Walking around your local high-street, not a corner can be turned without seeing an in-your-face advert for female empowerment.
T-Shirts lined with the glittery logo of GIRLS RULE or THE FUTURE IS FEMALE.
Products and merchandise created for a younger audience. Forever in our faces arrogantly pushing an agenda.
God forbid if a BOYS RULE or THE FUTURE IS MALE T-Shirts were ever created nowadays. Feminists offended by the very text.
Not limited to just products do we have to appease to this new gender superiority marketing but we have to cater to it in filmmaking too.
Filmmaking Feminism
You only have to watch Birds Of Prey to realize just what an agenda-driven film this is.
All men are scumbags (or so they say), rapists and don’t deserve to even be on the same level as our female counterparts.
It’s in cases like this when female empowerment goes beyond equal rights and into patronizing territory. Offensive territory if ever I become a little snowflake.
Whilst Birds of Prey was wholly insensitive we had a movie like Bombshell which dealt with the story efficiently. Perfectly acted, incredibly well portrayed and never pushed a ‘women are better’ angle whatsoever.
It was feminism for equality. Not for superiority.
Filmmaking Feminism Done Right
Bombshell was an outstanding movie! A true story about omen who had been made to feel lower by their male superiors.
A film where these girls banded together to stand up for what’s right and fought against the system to be treated as equals.
Equal NOT better.
So whilst I encourage the promotion of encouraging messages inequality I certainly don’t like the bias ‘we’re better than you’ pandering that has saturated our modern lives.
The Oscars Debate
You only had to watch the Oscars this year to see this patronizing push of female empowerment.
There were many films led by female directors and producers that were harshly snubbed. But the root of the problem is much deeper than an awards show.
We mustn’t forget that only 17% of women directors are members of the Directors Guild Association and only 32% Academy members are female.
That’s a very small % and it should be much closer to 50-50 but only including competent and talented filmmakers. Not filmmakers who are there JUST because they’re female.
See my point?
I’m also on the fence about the quality of these female-led films. We can’t just nominate people because they’re female and the general consensus from these campaigners is just that.
Some (not all) of the films put forward to be nominated simply weren’t good enough in my opinion.
If we are to bow down and hand out awards to someone just for their gender or their race then what’s the point?
We need to award films for films based on their quality and not because of some agenda behind it trying to push it through the crowd.
Female Film Celebration
During the very same awards ceremony, our female filmmakers were rightly and deservedly celebrated.
Not the feminists who had been campaigning to wipe every man from every category.
and the Best Actor award goes to…. *Announces female winner*
We had the incredible Nancy Haigh and Babra Ling who scooped the production design award for Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.
We had producer Karen Ruper Toliver for the animated short ‘Hair Love‘.
Hildur Guðnadóttir won for the sublime Joker composition.
Carol Dysinger won the documentary short prize.
Kwak Sin Ae producer of Parasite made a wonderful end speech.
These are all women scooping awards for their talent, their creativity and their ability to craft incredible art.
Not pushing agendas. Not stepping over a sea of emasculated men to make themselves feel important.
No patronizing borderline arrogant approach of the ‘we are better than you’ selection, just incredibly talented women stepping into a spotlight they so rightly deserve.
There needs to be more inclusive and fairer representation of the genuinely talented female filmmakers across the board.
Why can’t we all be equal?
