Being a woman has always been something that I have loved. I have never felt oppressed by others because of my gender, but only because I have never let others oppress me because of my gender. As I have slowly become more and more interested in the film industry, and have developed aspirations to be a significant part of that industry one day, I have realized that sometimes women have no choice but to feel oppressed. Because they are. Although I have never experienced this extremely real social issue, I worry that I will some day. I still remember watching the 82nd Academy Awards where Kathryn Bigelow was awarded an Oscar for Best Director for her film The Hurt Locker. Bigelow was the first-ever female director awarded with an Oscar, which had an impact on me when I was only sixteen years old. However, I didn’t realize the extent to how groundbreaking this was. I just remember thinking, “Wow, a woman won Best Director for a war movie?” The fact that I was in awe at this award is disappointing because it means that I had fallen victim to the belief that only men were acknowledged with this kind of award.
It hasn’t
been until recent years that women in the film industry have taken a stand on
this injustice and demanded for more acknowledgment and equal representation.
And this was much needed. A recent study conducted by the New York Film Academy
showed that only 9% of all directors are female, 15% of all writers, 17% of all
executive producers, and only 2% of all cinematographers. Not to mention that
the combined income of the top ten highest paid actresses in 2013 was $181
million, compared to a whopping $465 million made by the top ten male actors.
Furthermore, the Swedish Film Institute has brought to our attention that although
people believe that there are very few competent female filmmakers, this is not
true and that the many competent female filmmakers around the world are just
not visible enough. Not to mention that it is a lot harder for a woman to find
business partners and financiers than it is for a man. In addition, Women’s
Media Center released a 10-year study of gender and Oscar nominations and found
that from 2006-2015, “nominations of women accounted for just 19% of all
non-acting nominations (327 women compared to 1,387 men)”.
For my
project, I wanted to portray what life in the film industry may be like for a
female screenwriter if we don’t change these statistics. By having each gender
choose his or her own path, we find that the male gender always comes out on top
and the female gender does not get the acknowledgment or equal compensation
that they deserve. It is designed in a simple format, with a simple path to follow,
but this social issue does not need any sugarcoating or fluff to make a statement:
men win, women lose. Every possible path in the game leads to this conclusion.
Let’s hope that within the coming years, within the years that my fellow peers
and I begin to step inside this industry, this social issue will no longer be
an issue and that equal representation and compensation between the two genders
will be implemented in all work environments.
PLAY THE GAME!
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