"Women Don't Go to Movies" -- Huh?

A little-known fact: some studios recently decided to no longer make female-lead movies.

Lately, I've been in meetings regarding a new script idea I have. A studio executive asked me to change the female lead to a male, because... "women don't go to movies."

Really?

When I pointed out the box office successes of Sex and The City, Mamma Mia, and Obsessed, he called them "flukes." He said "don't quote me on this." So, I'm telling everybody.

I'm in a new movie, My Life In Ruins, out in theaters now. It's a small indie, that was picked up for distribution by a studio (thank you Fox Searchlight.) We're in one-third, maybe less, about one-quarter of the amount of screens of the big movies...yet we made it into the Top Ten.

I'm not too cool to admit this -- on the weekend, I snuck into the back of the theaters to hear people laughing. It's a very good-mood-inspiring sound, better than the sound of potatoes being dipped into a fryer. (Almost.)

The theaters were full of people laughing. Women were there. Sure, men were there, we are a date movie too, but the fact is women were there, some in big girls night groups.

Our movie isn't "playing everywhere," yet these audience members found it. We had an advertising budget of about 6 bucks, Canadian. We don't have billboards, or giant newspaper ads, or skywriting. So I've been Twittering (NiaVardalos), loading homemade videos onto YouTube : "My Life In Ruins, Really!" and blabbing to anyone who makes eye contact with me.

It's called show business for a reason. The theater owners want to make money, and understandably so. My Life In Ruins is the highest testing movie in Fox Searchlight history so we've been given a chance. And, the theater owners said they'll keep the movie in their theaters if people go.

So, women: can we speak up with our wallets?

Comments

[Rayme]

I saw My Life in Ruins and it was great. It has a lot of humor in it that worked just like My Big Fat Greek Wedding and a great story. Nia's first movie was a sleeper, this one will be a sleeper too.

[Openeyes]

Nia, it's hard to believe that an exec in the business is that clueless.

I agree with an earlier poster that multiplexes are not the most fun movie-going experience. However, I have 2 college-aged daughters, and "kids" these days seem to do a lot more group outings than when I was in college or even high school. It's not uncommon for a group of friends, all women or with some guys, to all go out for a movie together, far more than when I was that age.

That exec seems to assume to think that women only go to the movies to see women leads, and that men don't go to see women in the movies. Does he really think there aren't any guys going to see Julia Roberts, Uma Thurman, Gwenyth Paltrow, Sandra Bullock, Angelina Jolie, etc., etc.? Or that women only want to see male leads?

And I hope that exec isn't stupid enough to say that movies can't be based on leading women (see names above and add Jodie Foster, Meryl Streep, Kate Winslet).

Leading women "built" studios in the past, Bette Davis, Katherine Hepburn, Judy Garland, Doris Day, and Elizabeth Taylor were all literally franchises all on their own.

And what about all the great pairings with such wonderful chemistry - William Powell and Myrna Loy, Tracy & Hepburn, Bogart & Becall, Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor, - where is anything like that today?

Here's to more leading women's parts!

[Geria]

The truth is the studios can make money with dumb movies aimed at adolescents, especially boys. Actresses like Bette Davis, Joan Crawford, Kate Winslet and Meryl Streep require quality scripts and there aren't that many out there, I guess.

[Cameleon]

Not sure, but was not the actress in "The Reader" the lead ? Or at least the co-lead ?

[squarebird]

Women pick the movies and women like seeing men in lead roles. They do not want to see James Bond or Batman played by a woman, at least not on a regular basis.

If you want to see more women in leading roles, you need to be writing them to appeal to men (and lesbians). Tarantino gets it, so can others.

[dudelette]

Tarantino writes some of the toughest women ever. Not one woman in his movies goes down without a fight, something I appreciate. And I'm not a lesbian.

Last movie I saw with my family was Star Trek. I wasn't interested, but it was a hot day, the air conditioner was dying and my husband and sons wanted to see it. Dumber than dumb. I used to watch Star Trek TNG and DS9, especially DS9 since there were so many important female characters. One of the reasons I hated this latest reboot was because the only real female character was Uhura and, once again, she was window dressing. If J.J. Abrams is serious about continuing the franchise, he better get some more female characters in leads, or it will be the last Trek film I ever see.

