Hollywood idiocy

[owlmoose]

So there was a rumor going around that Jeff Robinov, a high-ranking Warner Brothers executive, declared that his studio would not be making any more movies with female leads. Now the studio is backpedeling (scroll down to the bold part of the post), but it seems clear that Robinov said something along these lines, at least partly because he's dealing with fallout from flops starring Nicole Kidman and Jodie Foster.

Lovely.

This is a WTF story on so many levels, I'm not even sure where to start. The second link, above, does a good job of explaining why this reaction is idiotic at best and deeply sexist at worst -- movies with male leads flop all the time, but would anyone even remotely suggest that the studio should never make another one? Gee, here's a thought: how about writing good movies featuring interesting women characters? But no, this seems to be beyond them.

Maybe the saddest part about this whole story is how easy it was to believe that WB might actually adopt this policy. Reality trumps satire? Sad but true.

Comments

I

[kunstarniki.livejournal.com]

Reality trumps satire? Sad but true.

Alas, reality has been trumping satire for nearly seven years now. I fear irony and certain forms of comedy are endangered species. It is amazing what I believe these days right off the bat. And most of it proves to be true.

I have been following the Rabinov story since its inception. It is just another of the almost Swiftian tales of our times. ;)

Re: I

[owlmoose.livejournal.com]

They claimed the death of irony was coming after 9/11, but it does seem to be alive and well. It's just a matter of not drifting too far from the truth...

[delladella.livejournal.com]

I heard about this. You mentioned the best response I’ve so far heard: when movies with male leads fizzle, do we suffer the same declarations about how male leads doom a project? Answer: no.

But we’re just a bunch of silly plebes! The solution can’t be telling a clever and entertaining story. Of course not.

[owlmoose.livejournal.com]

No, no, that would be much too easy. Much better to get those wimmins off our movie screens. And keep them out of the studio boardroom while we're at it.

*rolls eyes, again*