Women and Film:

[Tom47]

This topic is planned to be about females involved with the film industry, such as directors, writers, actresses, female characters and plots that feature females.  As with the other topics I encourage people to contribute to this.  

According to USC Annenberg’s Inclusion in the Director’s Chair, only 4.8% of directors of the 1,300 top grossing films from 2007 to 2019 were women.   A sign of hope is that in 2019 this percentage was 10.6% a record over those 13 years.  However, the previous record was 8.0% in 2008 after which the percentage dropped to a low of 1.9% in 2013 and 2014, so this improvement may not be long lasting.  I believe that women are just as talented, if given the chance, in terms of directing films as men are.   

Alice Guy was a very early film director who may have been the first person to direct a film with a story - La fée aux choux.  The problem is that the film has been lost and at the time she would have directed it (1896) she was employed as a secretary in a camera manufacturing business.  There is a film shown on youtube that is sometimes said to be this 1896 film, but is really a 1900 film.  

She was born on July 1, 1873 in what is now Val-de-Marne, France, just to the southeast of Paris.  The following link goes to the earliest existing film of her’s that I’ve seen.  It is actually two films, as movies at that time were not longer than a minute.  They are dated as being from 1897.  The first film is entitled Baignade dans un torrent (Swimming in a torrent) and the second is entitled Le pecheur dans le torrent (The fisherman in the torrent), at the beginning is a short clip showing Alice Guy turning toward the camera.  The second film does have a simple story to it.  Video is here (2 minutes long): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8_fb3AtmVo.  Alice Guy made these films for the Gaumont Company and was eventually promoted to director of the company’s firm's film production division.

As a director and maker of films Alice experimented with color and sound.  Here is a short video (2 minutes long) of two short films including the characters Pierrette, Pierrot and Harlequin.  The films are hand colored frame by frame and are dated to 1900: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MOu8agk8UCM.  

This one minute video shows Alice Guy filming a Phonoscene in 1905.  The process is to play pre-recorded music as the scene is filmed.  In this case it appears the actors are preparing to dance to the music, although in some cases the actor would sing (lip sync).  Alice Guy is in the middle of the frame as the film starts with the movie camera to her left and the two horns of the phonograph to her right.  When completed the recording would be played along with the film as it is projected onto a screen in front of an audience.  See here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ccatVQU-eGA.  

With time films became longer.  Here is one of Alice Guy’s six minute films entitled Heroine, from 1907: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8BOBQa7HGOE and here is a 12 minute long film from 1912 entitled Falling Leaves: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_cYhqVblLc.   Both are cute little stories featuring young girls.  In 1916 Alice Guy made a 40 minute long feature film entitled The Ocean Waif.  It is somewhat of a romantic comedy with some very dramatic surrious parts.  The film is not in the best of shapes and most likely there are some minor parts missing.  See here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yvlCUeqVC8w.  In 1910, after she moved to New York City, Alice Guy started her own movie company - Solax and the following year she opened a larger studio in neighboring Fort Lee, NJ.

Tom,

[Tom47]

Lotte Reiniger was born in Berlin in 1899.  She went on to produce stop-action animation films using silhouette figures.  Her first film was a 4 minute long short entitled   

Das Ornament des verliebten Herzens (The Ornament of the Lovestruck Heart}.  Be sure to turn on the sound, in each of the following videos, so as to hear the music.  See Here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_azNAkssVY.  What she did was to cut out sections of images of the characters in black paper or cardboard.  These sections were then combined with hinges so as to be movable.  To shoot the film a special table with a rectangular glass section was used.  Under the glass was placed a strong light shining upward.  Over the table was a stop action camera pointing downward.  This camera could be used to expose one frame at a time.  First a paper with an image of a background was placed on the glass.  The light under the glass was strong enough so it could shine through the background paper, but the figure silhouettes were so thick that the light did not penetrate them.  The silhouettes were then placed on the background paper and one frame of the film was exposed.  Next the silhouettes were moved slightly and another frame was exposed.  This had to be done from 16 to 24 times a second of film running time.

Lotte Reiniger made 48 films during her lifetime and pioneered the use of the multiplane camera in 1926.  Here is a photograph of Lotte Reiniger and three others preparing the multiplane camera for a shot: http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_AitGIGPUGkQ/SxEur6oK-EI/AAAAAAAAHrs/QMPUHdfZwUw/s1600/lotteanimationstand.jpg.

