That’s an indictment on the industry
Sofia Coppola has a new movie coming out (Marie Antoinette, with Ms. Dunst (!!) as Antoinette), so she’s doing the rounds. This puff piece from the ‘Guardian seemed a tad over the top, even for a puff piece.
The Oscar-winning Lost in Translation made her the most powerful woman director in Hollywood and icon of cool for her generation.
OK, first – I dig Sofia Coppola. For a nepotista who was given a horrible big intro to the biz, she’s done exceedingly well. … but icon of cool? In this universe. I mean, sure she’s gotten a nose job and slimmed down since Godfather 3 (which would put her in the ‘hip’ circles, and Lost in Translation was a great movie, but cool? How many other movies in the new wave/existentialist mode have you seen lately? How many shots have been copied? Dialogue? Scarlett Johansson’s career has taken off, but that’s because she’s freakin gorgeous and can act a bit.
Let’s grant arguendo that she’s cool, but if she’s the most powerful female director in Hollywood, then I think that is sufficient grounds to burn that city up. It’s insane that an industry that is so propelled on the backs of a multitude of the looks (and sometimes talent) of starlets is less progressive than the US Senate.
I don’t really have a way to wrap up this post. I could go on the systemic hurdles facing women in Hollywood … but that would take a good few thousand words and I’m just not feeling it anymore. Feministing, anyone?
Update: must be a meme. See, e.g., EW
