SIT DOWN, SHUT UP… AND LET ME WATCH MY MOVIE!

That’s right all you crazy boys and girls… I, your loud mouthed, movie loving smartass is bringing back my uncensored, fun-filled column SIT DOWN, SHUT UP… AND LET ME WATCH MY MOVIE! In this installment, I will be addressing an issue that apparently is popping about since Sundance.

DISCLAIMER: THIS IS JUST MY OPINION. DO SOME RESEARCH AND MAKE UP YOUR OWN MIND.

I recently received word of a group that is none to happy with the lack of women in the film industry.

Now, let me preface this by saying that I fully support women in media, film, and heck, anything else that a woman wants to do… I am not sexist by any means.

The WOMEN”S MEDIA CENTER is a group dedicated to making women visible in the media. Whether it be print, television, women being interviewed etc., their goal is to make women heard. This is a reasonable, and respectable mission. However, in the below video, I found a couple of things troubling. Take a gander, and then I will explain why I am not ok with this video. Go ahead… I will wait.

Ok, boys and girls… here is where I have a problem. Well, several.

First, where did these numbers come from? I searched the site for sources, but could not find them. I am not saying whether the numbers are true or not, but I would like to know how these numbers came about. Did the WMC (Women’s Media Center) conduct a poll, pull this off of the web, did they get these numbers from one or more studies conducted by reliable, unbiased sources, was a random sample of a particular area taken,and/or is it statistically accurate? These are all things that I look at when I read figures. I could say that 90% of people find me to be AWESOME, but how did I come up with that number? I could have conducted a survey of 10 people, and asked them if I am, in fact, awesome to their faces, and only one said no. Point is, I like to know where information comes from. (FYI… 1 out of 1 Melissa’s agree that I am SUPER AWESOME! THAT’S 100 Percent!)

For just a second, let’s assume that the numbers are completely accurate. Like I said, I have no clue whether they are or not, and am certainly not about to accuse the WMC of misrepresenting the fact. If ” 77% of film critics are male”, “only 8% of film writers are female” (I am assuming that they mean script writers and not just critics, because that would be a little redundant to the previous fact. Plus, if you added those two up, what would the other 15% be? That’s a scary thought… but I really hope that dinosaurs are involved!), and “only 7% of the top films of 2009 were directed by women, then we need to look at why this is.

Let’s start with the latter. Top movies are chosen by sales, and/or because they are good, not by some secret society of “he-man woman haters”. Movie sales are driven when purchased or watched by the everyday person, not people in the film industry. People in the film industry generally don’t have to pay to see the movies that they want. It’s kind of a perk to the job. The general population, who are the ones spending money on movies, doesn’t pay attention to directors, writers or producers! How many times have you ever witnessed someone pick up a movie at a store, look at the director or writer, and put it down because it is a woman? Heck, how many people do you know that look past the list of actors or the pretty picture on the box or poster?

Now, back to the fact. In order to know the reason why films directed by women were less popular, I would need to know how many films were actually directed by women in 2009, if these films were made available to the general public and if these movies were actually good. 10,000 women could each direct a film. That doesn’t mean that any of them will be good. So, before I take this number to heart, I need more information.

On to film critics and film writers. For this one, I don’t need as many answers… because this is my sandbox. I can whole-heartedly say that I have NEVER felt any discrimination when it comes to breaking into the film industry, or experienced any other kind of hate that has prevented me from succeeding. Now, I am not disputing that it doesn’t happen, but I have never seen it, nor have I heard about it from any of the many talented women critics and writers that I know. Also, if it was, or still is industry standard, then how do women have jobs? How am I writing this? How do I know so many women in this industry that are extremely successful due to hard work? Oh, I get it… We are all in The Matrix! Duh!

Have I met a dumb male critic that has made a smart-ass comment, thinking that I wouldn’t know about horror makeup or action films? Sure have… several times… but guess what? Not only do I exercise my right to make them look stupid for making such idiotic comments, I have found that if they are dumb enough to walk around with such small minds, they are probably horrible at their craft. How can you be a successful film critic if you can’t think outside of your predisposed, judgmental, ignorant little box? If you have ever watched some of the guests on Maury, Dr. Phil or Oprah, you know that intelligent, creative bigots don’t occur too often in nature. It’s pretty hard to be successful when you are a complete moron!

In the St. Louis area alone, I know a ton of talented, successful women in film. They achieved this by putting in the work and mastering their craft. I don’t look at whether someone is a woman or a man, all I see is a talented film critic, writer, or journalist.  That is the message we as a society should really be trying to convey. There is nothing wrong with having a support system for any one group. Everyone need support, and if they encourage each other to feel better or make positive life decisions, then great. The biggest problem, however, is that society always wants to blame others, and turn that blame into a crutch. When that, along with labels, name-calling and/or excuses are used rather than positive solutions, it is no longer support… for anyone! These groups are sometimes just as bad as the people that they are fighting! All this propaganda, negativity, and sometimes even anger is not only giving people an excuse to fail, but is causing a bigger fight. As Mohandas K. Gandhi once said “An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind”.

I wholeheartedly believe in standing up for what you believe in, but there is a difference between talking about the problem and actually getting off your ass to do something about it. For example, if this video would have included sources to their facts, as well as offer positive ways to make a change, then this would have been more effective, and I wouldn’t be writing this. Why? Because they would then be actively educating people with sourced facts, so that people could make up their own mind, and offering ways to actually make a difference. To be more clear… It’s like telling a child that he will never be able to read, but never taking the time to tell him why, or trying to teach them how.

The first steps to change are presenting unbiased, sited facts and offering positive actions to make a difference. Ultimately, we need to get out of this gender, religion, race mindset and see each other as people. Not all women are the same, and it is unfair to group us all together. We cannot blame gender, religion, or race for all of our problems. Are there still people out there with narrow thinking? Sure, but it is our job to rise above that and determine our own future. We are smart enough to do that, right? If you want to be a doctor, a lawyer, or even in film then do it. If society won’t let you, then make your own film, start your own blog, or write your own script. It is up to the individual to make their life their own. If you let something as silly as gender, skin tone, appearance, or religion stop you from being a success, then you only have yourself to blame. Survival of the fittest.

So until next time …

SIT DOWN, SHUT UP…AND LET ME WATCH MY MOVIE!