My favorite of her films is the Daumlienchen (Thumbelina, 1954), here is a one minute long clip from that film: https://vimeo.com/253071028 and here is the full version (10 minutes long) on Dailymotion: https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2z8dw5.  I also like her 1935 Papageno, with music from Mozart’s the Magic Flute, see here on youtube (11 minutes): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4uUchB429M.  Between 1923 and 1926 Lotte Reiniger produced “The Adventures of Prince Achmed” an 81 minute long animated feature.   See here for a 2 minute long video of some parts of the film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_9L7r8NIBc.  In it we see Prince Achmed flying on a magical mechanical horse, Peri Banu a magical Princess, Princess Dinarsade, Aladdin and an evil Magician and a good Witch battling each other.  In addition this film was tinted in an early attempt to add color.  This animated feature film was produced 11 years before Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

Lotte Reiniger’s skill in cutting out these silhouettes enabled her to make many detailed designs in regard to her character’s clothing and profiles.  Despite being silhouettes the movements of the characters show emotions.  I find her films to be mostly charming.  The images of the fairies in this short 1937 film, The Tocher, (5 minutes) are examples of Lotte Reiniger’s intricate work: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07-GpcE64Ow.

In 1972 the artist won an Honorary German Film Award for her continued outstanding individual contributions to the German film industry.

Tom,

[Tom47]

I like Disney Princess films and have seen all of them.  An important reason I like them is because they are about female characters.  All twelve films have a female protagonist and in most cases females are the only protagonist.  But they could have been better and I feel what could have made them better is to have had more female directors and writers.  These are films predominantly about females, but male directors and writers have dominated them.  Since Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) there have been only two female directors - Brenda Chapman for Brave and Jennifer Lee for Frozen.  Brenda Chapman is one of three directors credited for Brave (2012) and was fired part way into production and Jennifer Lee was one of two credited for Frozen (2013).  This means that between 1937 and 2012 there were no female directors for any Princess movie and there has never been a Princess film that did not have a male director.

Now, that I wrote these films would be better if there were more female directors does not mean that I feel that women are more talented than men.  I feel that women are just as talented as men and that is just the point.  If the directors of these films were only people born on even days one would rightly expect that many very talented directors would have not had a chance to contribute to these films and some mediocre talents would have been involved.  I feel this is compatible with the present case of men being so dominant.  Second, it may very well be the case that a film about a female might be better if directed by a person who has lived their life as a female.

Here is a short, well researched, 14 minute long documentary about Brenda Chapman’s involvement with the film Brave: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIUKV-mnZco.  It seems from this video that despite not finishing the film Brenda Chapman was crucial in setting the tone of the movie.

What makes the story of Brave different, in a positive way, than most of the Princess movies is the strong relationship between important female characters, which was followed in Frozen.  The relationship among the three good fairies in Sleeping Beauty is the other example.  And, in Brave there is no really evil villain.  The tension does not come between an evil person and a good person, but from the interrelationship between two basically good, but not perfect people.  This seems to have set the tone for the next two princess films Frozen and Moana.

In early 2016 linguists Carmen Fought and Karen Eisenhauer presented a study on words used in 12 Disney Princess movies, including Frozen, but not Moana which had not come out by that time.  One thing they did was measure the number of words spoken by female and male characters.  The result was that among the 12 films studied only three had more than 50% of words spoken by female characters.  These three are Brave, the film with the highest ratio of words spoken by females to words spoken by males at 74.4%, then Sleeping Beauty at 67.9% and Cinderella at 57.0%.  That’s only one quarter of the films.  Coming close was Tangled at 49.5%, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs at 48.3%, Frozen at 41.2% and The Princess and the Frog at 39.0%.  The worst were the five chronologically in the middle, Beauty and the Beast at 29.3%, The Little Mermaid at 29.0%, Pocahontas at 26.2%, Mulan at 22.3% and Aladdin at 10.6%.    

Disney could have done better than this.  While I like the dwarfs I feel the movie spent too much time on them.  The original Hans Christian Andersen’s stories had more active minor female characters compared to The Little Mermaid and Frozen.  The same goes for Beauty and the Beast, I feel too much time was spent on Gaston and the “bimbettes” could have been given more individuality with at least one finally realizing that Gaston was a jerk.  I could have done without the guys in the Snuggly Duckling in Tangled.  They severely changed Pocahontas’ story anyway so they could have had women and children settlers coming in the ship.  Tiana’s friend and mother could have been given bigger roles.  It might be thought that it would be difficult to add more female characters to Mulan although I read that Mushu has 50% more words than Mulan the title character and then there is no reason why Mushu couldn’t have been female.  Also, there is precedent for a genie to be female, so the genie in Aladdin could have been female.  

