#GoodRead Roundup: GenderAvenger Summer Movie Wrap Up

by BagoGames [CC BY 2.0] via Flickr

School has started, Labor Day weekend festivities have ended, and summer is unofficially over. While movies by and about women ruled the summer box office, new research revealed stunning inequalities for women in front of and behind the camera. Take a deeper dive into the world of women in movies, and get some fresh ideas for your queue of Fall films.

It’s Time to Fall Madly In Love With Films Directed by Women: Directed by Women is hosting a 15-day-long online viewing party of films by women. Want to join the party but not sure where to start? Check out Tribeca Film Festival’s list "The 22 Best Woman-Directed Films Streaming on Netflix" and the Directed by Women website, or peruse the 1,000+ list of women directors created by The Director’s List.

The 2015 Oscar Field is Packed with Love, Violence, and Strong Female Roles: After last year’s nearly all male Oscars debacle, we’re more than ready to see powerful films by women get the attention and acclaim that they deserve.

"The Real Reason Some Men Still Can’t Handle the All-Female Ghostbusters" 
via Daily Dot:

While a new Ghostbusters movie might seem like a silly thing to get so bent out of shape over, the backlash against the all-female version reveals some pretty brutal truths about the misogynistic underbelly of our collective unconscious—and shows why the all-female Ghostbusters is so necessary.

Every Month Is Add Female Characters Month! Helen Mirren recently said that "We have to start stealing men’s roles." Fine point, but maybe screenwriters could start developing more roles for women, too? Shaula Evans featured the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media's handy guide to help transform every month into "Add Female Characters Month."

"8 Lessons From a Summer Where Women Ruled the Box Office" via TIME Magazine:

Young, white men are the most coveted demographic in the industry — hence the endless parade of pasty male superheroes. But a FiveThirtyEight study of the biggest blockbusters since 1970 found that films that passed the Bechdel Test — a simple yet somehow elusive bar that measures whether two women in a movie talk to one another about something other than a man — make more money than those that don’t.

Inequality in 700 Popular Films: Examining Portrayals of Gender, Race, & LGBT Status from 2007 to 2014: The Media, Diversity & Social Change Initiative at USC Annenberg put together a report breaking down gender and more in the top 700 films over the past seven years. While women made a splash at the box office this summer, the number of women in screen, and behind the camera, from 2007 through 2014 has been astoundingly low. According to their findings, "A total of 21 of the 100 top films of 2014 featured a female lead or roughly equal co lead. This is similar to the percentage in 2007 (20%), but a 7% decrease from the 2013 sample (28%). The lowest percentage of women with speaking roles was in 2014."

Through the Gender Lens: One Century of Cinema History — "For one in every five movies of 2015, female characters never speak to each other."
 

What’s new at GenderAvenger

We’re adding new resources for organizers to our Resources page. This week check out:

• Great Women Speakers
• Yes, Equal
• Minerva: Outstanding Women Speakers
• American Program Bureau

Create your own gender breakdowns for film festivals, theatres, studios, and more with the GA Tally. Don’t forget to share your tallies with us on Facebook and Twitter so we can spread the word.

What are your favorite films directed by women? Give us your movie suggestions in the comments or tweet them to us using #genderavenger!