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Can’t women ever do anything original in Hollywood?

posted 7 years ago by PeppermintHippo (369)
21 replies | jump to latest

There are a couple good female Directors out there and maybe 2 or 3 decent actresses, but other then providing nudity....what have women really brought to the table as far as originality or doing anything inventive in the Movie Industry?

The Blair Witch Project was a stroke of genius...two guys came up with the idea.

The Terminator (although some say Cameron stole the idea from another dude) was just a genius concept, again it was a guy who came up with this.

Halloween which is considered the greatest Horror movies of all time even had a female writer do part of the script....even then it was Carpenter who was responsible for creating Michael Myers and Dr Loomis (the reason the franchise still exists today), while Debra Hill’s only accomplishment was writing throwaway teenage dialogue.

Long story short, why can’t women create something original on their own? The Ghostbusters all female cast reboot was a disaster, Oceans 8 is currently a disaster, and I don’t see how women or any single woman is going to bring anything new to the table in the near future...other than showing off some skin and being a serviceable love interest here and there.

[–] [deleted] 7 years ago

They have.

I'm not sure what's so empowering about taking something created by men, mostly about men and remaking it with women is so empowering. I agree with you there. A woman creating something original would be a much better example for other females and all that shit.

[–] [deleted] 7 years ago

There are many excellent directors, who happen to be female, and several great female actors. Have you seen The Virgin Suicides? Zero Dark Thirty? Lady Bird? The Matrix? The Tale? Fish Tank? Boys Don't Cry? Frozen River? American Psycho? All are examples of great films directed by women. There are plenty of bad, unoriginal films that have been directed by men, so let's not pretend all male directed films are great.

[–] PeppermintHippo (369) 7 years ago

Okay I gotta correct you on ‘The Matrix’ there bud...”He” was born a male and you can’t actually change your gender so that doesn’t count. Kathryn Bigelow was one of the good Director’s I was referring to, although I think she largely benefited from being married to James Cameron who probably taught her a lot.

While some of those other movies you’ve mentioned are well done, none of them are “game changers” and they either spawned from a book or took ideas from other works. All I’m saying is why can’t women create something unique or something that has never been done before without piggy backing off of what men have accomplished? It’s almost as if being inventive is a foreign concept to them.

[–] [deleted] 7 years ago

The Matrix was directed by two transgender women. It is considered ignorant and offensive to refer to a transgender woman as a he. I suspect based on your comment you don't understand what being transgender really means. And your other comments are blatantly misogynistic. I really hope you are just a troll and don't believe the garbage you write.

[–] PeppermintHippo (369) 7 years ago

You can’t actually change your gender, they were both born with male chromosomes and biology backs me up. Just because they identify as women now (I thought it was just the one brother but apparently it’s both?) doesn’t make it so.

If I identify as a Moose, does that make me a moose? Both of their bodies have male chromosomes and it’s probably why they were able to come up with the idea for the Matrix, women know nothing about Kung Fu so I fail to see how you credit them as being female but to each his own.

[–] Skullomania (483) 7 years ago

I agree with this. Unless they can change a persons skeleton, they will always appear as their real gender regardless of what they claim to be. Females have a more tilted pelvis, narrower shoulders and rib cage, different skulls etc. etc. All of which give them that female silhouette that is easily distinguishable from male. I mean, these are the framework on which the rest of the body is built so if you're a man or a woman, you'll always be one and appear to be your real gender to others. Dictating that people should lie to themselves and others about biology and what their eyes and brain know, could be considered ignorant and offensive also.

I have nothing against transgenders and wish them well, especially since it looks like they need it with such a high suicide rate. I won't however play ball.

[–] PeppermintHippo (369) 7 years ago

Yes you’re 100% correct, this is why the fighting commission has banned transgendered men from competing against women in Mixed Martial Arts.

Men have bigger hands and can generate more power in their punches, to deny this would be unfair to actual female fighters and put them at an increased risk of serious injury.

[–] TexasJack (12516) 7 years ago

No, it was directed by two men who, sadly, now suffer from grave mental illness.

[–] [deleted] 7 years ago

Being transgender is not a mental illness.

[–] [deleted] 7 years ago

I feel quite sorry for whatever has happened to you that makes you dislike women so much.

[–] PeppermintHippo (369) 7 years ago

Okay just humor me for a second if you would...

Let’s say that I hold an opinion that women are much better than men at Gardening. How about I take it a step further and claim that men haven’t accomplished much in terms of gardening in general and that I wish they would apply themselves more in their backyard garden instead of always relying on the wife to do it.

Okay, now imagine some douchey men rights activist clicking his heels together in a tissy fit because I’m being a sexist against men with my hateful comments about how men suck at tending their gardens.

Now imagine me asking this men’s activist “hey buddy, name me some decent male gardeners that you know of” and the best person he can put forth is a female who later in life shaved her head and shoved testosterone up her ass.

