Hollywood’s Paternalism Is a Direct Hit on Fairness

We were dismayed to see the quote “Directing is a very paternal occupation” boldly highlighted as a subhead in the story about Mark Rydell (“Mark Rydell: On Acting, Directing and Woody,” by Susan King, May 1).

The comment itself was shocking for many reasons, not the least of which is that Rydell is a consummate director and a terribly kind, generous and thoughtful person. Women who have worked with him have only the deepest respect for him. It is the kind of remark that was perhaps “casual” yet is revealing “jargon” that sadly affirms what most people in Hollywood believe: that “directing is a man’s job.”

Rydell made the statement in the context of discussing his merits as a leader, noting the similarities between being a director and a father. But why didn’t the word “parental” leap to mind in describing the director’s occupation, thus including both paternal and maternal nurturing instincts?

The appearance of this quote was particularly disturbing in light of the front-page article that had run in The Times the day before (“A Hollywood League of Their Own,” by Rachel Abramowitz, April 30), which explained in some detail that even though “women run the top guilds, female actors and directors still struggle.” No fooling. And let us add to that list: female writers and craftspeople, including cinematographers, art directors, editors, etc.

The April 30 article reported that “female film directors are working less and less,” which is not news to us. The latest statistics from the Directors Guild of America reflect the ongoing problem: During the year ending April 2002, only 6.2% of features were directed by women, and of the 40 top prime-time shows in 2000-01, 11% were helmed by women.

Even though many women express similar sentiment as Callie Khouri did in that article--”We should be past it”--the fact is that many of those in power in Hollywood (mostly men) like to believe the fairy tale that we are “past it,” that the “female issue” was solved long ago. Because many of them believe their own wishful thinking, little effort has been made over the last few years to bring equality to hiring practices--thus, the current stalemate.

A blatant example of such “wishing away” happened several years ago when the International Photographers Guild (now the International Cinematographers Guild) Women’s Caucus was summarily dissolved by the guild leadership. The reason given was that “you [women] don’t have those problems [of being discriminated against] anymore.” Tell that to the many female camera operators and directors of photography who still struggle for recognition and employment while most jobs are automatically awarded to the guys.

All the examples of “film directors who seem to enjoy acting as much as directing” cited in the May 1 article--as in an earlier Calendar article about hot young directors (“The New New Wave,” by Patrick Goldstein, Dec. 12, 2001)--were male. There have been and are extremely successful female actor-directors--to name a few: Ida Lupino, Penny Marshall, Diane Keaton, Elaine May, Betty Thomas, Anjelica Huston. But this kind of “reporting” reflects what most published books and articles on “great directors” imply: that there are no female directors worth including.

Until we at least begin to include on those lists female directors who have succeeded (Jane Campion, Lina Wertmuller, Agniezska Holland, Martha Coolidge, Penelope Spheeris, Mira Nair, Mimi Leder, Lynne Littman, Agnes Varda, Barbara Kopple, Joan Micklin-Silver, Claudia Weill, Kathryn Bigelow, Clare Peploe, Kimberly Pierce, for example), mainstream film history will remain an exclusionary and chauvinist lie that perpetuates the deluded idea that “directing is a very paternal occupation.”

What hooey. And it is a shame that The Times highlighted that quote, giving it much more attention, we suspect, than Rydell ever meant to give it.

Perhaps the bigger loss is the one-sided vision of the world--seen only through “paternal” eyes. Just as we do not want a handful of powerful corporations to tell us what to buy and what to think, we do not want only “the chosen” sex to tell us how to “see” the world. We believe that the audience not only deserves better, but is also hungering for more.

*

Kristin Glover is a camerawoman, writer and documentary-maker. Jennifer Warren is an actress and director.