IN HOLLYWOOD UPGRADE

inism in the film industry has devastating consequences on both on-screen representation and how women are treated behind the cameras. Even though there has been a conscious effort to reduce overt sexism in scripts, women’s characterization in media leaves much to be desired. Because the Bechdel test is the only threshold most producers use to verify that their film cannot be accused of sexism, the characterization behind these on-screen women is never examined further than what is deemed necessary. When these women are written by men, directed by men and created for an audience of men, female characterization is rarely given a second glance, much less reexamined.

Flat characterization strips female characters of any personality and values outside of the archetype they have been confined to. Natasha Romanoff from the MCU, Kiara Carrera from Outer Banks and Jessica Day from New Girl are all examples of women being confined to archetypes rather than being written as real people. Aside from the dialogue they write for these characters being unbearable at times, Hollywood writers forcing their female characters into these tropes creates harmful and impractical ideals for the women watching these to live up to.

Aside from the issue of representation on-screen, few women are given the opportunity to tell their stories in executive positions of power. Variety Magazine notes that only 9% of the directors of the top 100-grossing movies made in 2022 were women, and women of color were under 3% of the total. The Guardian also reports that, on average, female directors earn only 73% of what a studio would typically pay a male director. With lower pay and blatant disrespect from their coworkers, women are largely barred from sharing their car recently for Best Director, becoming the first woman of color to do so. In light of female directors like Zhao, Ava DuVernay and Greta Gerwig gaining more recognition, the improvement in gender equality seems promising for the future of film.

Regardless, there is much more to be done in terms of Hollywood’s standards of gender equality and, unfortunately, change is not happening fast enough. Hollywood’s best bet forof a remedy is allowing more women in the writing rooms, executive boards and directors’ chairs instead of settling for Hollywood’s lackluster standards of gender equality both on and off-screen experiences onscreen. Aside from the uncommon F rating, there are no markers nor measures of women-directed media, leading to no incentive for Hollywood to evolve. While it is not enough, some progress has been made in creating gender equal films. Female main characters and films directed by women are being given more opportunities and recognition. Chloé Zhao, a Chinese-American director, won an Os-