The Shame of Family Films (Newsweek)

This study, undertaken by Stacy Smith and Marc Choueiti at the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism at the University of Southern California, analyzed 122 family films ... and found that only 29.2 percent of characters were female. And one in four female characters was depicted in “sexy, tight, or alluring attire,” compared with one in 25 male characters. The female characters were also more likely than men to be beautiful, and one in five were “portrayed with some exposed skin between the mid-chest and upper thigh regions.” ... (Another study found, troublingly, that women in G-rated films wear the same amount of skimpy clothing as women in R-rated films.) One in four women was shown with a waist so small that, the authors concluded, it left “little room for a womb or any other internal organs.” ...

[Additional] studies show... the more TV a girl watches, the fewer options she believes she has in life, and the more a boy watches, the more his views become sexist.

This study was done on films rated G, PG, and PG-13. Am I the only one (besides the author and Geena Davis) that thinks there's something wrong here?

Read the full article here.

Jonathan Franzen’s "Freedom" Is All the Rage (NY Times / AV Club)

“Do I think I should be getting all of the attention that Jonathan ‘Genius’ Franzen gets? Nope. Would I like to be taken at least as seriously as a Jonathan Tropper or a Nick Hornby? Absolutely,” said Ms. Weiner in an interview that the Huffington Post conducted with her and Ms. Picoult. For Ms. Picoult’s part, “I want to make it clear that I have absolutely nothing against Jonathan Franzen,” she said in the interview. “I hope I read ["Freedom"] and love it. None of this was motivated as a critique against him or his work, just that he is someone The Times has chosen to review twice in seven days.”

So many of our films are based on books, I've decided that when something interesting about publishing or a specific book pops up, it's worthy of a spot on the blog. And Franzen's "Freedom" has been popping up everywhere, helped in large part by the controversy alluded to above (which actually has more to do with the NY Times than Franzen, but that's really beside the point now.) The book came out yesterday - any of you pick it up yet?

Read the full article here.
Read the NY Times' two reviews here and here.
You can read an excerpt of the novel here.
Finally, AV Club published a nice interview with Franzen yesterday, which you can find here.

"Eat Pray Love," "Sex and the City 2," and the Summer of Backlash (The Atlantic)

All of these franchises are fueled by women's money, and women's interest, and all are massive cultural and economic forces. They sell movie tickets, books, and a truly impressive amount of tie-in merchandise. But the most important thing they have in common may be the derision and contempt they inspire in cultural commentators. They're about trivial stuff like shopping, boyfriends, trying to put the "sparkle" back in marriages; they're about pathetic stuff like heartbreak, divorce, loneliness, and menopause; they're about drippy stuff like self-love, family, and cuddly, soft-focus, Oprah-approved spirituality. In other words, they're about the very things that women are encouraged to be most interested in. And this alone may be enough to keep many people from taking them seriously.

The above quote is a little misleading because it probably makes you think this article also slams "women's" films. It doesn't. For example, the author goes on to say "that there is no special shame in buying a ticket to Eat, Pray, Love rather than The Expendables." To which I say, Amen Sister! (Disclaimer: I haven't actually seen either of those films, but I agree 100% with the sentiment.)
Read the full article here.

Are Women Getting Short Shrift in Late Night? (Time)

More and more, such disparity is at odds with the real world that these shows spoof, in which women were the past two Supreme Court nominees and anchor two of three network news programs. Saturday Night Live's biggest stars lately have been women: Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Kristen Wiig. Ellen DeGeneres is hugely successful in daytime. Are women funny only on weekends and before local news?

In the interest of full disclosure, the only late night shows I watch are The Daily Show and The Colbert Report. I think Craig Ferguson's "Murder She Wrote" skits are brilliant ("Has there been a muuuurder?), but I don't tune in regularly. With that said, is the lack of women hosts in the land of late night something anyone in the audience is actually thinking about, or is it just writers and researchers? "Well over half of Jay and Dave's viewers are women, says Nielsen," but I'm not hearing a clamoring for a woman behind one of the talk show desks. What are your thoughts?
Read the full article here.

Twilight: The Franchise That Ate Feminism (The Guardian, UK)

Anyway, Bella's like totally in love with him, and it's this that justifies the sacrifice of her human life. After all, Edward has qualities to die for. His determination to protect Bella's best interests verges on the abusively controlling. In particular, unusually for a well-favoured suitor, he's prepared to contain his carnal urges lest their gratification harm his beloved.

A warm-blooded rival for Bella's affections is available. Like Edward, Jacob the werewolf wants only what's best for her, but he's not as handsome as Edward, so nuts to him. In a climactic argument, the two guys debate what's best for her. As they decide her future she sleeps between them, the epitome of submissive passivity.

I will admit to reading the first book in this trilogy, and since I'm being honest, I will also admit that I didn't love it. Finally, I will admit that if I thought Robert Pattison was even remotely attractive, I may have been convinced to check out at least the first of the films. But I don't, so I didn't. But even after all those personal confessions, I understand it's appeal, and maybe if I were 15 I'd be gaga over the series, but alas, I am not. I wouldn't necessarily have made the connection to feminism that the article makes, but I think it's at least valid enough to consider.
Read the full article here.

The First Thing Young Women Do in the Morning: Check Facebook (Mashable)

As many as one-third of women aged 18-34 check Facebook when they first wake up, even before they get to the bathroom.

Seriously? I think it's time for these Facebook addicts to get lives. Real lives, not online lives.
Read the full article here.

The End of Men (The Atlantic)

“Women live longer than men. They do better in this economy. More of ’em graduate from college. They go into space and do everything men do, and sometimes they do it a whole lot better. I mean, hell, get out of the way—these females are going to leave us males in the dust.”

Earlier this year, women became the majority of the workforce for the first time in U.S. history. Most managers are now women too. And for every two men who get a college degree this year, three women will do the same. For years, women’s progress has been cast as a struggle for equality. But what if equality isn’t the end point? What if modern, postindustrial society is simply better suited to women? A report on the unprecedented role reversal now under way — and its vast cultural consequences.

This is a very compelling, thought-provoking article. It's not about "Yeah! Women Rule!" It's about changes that have been underway for decades and what they mean for the future.
Read the full article here.

More Women Without Children (Pew Research Center)

Over the past few decades, public attitudes toward childlessness have become more accepting. Most adults disagree that people without children "lead empty lives," a share that rose to 59% in 2002 from 39% in 1988, according to the General Social Survey. In addition, children increasingly are seen as less central to a good marriage. In a 2007 Pew Research Center survey, 41% of adults said that children are very important for a successful marriage, a decline from 65% who said so in 1990.

Yes, this isn't about filmmaking, but let me remind you I did say from the beginning that sometimes I'd post stuff just because I thought it was interesting. And, if you think about it, all these childless women will need something to fill up their empty, empty lives. Why not movies? (Joking!!)
Read the article here.

Too Sexy for My Boss (Slate Magazine)

Her bosses eventually demanded that she revamp—or, rather, de-vamp—her wardrobe: They banned tight pants, pencil skirts, high heels, and clingy turtlenecks. When Lorenzana pointed out that other women in her office wore more revealing clothes than she did, Lorenzana says her bosses replied, in essence: "Yeah, but they aren't as hot as you are." And when Lorenzana came to work, still looking just as jaw-droppingly sexy as ever, Citibank fired her.

This is EXACTLY why I am now unemployed. Riiiight. I wish! But seriously, I thought this was a really interesting article, and though not exactly entertainment oriented, the double standards between men and women pretty much built this town, so I thought I'd share.

Read the full article here.