Hollywood Missing At Least Half of Movie-Going Audience

In Hollywood, the competition is fierce, and those who once succeeded in reaching success on the silver screen have to stand their ground to maintain the stardom they’ve won.

For women, the competition is even tougher than what their male colleagues endure.

A new report from San Diego State University shows that in the films that were launched during the last year, women made up a little less than one-third of all speaking roles. In only 15 percent of these did the woman have the lead role. These facts reveal that the American film industry still looks like it did 70 years ago.

This means that there are fewer jobs for female actresses, and also that these roles are generally written for younger women. Hollywood presents an image of the world where humanity consists of men of all ages, young women, and every once in a while, an older lady.

What’s ironic about these Hollywood producers who themselves appear to be old-fashioned and sexist is that at the same time, they produce films about heroes with high ideals and who stand for what’s good and fair. It is also reasonable to question what’s going on in the business minds of producers. Half the population consists of women who would certainly be lured to the movie theater if they could identify with more of the women they were seeing. Half the population consists of men who are interested in more than just young women. Actress Cate Blanchett had it completely right, “Films with women at the center … earn money.”