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Sweden rates movies for gender bias

Started by Hydra009, November 07, 2013, 11:06:48 PM

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Hydra009

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QuoteBio Rio is one of four Swedish cinemas that launched the new rating last month to draw attention to how few movies pass the Bechdel test. Most filmgoers have reacted positively to the initiative. "For some people it has been an eye-opener," said Tejle.

Beliefs about women's roles in society are influenced by the fact that movie watchers rarely see "a female superhero or a female professor or person who makes it through exciting challenges and masters them", Tejle said, noting that the rating doesn't say anything about the quality of the film. "The goal is to see more female stories and perspectives on cinema screens," he added.
QuoteOf the top 100 US films in 2011, women accounted for 33% of all characters and only 11% of the protagonists, according to a study by the San Diego-based Centre for the Study of Women in Television and Film.

Another study, by the Annenberg Public Policy Centre at the University of Pennsylvania, showed that the ratio of male to female characters in movies has remained at about two to one for at least six decades. That study, which examined 855 top box-office films from 1950-2006, showed female characters were twice as likely to be seen in explicit sexual scenes as males, while male characters were more likely to be seen as violent.
Basically, they check if the movie passes the Bechdel test (where female characters in the show talk about something - anything - other than a man.  It might seem triflingly easy test to pass, but you'd be surprised how many movies don't pass this test.  That's because women in general are underrepresented - some shows/movies only have one female major character, set as either the love interest, miss fanservice, or just the token chick (the smurfette) - the women in the movie don't have any scenes together, and/or in the scenes they do have together, all they ever talk about is their romantic situation.

A lot of movies do really badly here:  the original Star Wars is notorious for being a galaxy that only has 2 women, the Indiana Jones movies and James Bond movies basically just had women as love interests, etc.  But a lot of movies, especially the more recent ones, pass the test.  In general, the entertainment industry seems to be getting better about this.

A couple things to thinking about/look for in movies/tv:
* How many women are there?  How many men are there?
* Do any women play major roles in the plot?
* Describe the characters without mentioning their titles, jobs, appearance, or relationships.  (i.e. describe their personality)  Who comes up short?

Shiranu

"A little science distances you from God, but a lot of science brings you nearer to Him." - Louis Pasteur

Sal1981

Yeah, since it's easy to circumvent the Bechdel test, future movies are just gonna have like 1-2 scenes with women discussing some minutiae to pass the test and the producers will still follow the same movie-making formula with just a small addendum.

Culture doesn't change over night, it will take a generational shift for it to be more equal, IMO.