That′s 2015′s biggest understatement

Elements within governments dictates much more than you think. We wouldn′t have the world we do if it hadn′t been for their influence on how people think and react to things. To believe otherwise is to lie to yourself.

They are, like Metallica said, Master of Puppets. They make us dance and most don′t even know it′s happening.

I know you like your conspiracy theories but personally I think you're over-estimating the influence and competence of governments.

I enjoyed reading your post.


I'm not gonna go on a huge political rant here, but the United States is the land of the overly sensitive. It's like we can't find the middle ground after a bunch of flipping back and forth from one extreme to the next. Before it was 'treat them like scum', now it is 'walk on egg shells around them'. Both of which are wrong, as I imagine people of any group different than yours would want to be treated like anyone else. To be honest, the reason why we don't hear of Israeli women demanding representation, or Russians is because the media won't let us hear them. Unless we search out the voices, we'll only hear what the media wants us to hear, and if they're not interested in letting those voices speak, no one's gonna be able to hear them.


You'd be surprise at how easy it is for a competent leader to sway people's opinions one way or another. All it takes is the right person under the right set of circumstances to steer things to prosperity or hell. I'm not gonna name names, but I think we can count a few certain influential 20th-century leaders who did just that.

I wouldn't disagree with that. On the other hand there are also many politicians who are voted out of office because they can't convince people never mind manipulate them like puppets.

But how much of a fuss is that, compared to, say, all the other issues and hurdles that they've made a fuss over- often successfully- over that timespan? It seems to me like it's only logical for the issue of disproportionately minor media representation to take a backseat to issues that are perceived as more important.

I get that. I meant that i didn't understand the odd choice of title the blogger used. Is he saying there are enough of them in superhero movies or is he making a weird statement of some kind?

Regarding women in film, I have seen it suggested that this is actually due to women having more of a say than before. If women are more likely to choose what to see at the cinema, a lot of them are going to want to see Jason Statham or some other chiseled man than a film with a lot of women in it.

Who suggests this? Based on what evidence? And, if true, how would it explain the fact that the exact same gender ratio imbalance also applies to crowd scenes? Bearing in mind that the figures have stayed much the same since 1946.

From experience, neither six is exactly averse to going to see a film because they fancy an actor in it, I expect the numbers would pretty much even out there. Looking at the http://www.nielsen.com/us/en/insights/news/2013/popcorn-people-profiles-of-the-u-s-moviegoer-audience.html of US movie goers there's a fairly even balance gender wise - 51% female, 49% male.

We need more disabled heroes. Maybe we can get a Crippled Coalition to go along with Feminist Frequency.

What issues? Can you explain why it is morally wrong for there to be more male characters in "US film" than females? Do you honestly believe that Hollywood directors simply do not care about women or are seeking to oppress them? Or that the average woman has a problem with male actors? This is not even mentioning the useless statistical definition of "character" in US films. Women still make up a large chunk of important characters within films. It's not a conspiracy to oppress women.


I don't have a problem with female characters whatsoever. They are necessary and there are many talented actresses out there. But I do take issue with comparisons to Saudi Arabia because a gender gap amongst Hollywood characters. The difference is that Saudi Arabian culture actively oppresses women through various laws and ideologies. What you are talking about is artists supposedly featuring too many men in their work. Artists and creative directors who are free to do as they please within their own marketplace are apparently under representing women in an entertainment media. An entertainment media that generates billions and billions of dollars. Women see these films and the average woman does not care about this issue and she votes with her wallet because she's an advlt and not a child. These are not really serious issues.

On the long list of people to be represented, the disabled are on the bottom rung, I'm afraid. We disabled folks have to look after ourselves and our own.

Well, we do get to be https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1FKcmEXPnUw. Not a whole lot of acting opportunities there, granted.

Especially competence

Or maybe that's what THEY! want us to think...

And sorry, disabled people just aren't media sixy

Yeah.


Well, I'm gonna do the media's job for them and write stories where the protagonists are strong, level-headed disabled characters. It's all about equality, babe.

