Men, why must ye dominate Hollywood?
In an industry where there were 2.2 men for every woman in a speaking role in the top 100 films of 2015 and just 9% of Hollywood's highest grossing films last year were directed by women in 2016, the archaically sexist industry makes dinosaurs look like they’re in the first flushes of their youth.
Hell, we even need a test to monitor the depth and number of women in film.
And it turns out that Clueless (arguably The Greatest Film Of All Time) almost never existed, thanks to the prehistoric attitudes that flood the film industry,
“One studio said no to it because they didn't think anyone was interested in watching a movie about a young girl,” said Alicia Silverstone, who played the one and only Cher in the motion picture.
“Those people now do kick themselves that they were not part of that film. They were like, ‘We don't think anybody is going to care. It's not going to sell tickets,’” said the star to Variety.
It was only when producer Scott Rudin arrived from Paramount that made and released Clueless, which Alicia admits “changed [her] life”.
Silverstone, who was interviewed by American Beauty actor Meena Suvari, said that the release of Wonder Woman also heralded “strides” for the industry.
“We have made strides, of course,” Silverstone says. “Over the years, there was Mean Girls and Clueless. It’s like a few steps forward and back.”
“I was young and I thought it was really overwhelming and it was really intense," she explained. "I did a bunch of movies, and then nine movies later, I did Clueless. When it’s like, ‘That's Alicia Silverstone!’ everywhere I went, it was a lot for a little person.”
Read more: Hollywood sexism: graph exposes huge age gap between male actors and their female love interests
Silverstone added: “But then life goes on and you figure it out.”
Praise be, Paramount, for recognising a movie that changed popular culture forever. We hope that studio are kicking themselves.
Photos: Rex Features
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