It seems the issue is that male is the default sex, not only for Disney, but for the movie industry in general.  That is if there is no particular reason for a character to be female or male they are made male.  

Tom,

[Tom47]

This post is an extension of the previous one on Disney Princess movies that highlighted Brenda Chapman as one of the directors of the film Brave.  In that post I wrote “An important reason I like them [Princess films] is because they are about female characters.  All twelve films have a female protagonist and in most cases females are the only protagonist.”  Well, I’d like to explain that.  Over my life I’ve seen so many movies in which males were the protagonists that now I am just tired of them.  As a result, I have grown so much more interested in stories about females, stories in which females undertook most of the action and stories which showed their feelings and emotions and desires.  Basically, because there are so many more movies about males I’ve become bored with them and become interested in stories about girls and women.  I don’t believe that stories about females are innately less interesting compared to stories about males.

Curiosity led me to look at the films which have won the Best Picture Oscar to see how many of them were about women.  Of these 93 films, it seems to me that only 14 were primarily about a female or females (15%) and that only 16 were primarily about mixed couples or groups (17%), which leaves 63 films primarily about a male or males (68%).  So, there have been 4 and one half more films primarily about a male or males than about a female or females.  Here are the 14 films I felt are primarily about a female or females:  

The Broadway Melody 1929
Gone with the Wind 1939
Mrs. Miniver 1942
All About Eve 1950
The Sound of Music 1965
Terms of Endearment 1983
Out of Africa 1985
The Silence of the Lambs 1991
The English Patient 1996
Titanic 1997
Chicago 2002
Million Dollar Baby 2004
The Shape of Water 2017

Nomadland 2020

 

A list of best picture winners up until 2020 can be found here: http://www.imdb.com/list/ls009480135/.

The Internet Movie Database (IMDb) contains lots of information on virtually all films. According to their data see here: https://www.imdb.com/pressroom/stats/ there are 20,931,625 actresses listed and 32,320,340 actors listed for a ratio of 1.5 actors for every actress.  This means that for every three actress credits there are approximately five actor credits.  

According to a report by the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism on average per year over the eleven years 2007 to 2019 only 31.1 % of speaking characters were female in the top-grossing films (1300 films).  That means there were more than double the number of male speaking roles as compared to female speaking roles.  See here: https://assets.uscannenberg.org/docs/aii-inequality_1300_popular_films_09-08-2020.pdf.

According to the Geena (Davis) Benchmark Report 2007-2017, in the top 100 Family Films “Male leads vastly outnumber female leads – 71.3% compared to 28.8%”.  See here: https://seejane.org/wp-content/uploads/geena-benchmark-report-2007-2017-2-12-19.pdf.  Also, according to Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media, “Even among the top-grossing G-rated family films, girl characters are outnumbered by boys three-to-one.”  And, “That’s the same ratio that has existed since the end of World War II.  For decades, male characters have dominated nearly three-quarters of speaking parts in children’s entertainment, and 83% of film and TV narrators are male.”  See here https://seejane.org/research-informs-empowers/gender-in-media-the-myths-facts/.

Getting back to Disney this webpage https://pudding.cool/2017/03/film-dialogue/ gives “screenplay dialogue, broken-down by gender” for 31 Disney films, not just Princess films.  Of the 31 films, 23 had males speaking 60% or more of the dialogue, 4 had roughly equal split of dialogue and only 4 had 60% or more of the dialogue spoken by females.  Scroll down to see this data.  Then clicking on “2,000 Screenplays Dialogue Broken-down by Gender” a graph of 2000 dots will be seen.  Each dot represents one movie, not just Disney movies.  The dots to the left, the bluesh ones are for films in which more than half of words are spoken by males and the ones to the right, the pinkesh ones are for films in which more than half of the words are spoken by females.  Now in calculating this the authors eliminated characters who did not speak more than 100 words.  So, on the far left there are 54 movies in which 100% of the words are spoken by males and on the far right there are only two films in which 100% of the words are spoken by females.  These two movies are Now and Then and The Descent.  Going down further on that webpage there is a graph which shows that 307 movies out of the 2000 had males speak 90% or more of the dialogue (15%), 1206 had males speak between 90% and 60% of the words (60%), 314 (16%) had roughly equal percentage of words spoken, 164 (8%) films had females speak between 60% and 90% of the words and only 9 (0.5%) had  females speak 90% or more of the words.  

