Actresses have nowhere to stand

[iviih.livejournal.com]

There's a saying; 'there's no place for an actress'. There aren't that many movies that stand out for actresses this year.

Last year, actors stood out with the movies "The Terror Live", "The Face Reader" and "Secretly and Greatly". This year was no different with "KUNDO : Age of the Rampant", "The Admiral: Roaring Currents", "The Fatal Encounter", "Haemoo", "A Hard Day" and more.

The majority of the audience remembers that these movies were based around men. Therefore, there's a limit to which role an actress can play. Most roles are female characters that assist the male. It's basically a supporting role.

This year, the female movies were based mostly on erotic themes. Because of the lack of space for actresses, even rookies had to go through sexual exposure in movies. Lim Ji-yeon from "Obsessed", Esom from "Scarlet Innocence" and Lee Tae-im from "For The Emperor", all had to go through extreme exposure.

Meanwhile, there's a problem because of the limited genre. The production companies are saying they need to widen their eyes a little bit as the women have no variety of roles to choose from.

Moon So-ri pointed out a few things. She said, "For men, there are many different styles to being a gangster, but for women, it's just a bar madam or a mother".

Kim Yoon-jin mentioned, "It's a wake-up-call for us women and the agencies also need to think more diversely".

Then, some 'actress' movies were released. "The Huntresses" is based around female action but failed miserably. "Pirates" starring Son Ye-jin succeeded, but it can't be called hers because the cast was made up of Kim Nam-gil, Yoo Hae-jin, Oh Dal-soo and other talented men.

Thankfully, Sim Eun-kyeong made a hit with "Miss Granny" all by herself.
     
"Cart" was a newly attempted movie showing the various sides of a female character. In the movie there's a mother, but various kinds.

Thus, if ideas were expanded a little more, actresses will have plenty of roles to choose from. Still, there's little room for change. It doesn't look like there's going to be much of a difference in 2015. It's like there's a shortage of films starring women who stand out.


Source: Hancinema via Tvdaily

Sadly this happens everywhere...  :(

Comments

[hipployta.livejournal.com]

*sigh*

[agentgoodnight.livejournal.com]

Infuriating and typical.

Has anyone seen Cart? It was at the film festival here but I never got a chance to see it.

[tempestdance.livejournal.com]

hollywood suffers from this as much as korean film industry does.

it upsets me that no matter what the plot is, if the main character is anyone other than a straight white male it's classified as "those types of movies," and if movies like that flop it suddenly becomes a testament to why "black movies/female movies/etc. wouldn't work" when there are bazillion movies with straight white men that flop every day.

as annoying as lucy was i liked that its lead was a woman and it wasn't really all about her being a woman, and more like this character just happens be a woman.

[mjspice.livejournal.com]

Agreed with Lucy. It had a lot of potential & a great female lead but got misused along the way.

[love-keiko.livejournal.com]

yeaaaaaahhhhh...lucy had...*issues* and enough of them that i wouldn't bring that movie up as an example of roles that we need to see more women in. white feminism is NAGL.

i was just talking the other day about "true detective" and the glorification of serial killers and how shows like that will ALWAYS be missing a layer because aside from sexist stereotypes and dead bodies they dont make any room for women. "the fall" starring gillian anderson is an example of that type of story where a woman is brought in to the forefront and a serial killer isnt just upheld as this ~*emotionally distressed but mythology buff genius*~ he's confronted about his misogyny and gross entitlement by a WOMAN. his antagonist is a FEMALE detective---changes the entire dynamic of the story. it's why "the fall" works in ways "true detective" never will.

i think we need more movies and tv shows like that. where women r allowed to occupy spaces typically reserved for men and while the world may give them shit for it, the narrative is supportive. to me the issue is hollywood (and entertainment industries in general) being unable/not supporting works that place women ABOVE what is considered "social acceptable" gender roles.

