by Jasmine Davis
A recent article published on The Week discusses how even the most qualified women in Hollywood have yet to direct a superhero movie. These huge summer blockbusters rake in literally billions of dollars - just look at The Avengers’ $1.5 billion worldwide take to see just how influential today’s superhero movies can be.
As author Monika Bartyzel points out, “A close examination of the superhero films released over the past decade shows a surprising willingness to take risks on off-beat, unproven, and relatively green directors.” You’d think that studios would want big-blockbuster directors for these flicks, but instead, they’ve chosen more off-beat, smaller scale directors like Sam Raimi and Christopher Nolan. Today, these directors are household names, but before they took on superheroes, they were relatively unknown.
Bartyzel explains that, technically, one woman has been tapped to direct a major Hollywood superhero film: Patty Jenkins. However, Jenkins, who directed the Oscar-winning Monster, was dismissed from the project for "not moving decisively enough". After her dismissal, she was replaced by male director Alan Taylor, best known for Game of Thrones. Bartyzel says,
“There is, perhaps, no genre that offers a more telling example of Hollywood's gender imbalance. If studios only selected directors with proven technical experience and box-office success for superhero films, the discussion wouldn't be about women directing them — it would be about women directing the action films and pulp fare that would lead them to superheroes. But that's not the case. Women with similar resumes to the men listed above aren't even considered for these high-buzz films — let alone given the opportunity to sign on or refuse.”
The fact that only one woman has been invited to direct a major superhero movie is a huge blow to women’s empowerment. Getting women involved in these projects could lead to a more diverse and interesting viewpoint. Including both women and empowerment in superhero movies could bring a much-needed diverse perspective that appeals to the wider audience. As we’ve discussed before, women make up an important part of modern-day theatergoing audiences.
One way to take a stand against this kind of systemic is to start programs that educate and train people from diverse backgrounds in filmmaking and film promotion. When you get, for example, women in Afghanistan trained in filmmaking and help them create works of their own, you bring an entirely new perspective to the world of filmmaking. Education in Afghanistan now includes subjects like this, thanks to the Afghan Development Project and Film Annex. Through filmmaking and other subjects, they’re learning about women’s empowerment and getting a way to support themselves and their families. Perhaps someday, the director of the next big-budget revamp of a superhero movie won’t just be a woman, but a woman from Afghanistan.
