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Amidst all the action films, superhero fables, and overwrought thrillers that packed the summer line-up of movies; one genre that seemed to be completely overlooked was movies for and about women.
With only a sparse few mainstream films geared for the female audience, including May's "Sex and the City", July's "Mamma Mia!", and August's "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2"; it makes you wonder if Hollywood has forgotten the power of women on box-office numbers.
The highest grossing film of the summer may belong to the iron fist of "The Dark Knight", but his punch has yet to knock off the ultimate chick flick "Titanic". A film that even ten years later has yet to be pushed off of its highest grossing film of all time pedestal.
Despite the fact that "Titanic" sailed off with an over 600 million dollar haul, it appears to this female movie-goer that most films these days cater to men's lust for brute action or stoner comedy. The main stars are the men as women are often a part of an after-thought romance thrown in between scenes of car wrecks and fist fights.
If you dissect "The Dark Knight" with an eye towards gender issues it becomes clear that there is really only one woman lead in the entire film belonging to actress Maggie Gyllenhaal.
The film is a masterpiece and by far the best of this year to date. But to only have one woman in a leading role is a depressing statement in such a large ensemble cast including Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Aaron Eckhart, Morgan Freeman, and Gary Oldman to mention a few. Maggie, who is one of the best actresses of our generation, is left with little screen time in the almost three hour film. She becomes the underused filler for women in the role of a romantic interest in a love triangle and she becomes a reason behind a major transition in one of the lead characters. But her part doesn't give her much time to stand on her own or to really stretch her acting muscles that have earned her several Golden Globe nominations in the past.
Even the archetypal role of the leading man's girlfriend is feeling the squeeze of man-dominated films. "Pineapple Express" is one of many recent comedy films to follow the new box-office phenomena of the bromance. Instead of the typical boy meets girl, they hit a rough patch, and then ultimately they become closer than ever plot line of romantic comedies; bromantic comedies follow the same pattern but with two male best friends. The trend has been all the rage with "Superbad" as the new-age template.
Both "Pineapple Express" and "Superbad" were written by their star, Seth Rogen, and his writing partner Evan Goldberg. The films are funny, outrageous and hugely popular, but the major flaw lies in the lack of credible female characters. "Pineapple Express" centers on Dale Denton and his drug dealer buddy Saul as well as a myriad of other male drug dealers and dirty cops. The parts reserved for women come down to Rosie Perez as a gun-toting female cop who plays (you guessed it) a girlfriend and partner to the villainous drug dealer Ted Jones (played by "Office Space" boss Gary Cole).
The only other role with more than a minute of screen time for a woman is Seth's onscreen girlfriend, a high school senior who is strangely painted to be less mature than her boyfriend who happens to be a mid-twenties stoner dating a girl who is almost a decade younger than he.
Needless to say, women take a back seat in most action and comedy films alike. But there is always an exception to the rule. Angelina Jolie does play a major role in the action feature "Wanted". Despite that fact, she is an almost stand alone figure in the film when you consider that the other parts for women include James McAvoy's jerk-of-a-boss and his cheating girlfriend. It is interesting to find that even when a film tries to break free of the current mold, it still resorts to putting women in the role of a girlfriend or a mean-spirited force that only holds down the leading man.
With all of these films considered, why is there a lack of films with female leads or the even more rare film centrally geared for the female viewer?
It's a mystery that doesn't quite make sense when box-office numbers are analyzed. Both "Sex and the City" and "Mamma Mia!" were great boxoffice successes hauling in $152,358,330 and $124,469,900 respectively.
Their sheer earning power proves that women are not to be overlooked when it comes to creating a box-office sensation, even when the suits would bet against them. And yet, half of America, a built-in audience with money in their wallets, are ignored at the cineplex for no clear reason at all.
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