first weekend, and ultimately grossed $1.6 million in the States.

“Caramel” played for one week at the Bijou Theater as part of the Spring Independent Film Series.

Dr. Noe is eager to see more films that focus on the complexities of relationships among women. She cites “Thelma and Louise” and “The Hours” as examples of movies that do this. She said the ability of “Sex and the City’s” writers to focus on the relationship among women made her a devotee of the TV show, however she found the movie version to be disappointing, saying she thought writer Michael Patrick King was “backed into a corner” in terms of the plot line.

“I’m not necessarily into something that has a happy ending with a wedding,” she said. She prefers movies that focus on the female psychological state, such as “Waitress” and “My Blueberry Nights.”

Karen Henderson, a clinical assistant professor in the department of theater and speech at UTC, is a self-proclaimed “stuck-up filmgoer.” She said she avoids romantic comedies, calling them formulaic and dumbed-down. She prefers films with an original artistic viewpoint.

“Whale Rider” is the best film about female empowerment I’ve ever seen,” she said.

Ms. Silverstein sung the praises of “Stephanie Daley” — “It’s an unbelievably good movie, and it just disappeared” — and “Real Women Have Curves.”

The five films cited above had a combined total U.S. gross of approximately $47.4 million. On their opening weekends, they showed on a total of 75 screens in the United States. Nine of the current Top 10 movies took maiden voyages in more than 3,000 U.S. theaters. Of those nine, only one film — “Sex and the City” — had a top-billed female or was women-centric.

Women-centric Movies

A women-centric movie is not a romantic comedy or sappy love story, though certainly some romantic comedies and some love stories are women-centric. They are not mutually exclusive. It is a story that focuses on the female experience, moving away from what film theorist Laura Mulvey called “the male gaze” — wherein a movie is presented to an audience through the perspective of a heterosexual male and a female viewer must experience the story secondhand.

“When women’s voices and visions are not a part of the cultural conversation, the conversation is not complete,” said Ms. Silverstein. “Just because a movie has a woman or girl in the lead, doesn’t mean it’s only for women or girls. Every day we see movies with men or boys in the lead and no one ever says those movies are just for men or boys. Why can’t women be universal? Why are we seen as other?”

Men can relate to some women-centric movies, she said, such as “The Devil Wears Prada,” because they see themselves in the Meryl Streep character, and “Million Dollar Baby” because it’s about sports.

She cites movies like “Miss Potter” and “Becoming Jane” as women-centric movies. Based on authors Beatrix Potter and Jane Austen, both are films about women writers fighting to follow their passion in a time when it was not considered acceptable for women to be authors.

In 2008, women’s written work continues to be marginalized by the film industry.

“What bothers me is that there are so many wonderful female novelists and playwrights (whose work) will never get made (into films),” Dr. Noe said. She cites Sue Miller’s “The Senator’s Wife,” “The Spare Wife” by Alex Witchel, and Ann Patchett’s “Bel Canto” as books that would make good big screen adaptations. “You might see them on Lifetime TV,” Dr. Noe added.

“All the girl movies are too feminine,” said Gabriel Chavez, 22, of Atlanta.

Not all men are limited to car chases, sports and naked chicks. Hassan Musaddiq, 21, said he would be happy to see a film about women’s experiences. He does eschew romances, he said, with the exception of “The Notebook.”

“I’m really into independent and foreign stuff,” said Austin Thomas, 19, who works at the Bijou. Last Wednesday afternoon, he proudly sported a “Marie Antoinette” pin on his vest.

Ms. Henderson encourages filmgoers to step out of their comfort zone. “(Watch) anything that will make you think and talk and discuss and argue,” she said.

Said Ms. Silverstein: “I’m of the mind that let’s take what we can get and work from there.”

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