There is no 'apparently' about it - there is massive under representation of women in US film and tv. Women make up just over 50% of the population yet a mere 17% onscreen. That's 17 women for every 83 men. The kind of figures I genuinely would have expected for a misogynistic hellhole like the KSA - or even Afghanistan, definitely not for the infinitely more advanced, culturally, US. I would have guessed 30-35%, maybe more. Completely off, and I was shocked to see the true figures. I thought things were gradually improving in this respect but the figures show that they're not. Sorry if this reaction offends you but there it is.

No one is suggesting there is any great 'conspiracy to oppress women', or that 'the average woman has a problem with male actors'. I strongly recommend that you read carefully the article I linked to earlier, because I don't think you have. Geena Davies does a brilliant job of explaining why this issue matters.

Some things will askew those figures. The movies that are popular, like war time movies, will feature more men than women (since there simply is more men in the armies across the world) So a war movie will of course, have a lot of male actors. Same goes for a lot of movies, where the theme is male dominant. Movie makers are simply directed by what people wanna see, and a lot of that happens to be action movies of some sort, where the male theme comes natural. If you want movies that features more women, you have to look for the niche movies, and not the blockbusters. Another thing is, that movies that focus on women (six in the city comes to mind) do not appeal to men, so the money they could bring in on those sort of movies, is almost guaranteed to cut sales in half (unless the women drag their men to it under threat )

They don't even appeal to many women. I'd have to be dragged under threat to see six and the City. You can focus on women - or a woman as the main character - in a horror or a superhero movie or a wartime drama too, you know.


The point is to not be afraid of having a semblance of gender balance in any type of movie that narratively allows it. Dividing them into "movies for women" and "movies for men" solves nothing.

Why is it natural?

Because with humans males are typically the "warriors"?

Well, a movie like six and the city is primarily targeted women, I don't say all women likes them Sure you can focus on a woman in those kind of movies, it just doesn't happen often. War themed movies, as I said above, are typical male oriented. I was just presenting a point, why it is, one may see fewer women in movie than men. Don't ask me, about why they make males the primary figures in most of those movie, ask the movie makers

But aggression, war, feudal war settings, gangs (whether they be gangsters or any collection of criminals) and violence are typical associated with the male masculinity. I'm not saying that a woman can't possess those abilities (I know a few that fit that bill! and yes, pun intended) it just lend itself more natural to select a man having those qualities. And having a single woman as the main role, in for example a war movie, wouldn't raise the number of womens any way, since the rest of the cast, would then be primarily males anyways, unless you make an amazon like movie. There are also very few famous female warleaders compared to men. And those famous, have already had their movies done (Cleopatra and Jeanne D'Arc comes to mind) Then you have a movie like The English Patient. Here both male and female are lead roles, but then we are moving away from an overall war themed movie, with the focus on the romantic drama.

@Ytrumz

I think it was Reneer who earlier pointed out that there were female fighter pilots inWW2, I remember reading about those who flew Spitfires. Films telling their stories are well overdue.

I don't agree that women can't be popular action heroes, liked by both sixes - Ripley, Sarah Connor, Selene, Buffy, Katniss etc. It's one area where things have improved.

It will happen once we see Asian males in desirable roles in Hollywood.

Well, will it sell? That's basically what it boils down to. If things are not selling, no one is going to fund a movie about female fighter pilots. I was just presenting a point why it may be that male actors are so much more represented than women, without having it to be some grander scheme of oppression of women or the like. And I didn't say that women can't be popular action heroes, of course they can.

mindquad! And jimmy boombox for the win!!!

back to the original article, it's not that american black women are just underutilized -- if they are utilized, it's either a poor stereotype bordering on racist, or basically whitewashed to be as little black as possible, both of which are offensive and alienating.

this is where I think kickstarter type funding would make a difference to test the playing field for these new ideas. there's gotta be artists, writers, developers, coders that are willing to start from the ground up and prove that there is a market, and kickstarter at least helps with that initial capital.

So basically, whatever they do they do it wrong and pleases no one. Marvelous

I created a black female character in Saints Row 3 and used the black female voice. Seems about right. Feels about right. Still crazy ridiculous though just because it's Saints Row 3.