In an article that ran in today's tbt* by Ann Hornaday of the Washington Post, the writer talks about how strong female leads lead to poor box office results. Amelia was the most current example of a flop, and the writer is saying she is being told, it's because of the fact all movie-goers are male, and they just don't like strong women in a main role (In my opinion, in the case of Amelia, they forgot ugly). The writer also goes on to site Erin Brokovich, Sex in the city and Mamma Mia! as examples of movies that had strong leads, and had financial success. Finally, it seems, the writer is suggesting sexism in the movie theater.
So, I had to rebute this. First off, examples of poor box office results include the recently released Amelia and the Jodie Foster bomb The Brave One. While both of those movies bombed, it's not due to the fact they both had female leads, but rather that both suck, and suck bad. Sure, there are female leads, but that's like saying 'every movie with Dinosaurs will do well' just because Jurassic Park had success. The film also drops a Drew Barrymore movie called Whip It as another example of a bomb, despite the pull of Barrymore. I would say a determining factor in all three of these would be the sub-par marketing done for all three of these films. I've seen one TV commercial, no internet ads and no newspaper ads for Amelia, so, instead of blaming the incredibly untalented Hillary Swank, maybe blame the marketing company in charge of wasting a studio's money.
So, why is it that female leads aren't as popular as their male counterparts? There is a study that shows that women actually buy more movie tickets than men (clearly some cheap-skate dates out there) so why is it that they don't go to see female leads? Let's look at some of them..
Ripley - Aliens - Awesome
Erin Brokovich - Awesome
Clarice Starling - Silence of the Lambs - Awesome
Clearly, if I can think of three great examples, either they are the exception to the rule, or there is no rule.
So, when you have a good premise, plenty of marketing behind it, you have a good movie, despite the sex of the lead.
3 comments:
Um 'Amelia' only opened in like 800 theaters because it was intended as an art house film. I have no plan in seeing it but whether it's actually any good or not shouldn't be judged on it's BO.
Fair enough. Since Box office numbers are out, it currently has a 16% on Rotten Tomatoes, clearly a flop.
But, I think it was supposed to be a full release, but at the last minute the studio changed its mind. You would think a Hillary Skank and Richard Gere movie about Amelia friggin' Aerhardt would be a full run anyway.
Also, I think Million Dollar Baby totally disproved this theory. I didn't like that one and I don't like Hilary, but I think it was a gross generalization on the part of that writer.
-M
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