Media Matters

Different forms of media:

• Television• Movies• Music• Internet• Video games• Print media (books, newspapers, magazines)

Different forms of media:

• Television• Movies• Music• Internet• Video games• Print media (books, newspapers, magazines)

But it’s just a movie…

But it’s just a movie…

• 1.3 billion movie tickets were sold in America last year

• We don’t even have numbers for movie rentals on online viewing…

• How many movies do you think you have seen in your lifetime?

STAND UP IF…

STAND UP IF…

• You have ever been moved to tears by a movie.

STAND UP IF…

• You have ever been moved to tears by a movie.

• You have ever blown off your family or friends for a movie or something that was on tv.

STAND UP IF…

• You have ever been moved to tears by a movie.

• You have ever blown off your family or friends for a movie or something that was on tv.

• You have felt angry over the ending of a movie that just didn’t get it right.

STAND UP IF…

• You have ever been moved to tears by a movie.

• You have ever blown off your family or friends for a movie or something that was on tv.

• You have felt angry over the ending of a movie that just didn’t get it right.

• You have ever repeated quotes from a favorite movie with your friends.

Power/Influence

Advertising Dollars

Advertising Dollars

1956 study on violent cartoons

2007 study on fashion magazines

Uncle Tom’s Cabin and slavery

“So you’re the little woman who wrote the book that made this

great war.”

-ABE LINCOLN TO HARRIET BEECHER STOWE

Birth of a Nation and the KKK

It’s not “JUST a movie.”

Several Things to Consider:

• You can be aware of a movie’s flaws and still like it.

• You can change your opinion on a movie over time.

• You can probably come up with examples to contradict what you’ll see today.

What You Don’t See

Challenge Question:

• Come up with a movie where a woman is the main character and her main problem/issue is not a guy.

Where are the Women?

In the top 100 money-making G-rated films from 1990-2004, over

75% of the 4000 characters are male

Of the top 20 grossing films in 2008, only three had female leads.

The Dark Knight, Iron Man, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Hancock, WALL-E, Kung Fu

Panda, Twilight, Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa, Quantum of Solace, Horton Hears a Who!, Sex and the City, Gran

Torino, Mamma Mia!, Marley and Me, The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, Slumdog Millionaire, The

Incredible Hulk, Wanted, Get Smart, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

And that was a good year…

For 2007, only two had female leads.

Spider Man 3, Shrek the Third, Transformers, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End, Harry Potter and the Order of

the Phoenix, I Am Legend, The Bourne Ultimatum, National Treasure: Book of Secrets, Alvin and the

Chipmunks, 300, Ratatouille, The Simpsons Movie, Wild Hogs, Knocked Up, Juno, Rush Hour 3, Live Free or Die Hard, Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, American

Gangster, Enchanted

And 2009 is more of the same…

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Up, The Hangover, Star Trek, Monsters vs. Aliens, Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs, X-Men Origins:

Wolverine, Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian, The Proposal, Fast and Furious, G.I. Joe: The

Rise of Cobra, Paul Blart: Mall Cop, Taken, Angels & Demons, Terminator Salvation, G-Force, Inglourious

Basterds, District 9, Watchmen

And the movies with women…

• The Proposal• Twilight• Sex and the City• Mamma Mia!• Juno• Enchanted

And the movies with women…

• The Proposal• Twilight• Sex and the City• Mamma Mia!• Juno• Enchanted

And the movies with women…

• The Proposal• Twilight• Sex and the City• Mamma Mia!• Juno• Enchanted

Women and weddings…

And the movies with women…

• The Proposal• Twilight• Sex and the City• Mamma Mia!• Juno• Enchanted

Women kicking butt?

Let’s compare salaries for acting:

1. Will Smith, $80 million2. Johnny Depp, $72 million3. Eddie Murphy, $55 million4. Mike Myers, $55 million5. Leonardo DiCaprio, $45

million6. Bruce Willis, $41 million7. Ben Stiller, $40 million8. Nicolas Cage, $31 million9. Will Ferrell, $31 million10. Adam Sandler, $30 million

1. Angelina Jolie, $27 million2. Jennifer Aniston, $25 million3. Meryl Streep, $24 million4. Sarah Jessica Parker, $23

million5. Cameron Diaz, $20 million6. Sandra Bullock, $15 million7. Reese Witherspoon, $15

million8. Nicole Kidman, $12 million9. Drew Barrymore, $12 million10. Renee Zellweger, $10 million

Did you know?

• That a woman has never won the Academy Award for Best Director?

• Only three have been nominated.• That’s three out of 398 nominations.

Hope for 2009?

Now playing!

• A comedy centered around four couples who settle into a tropical-island resort for a vacation.

Even worse in England…