Tom,

[Tom47]

Earlier in the topic “Women and Art” Mashinka mentioned the film Portrait of a Lady on Fire in regard to women being denied access to life classes.  This film was directed and written by Celine Sciamma, who was born just outside of Paris on November 12, 1980 and who has directed five feature films including this one.  Here is a list of her films along with links to the film’s trailers:

Naissance des pieuvres (birth of octopuses) aka Water Lilies https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=noJCYVn6Hb4 (2 minutes) from 2007

Tomboy https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jb-Oys-IcWE (2 minutes) from 2011 

Bande de filles (Band of Girls) aka Girlhood https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85TTGKs3YFE (2 minutes) from 2014 

Portrait de la jeune fille en feu (Portrait of a Lady on Fire) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-fQPTwma9o (2 minutes) from 2019 

Petite Maman (Little Mom) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdORAHCydyY 2 (minutes) from 2021

Earlier I wrote “Basically, because there are so many more movies about males I’ve become bored with them and become interested in stories about girls and women.”  The films of Celine Sciamma fit this very well.  I’ve seen three of her films, Tomboy, Band of Girls and Portrait of a Lady on Fire and what makes her interesting to me is that these three films and as far as I can tell, her two other films are about women and girls.  Females are presented as the major characters and their emotions, actions and desires are emphasized.   This contrasts sharply with what the data presented in the above post shows - the lack of female speaking roles in films and the lack of films about girls and women among the best picture winners.  Two of the films by Celine Sciamma that I’ve seen - Tomboy and Band of Girls - are “coming of age stories” and it seems that the two that I have not seen - Water Lilies and Petite Maman - are also of that type.  In these films a girl or in the case of Band of Girls an older girl/young woman must deal with the difficulties and the emotional turmoils she faces while maturing.  In Portrait of a Lady on Fire the characters are already grown, but are facing emotional difficulties.  All the characters in this film, except for very minor ones, are female.  The films Band of Girls and Portrait of a Lady on Fire show very close friendships among the female characters, without the involvement of males and with even little mention of males.  It is not that I am against males, I am a male, but I am against males dominating stories which so often happen.  Seeing so many major female characters interacting together is very pleasant to me however the stories are not always pleasant.  The three films I have seen are not simple light stories.  Band of Girls is not a happy story and the other two are bittersweet, but I feel they are worth seeing if only for their emphasis on female characters and female interactions..  

Tom,   

[Tom47]

Earlier I wrote about how there were many fewer actresses than actors in movies and how there were fewer films with female leads than male leads.  Well this post is about five actresses who are not as well known as they should be.

Hattie McDaniel won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her role as Mammy in the 1939 film Gone with the Wind.  She was the first African-American win an Oscar (the next was Sidney Poitier 24 years later) and as such was a major figure in the advancement of racial equality.  Ms. McDaniel was born on June 10, 1893 in Wichita Kansas, performed as a singer when young and is considered to be one of the first if not the first Black woman to sing on radio.  In many ways she had been working up to the role of Mammy since the early 1930’s.  Despite the fact that many of her early film roles were of maids, Hattie played them as assertive and strong, perhaps more so as time went by.  This was exactly what was called for in the role of Mammy whether it was telling the 16 year old bratty southern belle to eat her lunch or that it would be better for Scarlett to go to Savannah instead of Atlanta Mammy said what she thought.  As portrayed in Margaret Mitchell’s book and the movie, Mammy was one of if not the most insightful and honest character in the story and Hattie played her that way.  The strong racism of the nation (for example according to the Smithsonian magazine “The Oscars dinner was held at the Coconut Grove, a segregated venue, and McDaniel was not able to sit with her fellow cast members who were at the awards.”), as well as the competition she had for Best Actress in 1940, including Olivia De Havilland for Melanie in the same movie is strong testimony that Hattie McDanial definitely desired the honor.  It is worth seeing the film if only for her performance.  Here is a 4 minute long tribute video for the great actress: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ny8wdxbX_hk.