BTW, if the woman in your life keeps opting for movies with handsome leading men, then you should probably doublecheck the mirror.

[LHibbard]

Look at "Twilight" - it's a good chick flick, even if the chicks are teenagers. Betcha it'll be the same with "New Moon" and the rest of the series.

The last two Harry Potter books will generate movies that mostly (young) women will attend.

And Miley Cyrus - need I say more?

Looks like "chick flicks" are attracting much younger women these days, and they spend more money than their moms and grandmas too. But good news - my preteen daughter also liked "Adventureland", which attracted older teens and young adult women, and I liked it too. So maybe there's a whole new audience for Ms. Vardalos to consider.

[dudelette]

Twilight, New Moon and Miley Cyrus are directly pitched at tweens and younger teens.

Harry Potter has more of an age range. But if this latest entry isn't better than the last two, I won't even bother watching it on cable.

[Godkay]

Look here's the deal, and by the way I just saw the movie. "My Life In Ruins" is a beautifully shot feel good romantic comedy grounded by some pretty great scenes between Nia and Richard Dryfuss. The bottom line is that Nia had the guts to tell her own story in MBFGW and it was a huge success. Why wouldn't she want to keep going? And as well she should. If she is trying to get more bodies in seats by writing this article, than so be it. Whether you like Nia and her films or not, don't put down a woman that is actively paving the way for future female screenwriters, directors and producers. We should all go out and support her as much as we can.

[kalamatiaNO]

I am a fellow Greek-American female who is an avid moviegoer. I embraced the commonality MBFGW evoked among all hyphenated ethnic groups and contend that the movie is and always will be an institution unto itself. You definitely put us on the map the first time out.

So when I became aware of your new movie, I got pretty excited. I sat down at my computer to look up reviews. I was bummed. Considering I have gone to movies that I thoroughly enjoyed despite reviewers' opinions, I fell back on moviegoers' feedback, which was pretty bad as well. No matter. As members of your tribe, my husband and I felt a near duty to go and see this movie, despite all the warnings of it movie being a disappointment.

The film had a few good moments. But for the most part, you were the same character you played in the first movie (a disillusioned woman looking for the meaning of life) in a different setting. The same voice in the same style narrated throughout as in MBFGW. But this time, the stereotypes were much worse and native Greek, who are known the world over to be such good people, are depicted ungraciously. To add to that, the predictability of the story line made us feel as if we were sitting in front of a 1970s movie.

It did appear that you and your cast had a lot of fun making the movie, though. You personally looked great.

[Artos]

I think what is lacking for women is something new in the way of plots. As a guy I will go see an occasional "Chick Flick", but usually I don't fbecause they are about the usual mundane aspects of everyday life. Everyday life is what it is and movies are supposed to be about escaping the mundane. Do I really want to go to a movie and see it rehashed. I really don't mind seeing movie that has a female lead as a heroic figure. Truth to tell though many movies of late are getting boring just because they are nothing but remakes of former movies, and I am old enough to have seen the originals. While some remakes actually are as good or better than the original, most are not. Sci-Fi takes that which is highly improbable or downright unimaginable and makes it seem real. This opens my mind to possibilities and challenges the imagination. Ordinary day to day events don't do that at all, they are simply tedium. I don't go to movies for that. Take for example the movie "Underworld" , and "Underworld Evolution" , now those were really well done movies, and the central character was a female vampire. I thought Kate Beckinsale carried that one off excellently. That is the kind of characterization i enjoy and it had less to do with the tight get up as it did with her acting.

[2girlsonabench-dot-com]

Thank you for this and yes, women go to the movies. We'd like to see more real women characters out there, starts with the writing my dear indeed, as we all know. It's an Obama kinda world out there, let's move past this, pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, grab a tub of delicious chemically flavored buttered popcorn and remind ourselves that we are not guy movies or chick flicks, we are the united movies goers of America!

