The first is “Stillwwater,” the Matt Damon movie ripped from the Amanda Knox headlines about an American exchange student who gets wrongfully convicted of a murder and the father who tries to exhonerate her. The second is “King Richard,” the Will Smith movie that ostensibly tells the Venus and Serena Williams story as told through the lens of their father.
When I saw the trailers for both I immediately thought these movies should be about and center these women, but also immediately knew they only got greenlit because Matt Damon and Will Smith are big-name male movie stars. And big-name male movie stars are what Hollywood loves to sell most. Could they have gotten big-name female movie stars for these films? Of course (though, admittedly a little tricker for Venus and Serena because racism/sexism and all that horrible gravy). But they exist because men thought men should tell the stories of these three women. Sigh. You start to see why maybe we’d fantasize about the “Y: The Last Man” scenario.
Again, both these films might be really good. And, I get that Richard Williams was an incredibly important and influential force in Venus and Serena’s lives. But would you ever, in your wildest dreams, see a movie made about Tom Brady where they cast Sandra Bullock as his mom, called it “Mrs. Brady,” and then centered her instead of him, would you? (Though, if the football player is Black, they already made that movie. It’s called “The Blind Side.” Because, you know, that’s the other thing Hollywood likes to do most. Take POC stories and make them about white folks instead.) Anyway, one day famous/infamous women will get to tell their own stories. Today is not that day.
5 comments:
Also Stillwater is about a young woman in a relationship with a woman and ends up having her killed. Amanda Knox has also been very vocal about the movie's attempts to use her name to help market their movie despite the movie having nothing to do with her actual case and not asking her permission.
Wally
Um. I'd watch a Movie that focused on Mrs. Brady in a second. Or his sisters. But, Hollywood wouldn't do that. They'd make it about Brady Sr. instead. 😐
Venus and Serena's father WAS the driving force that nurtured their athletic abilities, in fact he was so passionate that he eventually got himself banned from attendig their professional matches due to his outbursts during games when he felt his daughters were being treated unfairly.
As far as the Amanda Knox movie, there was still many (Me included) who believe that she was in some way involved in her roommate's death.
Well said!
I had hoped that at some point during my lifetime I would see the patriarchy loosen its grip at least a little on the movie industry.
Those hopes have been repeatedly dashed.
That even the ridiculously low hurdle of the "Bechdel Test" had to be proposed in the first place
and that even that low bar is so frequently failed speaks volumes about the degree of obliviously pervasive misogyny running rampant throughout "mainstream society".
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