Sylvia Sidney was known as having the “Saddest Eyes in Hollywood” and “The Girl with the Heart-Shaped Face.”  She was a great actress who was born in the Bronx on August 8, 1910.  Two very good roles for her were Rose Maurrant in the 1931 film Street Scene, and Mrs. Verico in the 1936 Sabotage.  I strongly recommend both.  She also debuted on Broadway at age 16.  Here is a 5 minute video highlighting the actresses: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y7c-h3mRnwI. 

Jessie Matthews was born in the Soho area of London, near Piccadilly Circus to a large poor family on March 11, 1907.  She was a multi-talented actress - dancer, singer and comedian, who started dancing at age ten and started her vaudeville career at age 12.  Jessie was a star on stage, in film and on radio.  Ms. Matthews film career started with the 1923 film The Beloved Vagabond and includes the 1934 film Evergreen (Her dancing and singing talent can be seen to very good effect in the Dancing on the Ceiling scene from this film.) and the 1935 film First a Girl. both of which I would recommend  She also starred in the stage version of the film Evergreen which was entitled Ever Green, with two words.  Here is her video (3 minutes): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OE1g2rFiQ8k.  

Born in Los Angeles on January 3, 1905, Anna May Wong was named Wong Liu Tsong, which means “Frosted Yellow Willows.”  Her first starring film role was as Lotus Flower in the 1922 film Toll of the Sea. written by Frances Marion.  This is an historically significant film.  Not only, at age 17 is it Anna May Wong’s first starring role, but as it is the first or one of the first two color technicolor feature films.  This means that instead of three primary colors as in more modern films it only used two - red and green.  Also, despite being from the early 20th century and despite anti-asian racism, all Asian characters in the movie were portrayed by Asian or people with Asian ancestry (no yellowface).  Further the story shows the white characters in a negative light.  Not overtly racist, but racist nonetheless.  In her early twenties, Anna May Wong went to live in Europe where she appeared in movies and on the stage.  In 1929 while in London she starred in the play The Circle of Chalk.”  She responded to criticism of her American accent - her “Yankee squeak” by taking lessons so as to develop a more upper class British inflection.  In 1930 she starred as Hai Tang in three versions of the same film, one in English, one in German and one in French.  She could speak all three languages as well as Chinese.  While she appeared in each version speaking a different language the other members of the cast differed.  Anna May Wong also appeared on the London stage in a 1930 play called On the Spot.”  Other movies she appeared in while in Europe were the 1928 silent movie Song and two 1929 filmes Piccadilly and Pavement Butterfly.  In Vienna she appeared in an opera The Chinese Dancer.  One critic wrote “when she sings Chinese songs, strangely sad songs written by herself, in her sweet voice, the theater falls silent.  And then a thundering applause breaks free . . .”  Anna May Wong, longed to be in the 1937 movie The Good Earth, but was passed over by mostly European actresses.  As with Josephine Baker, Anna May Wong, because of racism, had greater success in Europe.  Although sad I recommend both the 1922 film Toll of the Sea and the 1929 Piccadilly.  Here is the tribute video for Anna May Wong (4 minutes): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8gi8NXX5Fw.

A remarkable woman, Josephine Baker was born in St. Louis, Missouri in 1906.  She was a dancer, singer, comedian, actress, French resistance fighter, business woman, part of the civil rights movement in the United States and later in life adopted children from many parts of the world.  The films she starred in include the silent Siren of the Tropics as Papitou 1927, Zouzou as the title character 1934, Princesse Tam-Tam as Alwina 1935.   In November she received the honor of being entered into Paris’ Pantheon mausoleum, an honor reserved for heroes of France, as a result of her courageous efforts fighting fasism during the Second World War.  During the war she held the rank of second lieutenant and was awarded the Croix de Guerre and the Rosette de la Résistance.  For more information on this great woman see here: https://balletalert.invisionzone.com/topic/46443-josephine-baker-to-be-honored-by-france/.  

Here is the Josephine Baker video (2 minutes) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKYg-DpT6ts.

Tom,

[Tom47]

Recently I came across an article with the headline “Geena Davis reveals she once lost out on a role because a male actor 20 years older than her said she was ‘too old’ to play his love interest.”  See here: Geena Davis Article.

Geena Davis is now 65 years old.  The article doesn’t say who the male actor was or what the movie was, but statistics show not only a bias against actresses, but in particular older actresses.   

