The San Diego Union-Tribune found itself apologizing to readers last week for running a review of The Other Boleyn Girl whose first sentence was a disparaging remark about Natalie Portman’s lack of cleavage. The review was written by a male critic, prompting the section editor to wonder why there aren’t more female film critics (including at his own paper — the review was a syndicated article written for a wire service). It’s a good question, but it should be part of a bigger question.
A diverse set of viewpoints is good, but do male and female critics see films differently? I’m glad we have both Owen Gleiberman and Lisa Schwarzbaum here at EW, but when it comes to so-called "chick flicks" or more male-oriented action fare, both of our film critics are able to see past gender and review them positively if they’re good, negatively if they’re bad. Their differences in taste seems (to me) to have more to do with who they are as individuals than with sex. Still, the film industry is more clearly male-dominated than any other realm in showbiz (quick, how many female directors, screenwriters, and studio executives can you name?) and caters more blatantly to male ticket-buyers. So I’m glad there are women writing about film who’ll take notice of that imbalance, who’ll recognize the way the camera often objectifies women (and sometimes men), and who’ll argue that a more varied and well-rounded set of female characters would be good for movies in general, so that the other half of the population can find someone on screen to identify with. Of course, I’d like to see more men arguing these points as well.
The larger problem here isn’t just that there aren’t enough women critics — there aren’t enough critics. I’ve been writing for some time in this space about the war on film critics, the campaign by many publications to fire their local critics and build their coverage from syndicated reviews. The Union-Tribune situation shows why this is a bad idea. I don’t know whether readers in other cities where the article ran complained as loudly, but clearly, this review didn’t serve the needs of the San Diego paper’s hometown readership. The ongoing conversation about film isn’t served by having only a handful of critical voices who are unaccountable to moviegoers. Among critics, there should be a diversity of gender (and ethnicity, and sexual orientation, etc.), but right now, I’d be happy to see some geographical diversity.
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The shortage of women in the film industry really baffles me, but I guess I never thought about the shortage of female film critics – surprising, given that I’d like to become one. I don’t think the field of film critics NEEDS to be more diverse, but I definitely think it would help to create more varied discussion of what makes a film good or bad.
Gary, I couldn’t agree more. Our local paper uses only wire services, and there’s definitely something missing in the reviews. I grew up in Rochester, New York, and I always looked forward to reading the reviews of Jack Garner, our local critic. Not only did he add local flavor to his reviews (never failing to mention Phillip Seymour Hoffman’s Rochester roots in his reviews of PSH’s movies), but he could also be heard regularly on local radio, becoming a sort of local celebrity. The wire service reviews lack that local flavor, and certainly don’t interest me as much.
Well said Gary, well said.
Okay, but while we’re on the subject, why DIDN’T Natalie Portman have more cleavage???
At least Natalie’s lack of cleavage was historically accurate. By the time Anne became queen she had lost an enormous amount of weight due to stress. Maybe film critics should do a bit more research?
The SD U-T’s long time movie critic, David Elliot, (who may not be there anymore, I don’t live in SD anymore so I don’t know), wrote, in my opinion, absolutely appalling movie reviews which gave away far too much of the plot and penalized movies for not being enough like movies made when he was young.
That said, replacing one bad staff reviewer with one bad syndicated reviewer is a step backwards.
Why not find someone with a great film review blog and give them a job writing for a paper? There are enough of them out there.
While I don’t think Qwen or Lisa are gender biased when it comes to “chick flicks” or “action movies”, there is a clear difference in their reviewing style/language/etc., that I do think stems at least partly from their genders. If I don’t look to see who is writing which review, I can always tell which one of them wrote it. I’ve tried this many times and I’ve always been right. Owen’s viewpoint is usually more “masculine” and Lisa’s, more “feminine”, very broadly speaking.
I agree with everything said about Natalie Portman’s lack of cleavage
Thanking you for bringing this issue up, Gary. Yes, we do need more female movie critics. In general, we need more women in Hollywood – from writers, to directors, to even the AMOUNT of female characters in a script. Most scripts only have about 2 or 3 female roles, if that, and then about 15-20 male roles. And trust me, I’ve worked in Hollywood for several years – that is not an exaggeration.
