One of the most popular directors of the last few years is Wes Anderson. Lots of actresses have great parts in his films. Look at Gwyneth Paltrow, Angelica Houston, Saoirse Ronan, Tilda Swinton, Frances McDormand, and Cate Blanchett. There are a variety of women in his films, they have agency and are well written. But, Anderson’s main characters are always male and the women are always in a minority.
In the past few weeks, Hollywood has come forward with revelations about sexual assault by film producer Harvey Weinstein. Several actresses confirmed to have been assaulted by him but kept silent out of fear of being shut out of the film industry. It’s up to men to take responsibility towards women in film. Not only in regards to sexual assault but also when it comes to the representation of women in film.
The main problem is that women are not taken seriously enough in the film industry, which makes it easy for men like Weinstein to take advantage of them. This article will not be about sexual assault in Hollywood, but about another part of the problem, which is the inability of many male directors to think outside their own gender.
One of the most popular directors of the last few years is Wes Anderson. Lots of actresses have great parts in his films. Look at Gwyneth Paltrow, Angelica Houston, Saoirse Ronan, Tilda Swinton, Frances McDormand, and Cate Blanchett. There are a variety of women in his films, they have agency and are well written. But, Anderson’s main characters are always male and the women are always in a minority.
Anderson explained why: He doesn’t know how to write a good lead for a woman. He doesn’t know how to write from a female perspective and is therefore scared to give a woman a lead. He does, however, want to write bigger roles for women as he said:“(…) but, I would love to write a good, big part where the lead character was a woman. I want to see if I could do that well.”
It isn’t the inability of Anderson to write parts for women. Wes Anderson writes them and he writes them well, he just never made a female lead. It’s the unfamiliarity with the female gender that makes Anderson, and many other directors with him, write about men.
Dit essay verscheen in oktober 2017 op http://www.frame.land
Yasmin Wegman 