A Cry For More Female Representation At The Oscars
On Sunday night, the glitz and glamour of Hollywood’s elite will walk the red carpet in hopes of taking home an Oscar. This is an exciting night for everyone in the movie industry, but unfortunately there becomes one group that reaps most of the benefits of this evening.
While the Academy Awards means big things for everyone in the movie business, it is evident that men are still superior to women in the film industry. Besides the obvious categories of Best Actress in a Leading Role and Best Actress in a Supporting Role, men dominate in all other categories, aside from Costume Design.
All of the following categories have the majority of nominations being men, with some having only men nominated: Cinematography, Directing, Film Editing, Music (Original Score), Production Design, Visual Effects, Writing (Adapted Screenplay), and Writing (Original Screenplay).
This, however, is not only an Academy Award problem, but a Hollywood problem. For example, men are chosen to direct movies over women 90 percent of the time. On top of that, 71 of the 100 top-grossing films of 2016 all feature male protagonists. In a world that is advancing so quickly in other forms of media, this particular form seems to be years behind.
The Academy and Hollywood need to be more open to giving jobs to women because they can bring new, fresh ideas to projects. When 51 percent of the population is being under represented, many stories are missed on being told.
The Academy and Hollywood need to be more open to giving jobs to women because they can bring new, fresh ideas to projects. When 51 percent of the population is being under represented, many stories are missed on being told.