Forget “chick-flicks” and think about how many movies with female protagonists exist. Female critics would champion female-centric movies, which unfortunately is necessary in a sea of male critics who think they are unbiased, but cannot help responding more positively to movies with the male point of view because they are men. I think if there was research done on how many men gave good reviews to movies with female protagonists compared to female reviewers, we would find that men don’t respond as favorably to these films as women. Equity in the world of reviewers may help equity in the world of film production.
YES YES YES WE DO. The lack of female critics ALWAYS strikes me, particularly when watching Ebert & Roeper. On that show, it’s sometimes like a guy’s only club where exchange smug smiles and pat each other on the back. I love Lisa’s EW reviews, but really… where are all the rest of the women!?!?
I always wanted to be a film critic too…but I figured no one would hire a chick…and based on the lack of women reviewers, i suspect I’m probably right…
the film industry is really dominated by women. how many films have female nudity? how much of the female audience wants to see that? how much comparative MALE nudity is there? i hate to say it, cuz i know it makes me sound like a huge feminist, but our whole society is geared towards men. not just the film industry, but thats where is prevalent right now. maybe its not so much that more women are needed in critic posts, but that more OBJECTIVE people are needed. sex shouldnt matter, but really, do chick flicks ever get as many great reviews from the male critics as the horrible, hum-drum, same old same old action flicks, especially from the male critics?
Seems to be two different topics here: lack of local critics due to staff cuts at papers around the country, and lack of female film critics. Solving one problem will not necessarily solve the other, since one is systemic and pervasive and the other is a wrong-headed reaction to the way the internet has altered reading habits. Our paper cut its local critic because “people can get reviews from rotten tomatoes” or whatever. Umm. Ok. And the way to draw readers away from that venue is to…cut one more reason the paper is NOT like rotten tomatoes, and leave no other option but to go to that venue instead of your paper for film reviews? Riiiiight. Brilliant strategy!
Owen’s pretty good, but I can’t stand Lisa’s reviews!
Hire film critic Allison Bailes. She’s Awesome
I DON’T have any desire for more women film critics. I don’t want a “feminine point of view.” I just want an intelligent, film-education-based opinion on the whether or not the film was good. And frankly, a woman film critic is less likely to do that. They are more inclined to do as suggested and approach it from an angle highlighting the gender difference. I hate that in reviews.
And while it is true that Lisa Schwarzbaum does not necessarily do this, she does — as another commenter stated — write “femininely.” I, too, can always tell when she is reviewing a movie w/out reading the name. Still I do not like Lisa’s reviewing style (I often find it irritating) and I almost never agree w/ her — therefore can never trust her opinions. However I enjoy reading Owen immensely and often agree w/ him.
There are enough crappy critics in general. We don’t need to throw a bunch of crappy female critics onto the pile.
That hat lady in San Francisco scared me off distaff critics a long time ago.
Of course, I’ve yet to be persuaded that critics should exist at all. I suppose it should be part of the job to be a champion of whatever art form falls within one’s expertise; but c’mon, in this day and age, when everyone has an opinion (like here) and no one listens to anyone else (like here), what possible use remains for criticism other than to show off one’s archness, snobbery, or latent hostility to the very thing one professes to adore? Paging Anton Ego.
I guess the film industry could use some more diversity in general but is that really the problem here? I love how he shifted the focus from his poor decision making to the state of the industry in general.
Instead of wondering why there aren’t more female critics maybe David L. Coddon should be wondering why he’d put a blatantly sexist review in the paper. Either he didn’t read it at all or he didn’t see anything wrong with the opening line until the readers pointed it out.
Just because there aren’t many female reviewers doesn’t mean he had to pick that one.
First, there is no such thing as an “objective” film reviewer. While there is a significant technical element to moviemaking, writing about those just those elements would be really boring.
