The big news around the campfire yesterday was
Boom. Shockwaves. People are now saying that Heigl has taken her career and flushed it down the toilet. Commenters at the Huffington Post are using words such as “ingrate,” “petty” and “ungrateful.” One refers to her comments as “outrageous.” That commenter is, of course, talking about all the statements Heigl has made in the past as well.
“I’m going to be really honest right now, he needs to just not speak in public. Period,” Heigl was quoted saying with regard to one time “Grey’s Anatomy” co-star Isaiah Washington after it came out that he was using gay slurs to describe fellow co-star T.R. Knight.
Then there was that Vanity Fair article in which she described her feature film break-out role in
Over at The Hollywood Reporter, James Hibberd brings up the previous comments referring to Knocked Up saying, “Um, did she read the script first?” I must say to James, when you receive $300,000 to star in Knocked Up and then following its success your price tag bumps up to $6 million you don’t turn it down. What a ridiculous statement anyway. That would be like someone losing their job and having to work at McDonald’s as a fry chef and complaining, “Man, cooking fries all day really sucks,” and me saying, “Well, you are a fry chef. It is the job description.” Last I checked Heigl wasn’t getting film roles left and right, why wouldn’t she rise above what she thought was sexist for a major opportunity to advance her career?
The consensus seems to be people think Heigl is playing with fire in terms of her career. Getting a bit too big for her britches. People seem to shoot down the sexist bit, but then it continues to pop up. Charges of sexism targeted several reviews for the recent release of
Even outside of the world of Hollywood we have
So, is it too much for Heigl to comment on a film of her’s being sexist? Is it too much for her to demand quality writing from “Grey’s Anatomy” scripters? Is it career suicide to do so?
Heigl, Clinton and Sex and the City aside, remember the charges Nikki Finke made last year saying Warner Bros president of production
Warner production prexy Jeff Robinov insists he is moving forward with several movies with women in the lead. Indeed, he is offended by rumors of his cinematic misogyny.
Action features starring women remain a hard sell for many moviegoers. But Robinov said he is still willing to put a femme star into an action role. “But, like any other movie, it has to be the right movie with the right actor and the right filmmaker at the right time,” he said.
I have no idea if Robinov made that comment, but based on the films that are made the ones that focus on women don’t really do all that well overall. As Women and Hollywood point out, “In 2007, only 5 of the top 50 films starred or were focused on women” and “In 2006, only 3 movies in the top 50 starred or were focused on women.” So far in 2008 we have Sex and the City, which has now made over $100 million and is currently the #5 film of the year, Heigl’s 27 Dresses and Baby Mama in the top 20. Of the three, Baby Mama is the only one to receive an overall positive rating from critics, and I would wager to guess that is primarily due to the fact that Tina Fey is loved not only be females but males as well, which make up the majority of movie critics.
I guess, what I am wondering, is just how much is Hollywood affected by sexism? Will Heigl’s comments change anything? If it is true why don’t larger stars such as
Now that Sex and the City successfully made the jump from the small screen to the big screen will other femme features pop up just like it? Sex and the City isn’t the puff piece the majority of romantic comedies are. It’s raunchy and sex-filled stories served an underserved market in women starving to connect with a female character that is more like them and not just the dim-witted personal assistant that finds love in the arms of her gorgeous boss (I have no idea if that is a real movie but it serves its purpose).
Could
Does anyone know?