[Solarangel]

I think it's less about whether or not women go to movies and more to do with the perceived quality of the product. In this case, My Life in Ruins scores a whopping 13% on rottentomatoes.com's Tomatometer (which reflects a composite of opinion among reviewers), including 9% among top critics, and with that kind of poor pedigree, it's no surprise that attendants of both sexes opted out. To be blunt, while I think Nia looks better than ever in the ads for the flick, it looked like a vanity project for her where she once again gets to play an uptight gal who scores a stud, which is the cinematic equivalent of waterboarding for guys like me. I agree that the Apatow films feature schleppy-looking comic actors landing total babes too often, but they're also (usually) smart and funny, which makes it easier for the typical film-goer to forgive the idea of a Seth Rogen scoring so much as eye contact from the likes of Katherine Heigl. Just make a film that's clever, hilarious, and not too obviously self-indulgent, and I guarantee that members of both sexes will attend. Everybody wins!

[dudelette]

So Nia wrote another Mary Sue movie.

You don't think most of those action flicks are Gary Sue movies? The writers and directors live out their fantasies in those movies, just like Nia does in her romantic comedies.

[bighat]

Not everything in the world is the way it should be. A shoot em up movie with car crashes or sci fi wars whatever draws in the young males. Girls tend to accompany these young males,

However, the so called chickflick movies will draw women but the young males tend to stay away. Some may go. because there is an exception to everything.

What I am most surprised at that TV does not have a station with series such as Matlock and Jessica (mystery novel writer crime solver

There are plenty of older actresses with money but they want the movie people to come to them. Maybe it is time for these people to pool their money and hit the small screen and they could star in the series themselves.

success on the small screen would move them to the big screen. If not them but those that are young today. Blaze a few new trails.

Women seem to keep making things only women want to see. Like the oxygen network. What else life time for women.

Instead of making movies on how bad men are make your own superheroes. Women also destroy other women for some reasom. Anyone remember when the game Lara Croft (later a movie) and Pocohontas women complained about the body build of the heroines. Never I have heard criticism of the body build of male superheroes.

Want movie leads with females than do not be your own worst enemy. Do something besides buying shoes

[DaveCarroll4]

Take an English class, please!

[NHBill]

That was a head scratcher.

[bighat]

What do you mean take an english class. Are you one of those people who believe that english is the official language of the USA? English, to my knowledge has never been declared the official language of the US.

Should you be referring to my grammar, I find, it is necessary to put common sense into words that people with your level of comprehension can understand.

By the way, in your comments english would not be capitalized. Plus there would be 2 spaces before the next word. In addition, please would be capitalized as the first world in a sentence.

[BeachedInFlorida]

Actually, Nia, I have been outraged by the Hollywood male-dominated boardrooms' elimination of women in movies for several years. It's outrageous that we can number on one hand the number of major movies with significant female roles -- not even leads -- in the last three years or so.

I have absolutely stopped going to all-male-cast movies. Won't spend my hard-earned money on em, no way, no how. So if women don't go to movies, those Hollywood moguls should be asking themselves WHY and doing something to change it -- not pandering farther and farther to the non-women segment of the moviegoing population.

[Dots]

I'm with you.
Check out Frozen River!

[Mitzy]

Six reasons why women don't go to movies:

1. Women are America's consumers, and movies are too expensive.
2. Women find multiplexes unfeminine; unadorned, stark, and mechanically masculine. Multiplexes force women to mingle with gang members and rough-trade.
3. Women find the sound systems way too loud.
4. Women enjoy cocooning; massive HD televisions reinforce that pleasure.
5. Women like real butter on their popcorn.

[Artos]

You should add that some women, such as my wife, find it difficult to sit through a three hour movie.

[melakfilms]

Does anyone here see the irony in a woman with a movie coming out complaining about women not able to get their movies out?

Anyone?

[LeftCoastOracle]

What did you expect? Most industries are dominated by men and they reflect their biases in their management actions.

I'll definitely see this movie and I'll take a bunch of women with me.