Second, I don’t think you can say that because one person writes a certain way that the entire gender will also write that way. I could say that all male reviewers are misogynist pigs, but I’d be flat wrong.
Third, we need more diversity period, both in reviewers and filmmakers.
How about critics that actually watch the movies they review. I swear most of the reviews I read seem like they were written based off a trailer and a press kit, not having actually seen the film. This doesn’t just go for newspaper reviews, but some reviews I’ve read in EW as well.
Women make the WORST movie critics, so no, there should not be more. Manholia Dargis is the absolute worst critic on the planet.
I think men and women do see many films very differently. In talking with men about movies I often find I didn’t understand something at all that was really basic to them.
However, it terms of movie critics, they are so influenced by what the elite believe are “good” movies or movies that matter to the right people, that any gender perception is written out. And yes, I’m saying most critics feel its more important to seem smart to their peers than to champion intelligent films.
I’m just gonna dive right in with this: I am a film critic. I am a woman. I am a Jew. I am a lesbian. I have a degree in journalism with a minor in film studies.
Do any of these things influence the way I see a film. Yes and no, as they should and shouldn’t.
It’s my job as a critic, first and foremost, to let readers know if a film works or doesn’t work on its own merits. Period. That’s why I can love a movie such as “Dude, Where’s My Car” just as much — though DIFFERENTLY — as I love a movie such as “No Country for Old Men.” There are times when any of my list o’personal traits SHOULD come into play (pointing out an error in reference to some Jewish tradition, for example, that might allude a gentile critic), and other times when I need to take myself out of it and just go for the ride (any Will Smith action movie, which I generally love).
The point, for readers, is to be a good consumer. Find critics you like (or don’t like) and see how your opinions line up with theirs.
… And, yes, I meant “elude,” not allude.
I don’t think the problem is with the critics….we just need better movies in general.
How about just plain ole good critics period. People who actually watch a movie, who are educated in all sides of the film business, try to review without a hidden agenda, and actually sound intelligent, like they actually have some reference to the point of the movie in the first place. The critic in question just sounds like he was bored out of his mind and therefore mentioned some lame aspect he had no context for except his own lack of knowledge about the historical accuracy and showed his juvenile mind at work. Affirmative action hiring for gender won’t necessarily prevent this though. Can’t they find anyone with intelligence, talent and a love for the movies and the process therof in general? Someone like the guys who introduce movies on AMC or Turner Classics.
Someone mentioned it earlier: Yes, David Elliot still does reviews for the U-T. It seems that he more reviews theater now, but he does sometimes do movie reviews, and he does most of them for the “Night&Day” weekend preview section. I agree that his reviews are generally atrocious, and I almost never agree with him. The other reviewer, who writes very, very short reviews, Lee Grant, is about 50/50 in my book. I don’t feel that either of them bring an especially local flavor.
Regarding female critics, I’m of the mind that there should be more women in the industry in general. I’d have to agree that there’s a serious lack of strong female characters, and as much as I hate to say it, Katherine Heigl was sort of right in her assessment of Knocked Up (though I loved the movie.) It seems to me that anytime a woman is given the type of strength as male characters generally have (anywhere other than a Lifetime movie), they come off as a b!tch.
We are making progress, though.
why does there have to be a sex issue with everything..its 2008!! why cant people realize that its not about sex its about the person no matter if theyre female or male, it should be about if theyre good at what they do or not.
being a female majoring in journalism i can tell you that a majority of the students in print journalism right now are female sooo one(or more) of those women is bound to be in some form of entertainment journalism, perhaps even writing reviews, so for anyone whos hating better get used to the fact women can be just as good, or better, than men in this type of field
Man critics are so bad. All they care about is boobies. As a woman, I’d prefer that they’d talk about the costumes. Mmmm. Costume-porn.
There definitely needs to be a greater variety of critics – especially of different races/cultures. I stopped subscribing to EW because nearly every film with a predominantly Black cast earned a negative review. I couldn’t take it anymore!!!!! I see plenty of great reviews at EW for movies that are mediocre and forgettable. Why does a movie with a black cast have to be outstanding to get a good review?