The Lack of Female Film Critics

There's a significant shift happening in the entertainment industry - women are no longer staying silent. Not silent about sexual abuse and harassment in the work place. Not silent about unequal opportunities. Not silent about the gender pay gap. Women have been given a voice, and with that voice, they intend to project it loud enough to shatter the glass ceiling.

The ripple effect of the #MeToo and Time's Up movements had spread far and wife, revealing that it's not just famous actresses and musicians that have suffered in silence. It's every woman across every industry, including film criticism where there is a huge gender disparity. Actress and Hollywood star Jessica Chastain has vocalised her disapproval at the dismal statistics surrounding film criticism, stating in 2017 in an interview with The Guardian:

Jessica Chastain

"Critics are the ones that suggest to an audience what stories are valuable and worthwhile and when you have 90% of film critics as male and perhaps not able to review a film from a gender neutral point of view, we need to understand that we need more female critics to let women, and men, know that stories about women are interesting - just as interesting as stories about men."

Although this thought was expressed in mid 2017, the facts still remain that female film critics aunt their voices are vastly undeserved in this current climate, and the urgency for inclusion and representation has become more timely and prevalent than ever before. Sadly, film criticism still remains a heavily male pursuit and the imbalance has not gone unnoticed by more of the Hollywood elite, such as Academy Award winning actress, Meryl Streep.

Streep had a minor supporting role in the 2015 British historical period drama film Suffragette (dir. Sarah Gavron) and during its London Film Festival press conference, she highlighted and spoke about the issue, referencing the aggregate site Rotten Tomatoes specifically:

"I went deep, deep, deep, deep into Rotten Tomatoes. I counted how many contributors to Rotten Tomatoes. There's a very strict criteria that allows you to be a blogger or critic. Of these people who are allowed to rate on the tomato meter, there are 168 women. 

And I thought that's absolutely fantastic, and if there were 168 men it would be balanced. If there were 268 men it would be unfair but I would be used to it, if there were 368, 468, or 568...actually there are 760 men who weigh in on the Tomatometer."

Streep also went on the call the paucity of female film critics on the aggregated site "infuriating" (The Mary Sue.com). Her discovery about Rotten Tomatoes' gender disproportion has been confirmed by research according to a study by the Centre for the Study of Women in Television and Film at San Diego State University, that showed that men comprise of 73% of top critics on Rotten Tomatoes and women make up a measly 23% of reviewers. 

However, the study also debunks Chastain and Streep's fears and assertions that female-led films aren't receiving appropriate attention and that women have different tastes than men (that ultimately would reflect in their reviews), with Variety reporting that "Male and female critics tended to agree about the quality of movies with female protagonists."

Despite this, I find it hard to believe that an industry that is largely dominated by a straight, white male gaze is giving a fair and accurate assessment of films that include diversity. According to the same report, a greater portion of the films reviewed by women had female protagonists, while men were more likely to write about films featuring a male lead. Therefore, it stands to reason that films starring women are less likely to be reviewed, given the fact that there are significantly fewer female critics working in the profession.

Additionally, films with a female lead tend not to be blockbuster fare such as superhero movies or action flicks. They're more likely to be smaller, independent features with a substantially lower budget, and these films rely on critical coverage to get audiences into the theatre and to make money. But if they're not getting assessed because there's a lack of female critics to review them, then it shall ultimately impact their box-office and lead producers and financiers to claim that films with a female lead aren't profitable - which simply isn't the case.

This imbalance doesn't just have an impact on the film industry, but it also affects the way and professional prospects of female critics in the workplace. The study showed that "female critics are less likely to belong to professional organisations and that job titles (e.g. staff writers or freelance) made no difference when it came to gender discrepancy" (Den of Geek).

I got in contact with one of Empire Magazine UK's critics, Helen O'Hara, to ask her about her experience as a female film critic in the industry and gather her thoughts on how this gender disparity can be combatted. The interview will feature on the following blog post.

Bibliography

N/A. and Chastain, J. (2017). Jessica Chastain: "We need more female film critics. 90% are male" - video. 

Lachenal, J. (2015). Meryl Streep Reveals and "Infuriating" Gender Imbalance in Rotten Tomatoes Reviews. [online] Available at: https://www.themarysue.com/meryl-streep-rotten-tomatoes/ [11.02.2018]

Lang, B. (2016). Movie Criticism is an Overwhelmingly Male Dominated Field (Study). [online] Available at: http://variety.com/2016/film/news/movie-critics-men-women-diversity-study-1201801555/ [11.02.2018]

Catchpole, C. (2016). The lack of female film critics. [online] Available at: http://www.denofgeek.com/uk/movies/movie-critics/45883/the-lack-of-female-film-critics [11.02.2018]