Do Female Film Critics Have the Write Stuff?

At this year’s Oscars, Cate Blanchett used her acceptance speech to address a film industry “still foolishly clinging to the idea that female films are niche experiences”. Though the stats speak for themselves in terms of women’s roles in Hollywood, the media has largely agreed with Blanchett’s assessment: that the world needs more women starring in and making films. But what about writing about film? As part of NYU’s Fusion Film Festival last week, a panel was held on International Women’s Day about the role of, and challenges facing, female film critics. The discussion, led by Brooklyn Rail’s Rachel Rakes, was partly inspired by a recent study conducted by San Diego State University which showed only 18% of reviews on Rotten Tomatoes were written by top female critics in the spring of 2013 – a percentage that has shrunk significantly from 30% in late 2007.

The panel included prominent female film writers like Slate critic Dana Stevens, New York Times writer Miriam Bale and The New York Post’s Farran Smith Nehme, who all addressed the obstacles facing female critics, including the personal attacks levelled at them by “fanboys”, and the constant struggle to find outlets that allow them to cover all films, not just female-centric works. Bale noted that having more female critics might address the issue of female directors going unrecognised, as more female voices could counter many established male critics’ supposed tendency to idolise certain male directors. “There’s something tacit about what movies women should be assigned. We can do a lot of work on that end,” added Nehme.

All the women were of the opinion that while editors happily allowed male critics to address sexism and gender in film, there’s often a reluctance to let women do the same, for fear of alienating an audience.

“‘What is the job of a female critic when talking about gender’ is the bigger question,” said Stevens, asking “how can we address it without becoming the voice of resentment politics?” This reluctance to promote writing that challenged the white male hegemony of film criticism was clearly a common obstacle.

“The niche perspective is important on sexism and even race,” said Miriam Bale, mentioning Michaela Angela Davis’ Jezebel piece on women and 12 Years A Slave as a great example of it. “But it’s challenging. People don’t know [those perspectives] are needed, and push them away. After a while I think, ‘I am a woman. I am an African-American. You need to trust my gut reaction and not your authority.’”

These women have started a fascinating conversation. Let’s see how it develops and how the industry reviews their efforts…