This table reflecting the number of words spoken by actresses and actors is compiled by information found at the following link.  The percent is the percentage of words spoken by actresses or actors for each age group and the numbers are the amount in millions of words spoken by each age group.

Age group              Actresses                Actors

Under 21                8%     5M                  4%      6M

22 to 31                  38%   21M                20%    28M

32 to 41                  32%   18M                32%    44M

42 to 65                  20%    11M               39%    55M

65 +                         3%       2M                 5%      7M

Total                                   56M                          140M

See here for data and then scroll down to “Percent of Dialogue by Actors’ Age, among 2,000 screenplays, all genres, all years” https://pudding.cool/2017/03/film-dialogue/

Notice that according to that website actresses aged 65 and more have the worst of worlds as there are fewer actresses than actors, but also because the roles there are for actresses tend to go to younger actresses.

Because I like to look at the positive side, here are some very good actresses who are close to or over the age of 65, 

Sally Fields born November 6, 1946 is a very good actress.  I particularly liked her in My Name is Doris (2015), she was 69 at the time of the film and her “love interest” was 35.  Tyne Daly born February 21, 1946, also 69 at the time of release of the film, co-starred.

Goldie Hawn born November 21, 1945 was in the 2017 film Snatched when she was 72.  The Studio originally didn’t want Goldie in the film, but Amy Schumer insisted and even threatened to quit if Goldie was not cast.

The Book Club (2018) starred Jane Fonda (age 81), Diane Keaton, (age 72), Candice Bergen (age 69) and Mary Seenburgen (age 65).  The average age for the 5 male love interests, as I remember who they were, was 69, while the average for the 4 female stars was 78.  Ages in 2018.

Queen Bees (2021) starred Ellen Burstyn (age 89),  Ann-Margret (age 80), Jane Curtin (age 74) and Loretta Devine (age 72).  I was very impressed with Ellen Burstyn’s acting.  She was 8 years younger than her character's love interest in the film.  

The TV show The Golden Girls (1985 to 1992) stared (with ages in 1985) Betty White (63), Bea Arthur (63), Rue McClanahan (51) and Estelle Getty (62).  Betty White, recently passed away, 17 days before her 100 birthday  

I liked the TV show Mom (2013 to 2021).  Not only was it funny, but also had a serious side dealing with women in alcoholism and drug addiction recovery and the five stars were all women.  The oldest of the women, Mimi Kennedy was 65 or just about when the show premiered.  Many of the “mature” female characters portrayed by the actresses listed above, in the films and shows listed above, show interest in romance and sex and Mimi’s character Marjorie, was no exception.  One episode had Marjorie watching gay male porn.

I’ve been watching Grace and Frankie (2015 to 2021) on Netflix, with my wife. Currently Jane Fonda (Grace) is 84 and Lily Tomlin (Frankie) is 82.  The actors playing their character’s ex-husband are both younger than the female stars.  I like that the two women, the two title characters, started off disliking each other intensely, but then grew together to care deeply about each other.  The mature female characters in this show also show interests in sex. 

Other older actresses still going strong are Judi Dench (age 87), Maggie Smith (87) and the baby Helen Mirren (76).  Dame Judi Dench is currently filming in Allelujah, Dame Maggie Smith is to be in Downton: Abbey A New Era and Dame Helen Mirren is to be in Golda.  In 2010 at age 65 Helen Mirren portrayed Prospera, (a female Propero) the title role in the Tempest and in 2003 at age 58 as a woman who posed nude in Calendar Girls.

Julia was a groundbreaking TV sitcom (1968 to 1971) starring Diahann Carroll (b, in the Bronx on July 17, 1935) in the title role character.  This is a worthwhile show to note even though the title character was only 33 at the time the show came out.  It was about a Black, young mother, whose husband had died in the Vietnam War and who was working as a nurse.  This show did not shy away from racial issues, it didn’t stereotype Blacks and Julia was presented as a hardworking, responsible, caring mother of a young boy.  Here is a video of the first episode (26 minutes): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=77Pc-J9ofgk.  It deals with racial discrimination in a responsible manner and in addition to being funny, also is emotional.  Tears started to come to my eyes in a number of places while watching it.

Tom,

[Tom47]

Most Best Picture winners have been about male characters (see earlier post in this thread).  However, not only have the last two had female protagonists, but both of those films have been directed by women.  “Nomadland” won for 2020 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6sxCFZ8_d84, 2 minute trailer) and was directed by Chioe Zhao (born in 1982) (https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2125482/) and “CODA” won for 2021 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0pmfrE1YL4I, 3 minute trailer) and was directed by Sian Heder (born in 1977) (https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1571761/).

