“That's the secret.” A former Oscar winner accuses a lack of representation of women in society and calls for unity
Julianne Moore, an American actress from productions such as “Far From Heaven” and “The Hours”, criticized the decrease in the number of leading roles in which women are cast in Hollywood and claims that representation is lacking not only in the film industry, but also in higher education and other sectors, reported AFP.
Honored at the Cannes Film Festival with the Women in Motion award, the former Oscar winner said women must unite. Their presence in top-grossing films dropped 10 percent in a year to 37 percent, according to the University of Southern California's Annenberg Inclusion Initiative.
“It's not just endemic to the film industry, it's global,” Julianne Moore said.
“There is no representation in the media, there is no representation in higher education. There are many places where we don't have the representation that we deserve,” the actress added.
“Women are each other's greatest allies and that's the secret”
Also this year, a study by the same university found that only 9 of last year's 100 top-grossing American films were directed by women.
“How do you change that? You do it slowly, steadily, by speaking out, by using your privilege, by hiring more, by talking about alliances,” Moore said.
“I feel like women are each other's greatest allies and that's the secret,” she added.
On the other hand, Julianne Moore believes that some progress has been made: “I remember not long ago I was on a set where the only women were me and the third camera assistant.”
“I said, 'Look in the room. We're the only ones here,'” the actress said.
Moore, who won the Oscar for “Still Alice” in 2015 and received four other nominations, said he ignores gratuitously violent films.
“When things are tough globally… I don't like someone getting killed. I don't like explosions and guns. I don't like histrionics. I don't like things that raise the stakes without a real feeling underneath… I don't want to watch it,” she added.