Do you see how stupid your comment is now? Pointing out obvious observations isn’t misogyny. I shouldn’t have to pretend that women have done all these great things for the movie industry just to be PC so I don’t get shouted down. You sound like a fascist when you expect me to ignore the truth just because it might rustle some feathers.

[–] [deleted] 7 years ago

I'm not expecting anything from you, I promise that.

In the words of Buzz Lightyear "You are a sad strange little man and you have my pity"

[–] PeppermintHippo (369) 7 years ago

Can’t argue with simple logic I see. Do lefties learn anything in college these days other then crying racism and misogyny after they disagree with someone?

[–] [deleted] 7 years ago

If you ever display logic or indeed learn the definition of logic, well it would be a start and a fucking miracle!

Last time you had one of your anti women rants you called me a liberal and now I'm a leftie!

I have no idea why you think that my objecting to your stance that women are sluts and scumbags (your previous posts about abortion) aren't good comediennes (your inept and amateurish YouTube nonsense), actors or directors is a political statement. It isn't of course, it's an objection to you making a sweeping generalisation, you hang yourself with your own words.
You're a troll of course and you dehumanize women "but other then providing nudity" and "other than showing off some skin and being a serviceable love interest here and there." So I'm not about to give you too much more of my time, frankly you don't deserve it.

There are plenty of successful female actors, directors, writers, comediennes, doctors, lawyers, mothers, chefs, athletes. Just type the words "successful female" and add any profession and you can see the results, they'll be right there mocking you.

[–] PeppermintHippo (369) 7 years ago

Jesus, can anyone read the thread title? I’m talking about “originality” and not talent. I’ve already admitted that talented female actresses and female directors do exist, I’m looking for women who actually created something new or groundbreaking and moved the industry forward.

Judging by the lack of responses I’m assuming the answer is no?

I called you a Lefty because all you do is label other people names and engage in ad hominem attacks.

[–] MinaVladimir (4086) 7 years ago

Ummm, you might want to use movies which weren't directed and co-written by men as examples of the failings of women in Hollywood.

[–] PeppermintHippo (369) 7 years ago

Ummm, you might want to reread the title of the topic in discussion..... here let me help you out “Can’t women ever do anything original in Hollywood?”.

I’m arguing that women haven’t done anything original, men have which is why I listed examples of men coming up with original stuff. If you would like me to list every movie written or direced by a female and then explain how the particular movie isn’t groundbreaking or original then I better take some vacation time off because it’s gonna take a while lol.

[–] MinaVladimir (4086) 7 years ago

Oh, I not only read the title, I read the whole post.

The Ghostbusters all female cast reboot was a disaster, Oceans 8 is currently a disaster...

Your examples need to support your thesis. Giving male helmed material (You only seem to be interested in writer/director. When it suits you.) as an example of how women aren't original isn't doing that.

But please, do go on to not compile that list. I have no interest in further reading the writings of someone with a view of film, filmmaking, and the dynamics of that industry, as limited as yours appears to be.

[–] PeppermintHippo (369) 7 years ago

This isn’t a 10th grade Chemistry Project so no my examples don’t need to support my thesis, those are just examples of bad movies that shouldn’t exist, do you disagree?

I’m only interested in writer/director when it suits me? How about you list any contributions that women have made in the history of cinema that involves creating something from nothing....there you have it....I will include producers who came up with some brilliant original idea that they then gave to the writers or director.

For someone who likes to lecture me about semantics and tiddlywinks you sure don’t seem interested in putting your own opinions on the table. Do you even have an opinion on the topic in front of your face? Or am I just pissing in the Memphis wind right now?

[–] somesunnyday (2078) 7 years ago

You need to broaden your movie horizons. Watch 'In My Skin' written and directed by Marina de van.

[–] Wint3rFir3 (7355) 7 years ago

I recommend reading 'Goddesses of the galaxy: women directors take over the blockbuster universe'.

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2018/may/11/goddesses-of-the-galaxy-women-directors-take-over-the-blockbuster-universe

Also, I'd say do the math. No one can talk about some illustrious list of films by women creators because there aren't enough to talk about, which is why this topic is kind of moot.

And when the most unoriginal movies being made are making the most money - superhero films - look at how little women have been involved in that. We just got our first Wonder Woman film in 2017 after how many Batman and Superman films, and Jenkins was only involved because someone died. We haven't even gotten a female-led Marvel film yet, and the only Marvel franchise that really puts women at the forefront of their films, X-Men, have done a pretty terrible job with their female characters.

Besides this, whenever a woman-led film is successful, it's done to death. For example, we got The Hunger Games, then the Divergent series, and so on. Screenwriters rarely ever vary from female stereotypes - people are still obsessed with Ripley and Sarah Connor for goodness sake because we have very little else to look up to. And then most people complain about Mary Sue characters because that's all we get, giving director's an excuse not to include women at all.

BTW so what if Oceans 8 is a disaster? I think the Ocean's Eleven films were terrible but they still made three of those. But because this is a woman-led project this doesn't deserve the same?