More Complex Female Roles Needed
Previously Published in The Daily Trojan. Reproduced with Permission.
In late January, tabloids across the Internet announced the four leads for Paul Feig’s reboot of Ghostbusters. As if a remake of the 1984 classic weren’t great enough, Feig’s Ghostbusters quartet features actresses Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, Leslie Jones and Kate McKinnon. Yes, that’s right — all four leads are female.
Unfortunately, sexist scum reminded us why female-driven comedies are scarce. Bustle tackled the backlash with humor and grace but was unable to conceal the awful stench of deep-rooted misogyny. One Twitter user suggested that producers change the title to “LADY Ghostbusters” in order to avoid “irate ticket-buyers asking for refunds.” Another user lamented, “Ghostbusters is now a chick flick wtf.” Even Donald Trump chimed in, exclaiming in a recent vlog post, “They’re remaking Indiana Jones without Harrison Ford. You can’t do that! And now they’re making Ghostbusters with only women. What’s going on?” Donald Trump might not be the best litmus test for the morality, but the number of people who share his sentiment is disconcerting.
Of course, the casting decision has also received a great deal of praise. Slate points out, “the casting, and largely positive reaction to it, is also yet another reminder of how far we’ve come from the dark days of 2007, when Christopher Hitchens managed to provoke an actual debate over whether women are funny.”
Progress has been made, but the battle for three-dimensional female representation continues. Just take a look at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. According to Huffington Post, AMPAS is 94 percent white and 77 percent male. Moreover, there has never been a single Asian-American or Latina recipient of the Best Actress Award. Granted, the lack of diverse representation is not entirely the Academy’s fault, but big-name moviemakers must keep their judges’ tastes in mind if they want a shot at an Oscar.
Whoever is to blame, it is no secret that there simply aren’t enough complex female roles out there. Possibly the most disturbing evidence for the lack of female representation in the industry comes from casting calls great and small. In recent years, several frustrated bloggers have shed light on the degrading nature of female casting breakdowns for those outside of the industry. BuzzFeed featured actor Katrina Day founder of the popular Tumblr blog, Lady Parts. Lady Parts showcases examples of sexist casting calls for the sake of “calling bullsh-t, cultivating selectivity, and fostering discussion.” Day posts “laughably bad” casting calls excerpted from prominent casting websites, including ActorsAccess, Backstage, Playbill and Craigslist, with the intent of transferring the “punchline” from “the women they refer to, to the bumbling, sexist nonsense they contain.” Two of the most degrading breakdowns included in the article read, “Ultimate fantasy woman of a sexually frustrated college graduate,” and, “The dream of any teenage boy, sexy yet wholesome, perfect physique, and always eager to please her man.” Day laments that “interesting, complex roles for women are far too scarce, period,” but she hopes that her blog will allow actors to “reflect on their own standards for what projects they interact with as actors.”
Yet, combating sexism in casting goes beyond an actor’s self-reflection. A Telegraph article discusses inappropriate casting breakdowns and the work of three prominent bloggers: Everyday Sexism founder Laura Bates, actor/blogger Briony Rawle and an anonymous actor/blogger going by the name Miss L. In discussing the problems of mass exploitation, Bates, Rawle and Miss L saw the problem stemming from the media’s misrepresentation of women, even though the majority of drama students are female. According to the article, “Rawles, L and Bates all suggested that tighter legislation and regulation was needed to stop the current level of exploitation,” but this does not change the fact that there are not enough three-dimensional female roles.
In short, the Ghostbusters casting decision set off alarm bells because Feig dared to deviate from the norm. Casting four female leads for a science-fiction comedy is a step in the right direction, and complex female roles do exist. Still, sexist stereotypes continue to inform casting, from non-union theatrical productions to award-winning blockbusters. Film and theater shape our consciousness in inexplicable ways and provide us with role models. We cannot truly eradicate sexism without addressing its grip on entertainment. We need more directors, screenwriters and producers who are willing to break tradition for the sake of social progress. So, “who ya gonna call?”