[tempestdance.livejournal.com]

oh yeah no doubt the white feminism was strong in that one. that's where my annoyance comes in and the only thing not annoying was that the lead just happened to be a female. i was appalled even from the trailer when lucy shoots some dude for not speaking english in uh, a non-english speaking country. also side-eyed at luc besson for casting choi min sik for a typical asian mob boss character. *rolls eyes*

[love-allure.livejournal.com]

i've only watched one movie at the movie theater this year, it was hunger games. they need to get on my level and start diversifying their movies because i'm done paying to see a dry sausage fest with an even drier storyline.

wait scratch that, i also watched maleficent with angelina jolie & that other actress girl.

[agoongprincess.livejournal.com]

ugh, mess. the american industry is just as bad. bollywood has to be the worst by far. actresses literally have a shelf life of 35. the second they hit 35 and they no longer can play arm candy to the 50 something male lead they are done. you have 25 year old girls romancing 45 year old men and it's disgusting.

[prlsb4swiine.livejournal.com]

ok i know i say this with his face as my icon but i need srk to take a seat
please
for all our sanity

[tsuyoi-hikari.livejournal.com]

Why? He romanced a 25 y/o in his latest works?

[agoongprincess.livejournal.com]

i feel you. I love SRK but he needs to start loving himself. He looks like their fathers and it's so gross and totally unbelievable. He needs to start working with actresses his age and branch out of the romantic lead typecast he does. it's getting harder and harder for him to pull it off.

[sakura-holic.livejournal.com]

Omg same, I haven't watch any other Bollywood film this year other than one called "Queen" which was a breath of fresh air ;;

I don't even know if the bollywood industry even cares anymore... Everything they have been putting out is shit, some of it which is so misogynistic and sexist where the main lead gets all the glory and women is just there for romance and a "item number dance" ugh *pukes*

[mjspice.livejournal.com]

THIS THANK YOU! & then there's the whole "rape" culture in their movies where "a hero pretty much always saves the heroine from being molested' that needs to stop. Especially in the light of the crimes actually happening in India where the reality is worse.

[tsuyoi-hikari.livejournal.com]

Its really sad. And even if the movies center around women, the women tend to play annoying and silly characters. :((

It really sadden me when actresses have to do erotic things in order for their movies to sell. It makes their selling value is only their sexual appeal and further down the variety that women can play in movies...

[prlsb4swiine.livejournal.com]

one of my favorite korean actresses always plays the pining/worried mother of main lead in dramas and it's infuriating bc she completely slays in those roles but I doubt I will ever see her in a more diverse role any time soon.

[wildette.livejournal.com]

:~(

Praying for a revolution or something honestly

[kairoso.livejournal.com]

i don't really follow the korean movie industry, but that's really sad. i really just want more women in films... comedy, action, thrillers w/o sexualizing them or using rape as a backstory for the character

[mjspice.livejournal.com]

using rape as a backstory for the character

They should stop with this the most. Bollywood is the biggest offender in this case.

[timetobegin.livejournal.com]

What should happen in both the Korean and Western film industry is:

A) Filmmakers and scriptwriters should stop emulating our social (patriarchal) hierarchy in which men and their stories are most important and ~no1curr~ about the rest; and

B) Scriptwriters need to start approaching female characters as human beings capable of a spectrum of emotions, personalities, actions etc. instead of continously displaying them in the same played out fucking tropes.

[mjspice.livejournal.com]

Mte OP. It's not just Korea.

& even more unfortunate if an actress gets a role & it's whitewashed. :/

[lilrand0m-chik.livejournal.com]

"For men, there are many different styles to being a gangster, but for women, it's just a bar madam or a mother"

umm sounds like there's been an abundance of people too lazy in thinking of more styles to women because wow

[jaelissi.livejournal.com]

We've seen these tropes/characters/story lines so often that anything else becomes hard to even imagine.
The worst thing about it is that female writers are some of the worst offenders. Though my all time favorite writers are women, some of the most outright misogynistic characters I've seen are also written by women. The problem is deep.

[leighbee333.livejournal.com]

Internalized misogyny runs deep...

[love-keiko.livejournal.com]

this problem goes DEEP. i could speak FOR YEARS on how bad this is for hollywood as well...

television is a little better but not by much. korean dramas can be serious eye openers when it comes to how korea views gender roles and what kind of limitations that places on actresses asked to portray such flat interpretations of human beings.