{"id":40766,"date":"2014-01-11T14:24:13","date_gmt":"2014-01-11T21:24:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2014\/01\/11\/a-female-led-film-in-the-top-grossing-spot-inconceivable.html"},"modified":"2014-01-12T16:09:44","modified_gmt":"2014-01-12T23:09:44","slug":"a-female-led-film-in-the-top-grossing-spot-inconceivable","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2014\/01\/11\/a-female-led-film-in-the-top-grossing-spot-inconceivable.html","title":{"rendered":"A female-led film in the top-grossing spot? Inconceivable!"},"content":{"rendered":"
I just wish I thought Katniss and the HG franchise were actually any good.<\/p>\n

I'm not insisting that top-grossing movies should somehow magically trade-off between male and female-led. But that it's been forty years<\/i> since this was the case tells me that either (a) audiences really only like movies led by male stars, or (b) Hollywood really thinks (a) is the case and so only crafts blockbusters with a male lead.<\/p>\n

HG is a great example of this. In\u00a0a future dystopia where many are impoverished to provide for the rich, our hero\u00a0must fight to the death in an arena\u00a0in order to save their\u00a0home town and, just maybe, bring freedom back to the world.<\/i> \u00a0In any sane Hollywood power broker's office, there would be absolutely no question that "our hero" there should be male. It wouldn't even be raised as a question. \u00a0The main decision point\u00a0would be whether to go with an established action hero (male), or look for some exciting newcomer (male), followed by whether the male hero's girlfriend\/wife should be killed by the evil tyrannical government in order to provide him with motivation (much more likely to decide that way if it's his wife, of course).<\/p>\n

The only reason the HG movie has a female protagonist is because the book<\/i> had one. And the only reason the book became a movie is because it was insanely popular.<\/i> \u00a0And if you could magically, authoritatively, prove to\u00a0me that nobody, in any\u00a0production company meeting room, at some point of the movie series development, ever<\/i>\u00a0suggested that having Katniss be gender-swapped\u00a0(and renamed) so that the movie would\u00a0be a real success, I'd be shocked.<\/p>\n

My hope is that, just maybe, this might provide some bit of proof to Hollywood that women can be box office successes as stars, and movies they lead can actually make lots of money, and that you can have a women leading a movie that's something other than a rom-com or a tear-jerker. \u00a0Of course, we've had such (rare) evidence before, but Hollywood, for all its "liberal" reputation, is deeply conservative when it comes to creative choices and the prospect of Making Big Bucks.<\/p>\n

So congrats to the HG movies. I most likely won't watch another one of you again, but rest assured it has nothing to do with your having a woman as the main protagonist.\ufeff<\/p><\/div>\n

\n

\n \n <\/div>\n

\u2018The Hunger Games\u2019 Becomes First Female-Led #1 Film Since \u2018The Exorcist\u2019<\/a>
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I just wish I thought Katniss and the HG franchise were actually any good. I'm not insisting that top-grossing movies should somehow magically trade-off between male and female-led. But that it's been forty years since this was the case tells me that either (a) audiences really only like movies led by male stars, or (b) … Continue reading “A female-led film in the top-grossing spot? Inconceivable!”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[106,28,41,348],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-40766","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-plusposts","category-media-moguls","category-media-movies","category-women"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":138227,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2019\/03\/11\/captain-marvel-does-boffo-box-office.html","url_meta":{"origin":40766,"position":0},"title":"“Captain Marvel” does boffo box office","author":"***Dave","date":"Mon 11-Mar-19 7:21pm","format":false,"excerpt":"While I had my own minor issues with the movie, I'm delighted to see it's doing even better than the studio had predicted. Part of that delight is pleasure that the MCU brand continues hold strong, as we reach a new phase going forward. But a good chunk of that\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU)"","block_context":{"text":"Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU)","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/media\/franchises\/marvel-cinematic-universe"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/Captain-Marvel-International-Poster.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/Captain-Marvel-International-Poster.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/Captain-Marvel-International-Poster.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/Captain-Marvel-International-Poster.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":49755,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2015\/03\/04\/1-2-3-kick.html","url_meta":{"origin":40766,"position":1},"title":"1, 2, 3, KICK","author":"***Dave","date":"Wed 4-Mar-15 11:33am","format":false,"excerpt":"And, I'll be honest, \"Agents of SHIELD\"'s Agent May (Ming-Na Wen) really came to mind while reading this.Actually, it's not the kicking (makes a certain measure of sense, given disparities in body strengths) as the rest of the package. The (literally) kick-ass female action hero is a much better stereotype\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":27237,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2012\/03\/23\/more-super-hero-posing-goodness.html","url_meta":{"origin":40766,"position":2},"title":"More super-hero posing goodness","author":"***Dave","date":"Fri 23-Mar-12 4:51pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Goofy, yes -- but female superhero poses are so often just bizarro mating displays (\"Look, you can see my butt and, at least in side shot, my boobs!\"). Really. And what's with women always (or usually) flying with one leg cocked up? #ddtbReshared post from +Helena BertinelliIf male superheroes posed\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":44141,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2014\/08\/04\/yes-its-true-this-actor-has-no-dick.html","url_meta":{"origin":40766,"position":3},"title":""Yes, it's true: This actor has no dick"","author":"***Dave","date":"Mon 4-Aug-14 5:35pm","format":false,"excerpt":"And that's okay.I mean, honestly, I don't see a reason to reboot Ghostbusters with any new cast. The movie is as the movie is, glorious and wonderful and lightning-in-a-containment-unit.But rebooting it with a female-led cast? \u00a0Maybe that would actually be a workable idea because it would actually seem different from\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1943,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2002\/04\/05\/the_law_of_unin.html","url_meta":{"origin":40766,"position":4},"title":"The Law of Unintended Consequences","author":"***Dave","date":"Fri 5-Apr-02 2:10pm","format":false,"excerpt":"According to this story, the hyper-strict social and legal restrictions on male-female contact in Afghanistan have led to an increase in opportunistic homosexuality. 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