In 1973 Sacheen Littlefeather appeared on the stage of the Academy Award show on behalf of Marlon Brando.  Brando had sent Ms. Littlefeather to the ceremony to refuse the Best Actor award that he had just won for his role in “The Godfather” in order to protest Hollywood’s portrayal of Native Americans in film, as well as the recent happenings at Wounded Knee.  Just recently the Academy issued an apology to Ms. Littlefeather.  According to a CNN article the former Academy president wrote in a letter that “The abuse you endured because of this statement was unwarranted and unjustified.  The emotional burden you have lived through and the cost to your own career in our industry are irreparable.  For too long the courage you showed has been unacknowledged.  For this, we offer both our deepest apologies and our sincere admiration.”  See here for article: https://www.cnn.com/2022/08/15/entertainment/sacheen-littlefeather-oscars-apology-academy-cec/index.html.

Here is an 11 minute clip showing the event and Ms. Littlefeather reading the full statement: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_Da21Jpguk.  Also, here is an 8 minute video of Brando talking about this rejection of the award: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rcCKczj4aK4.

Sacheen Littlefeather was born on November 14, 1946.  Here is a short biography: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0514693/.

Tom,

[dirac]

Thanks, Tom. About time the Academy apologized to Littlefeather, although I blame Brando mostly. At the least he should have accompanied her onstage and then turned his time over to her, instead of dispatching her alone to take the heat. There were people ready to charge the stage who had to be held back by security (John Wayne, ever ready to pick on someone not his own size).

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/sacheen-littlefeather-oscars-apology-1235198863/

Quote

The first time Sacheen Littlefeather encountered the Academy, in 1973, she was booed onstage at the Oscars, heckled with mock ululations and so-called “tomahawk chops” offstage, and threatened with arrest and physical assault.

 

[canbelto]

After reading about John Wayne's offscreen life I can barely watch his movies anymore. What a vile person. 

[Tom47]

Dirac, thank you for your reply and for the link.  It is brave people like Ms. Littlefeather who engage in seemingly, at the time, frutle actions who bring about progress.  The article at the link suggests that progress is being made regarding this issue.  Also, thank you Canbelto for your reply.  I am struck by how polite Ms. Littlefeather was on that night in 1973.  She didn’t insult anyone, nor did she threaten anyone.

On a related note, according to CBS news, Nicole Aunapu Mann, will be the mission commander on a NASA mission to the International Space Station this fall.  She will be the first Native American woman to travel to space.

Tom,

[pherank]

On 8/16/2022 at 3:15 PM, dirac said:

About time the Academy apologized to Littlefeather, although I blame Brando mostly. At the least he should have accompanied her onstage and then turned his time over to her, instead of dispatching her alone to take the heat. There were people ready to charge the stage who had to be held back by security (John Wayne, ever ready to pick on someone not his own size).

I completely agree. Perhaps in Brando's mind, not showing up at the awards was the ultimate snub, but in reality, he threw Littlefeather to the wolves, so to speak. Didn't come across as being particularly brave.

[Tom47]

Pherank, thank you for adding to this thread.

Tom,

[Tom47]

An article in NPR (see here: https://www.npr.org/2022/10/18/1129717922/anna-may-wong-us-quarters-coins-movies) announces that the film actress Anna May Wong will be featured on a US quarter.  Earlier in this thread is information on Ms. Wong and a tribute video.  She was initially successful, starring in a feature film, “Toll of the Sea” at age 17, but then was casted in supporting roles.  See here for a 5 minute clip of “Toll of the Sea,” 1922: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6-HJrGS_rc.  Later she went to Europe where she was more successful, similar to Josephine Baker.  One film she starred in in England was “Piccadilly,” 1929, see here for 5 minute clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMl1LXN0fTo.

Other women to be honored in this way are Maya Angelou, Sally Ride, Nina Otero-Warren and Wilma Mankiller.  See article for more information on these women.  

I also came across this article https://www.npr.org/2022/10/19/1129842323/athlete-elnaz-rekabi-competed-without-hijab-returns-to-iran on Iranian athlete Elnaz Rekabi, who received a hero’s welcome in Tehran after having competed without a hijab.

Tom,