Monday, July 13, 2015

Topic Of The Day: Michael Eisner's Sexist Comments

Hello, Bloggers, welcome to another episode of Topic Of The Day. For today's topic, I will go into some recent news that really had me flustered when I found out about it. Recently, ex-CEO of Disney Michael Eisner spoke with Goldie Hawn at the Aspen Ideas Festival and said how, with Hawn herself being an exception, unbelievably beautiful women aren't funny. So I wanted to touch upon his choice words and why I think he is such a sexist pig.

Now, I would like to ask something: What planet is this guy from? I mean, seriously, if he believes that it is hard for a woman to be funny without sacrificing their beauty, try telling that to Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Jennifer Aniston, Cameron Diaz, Reese Witherspoon, Sandra Bullock, Sofia Vergara, Melissa McCarthy, Emily Blunt, Rose Byrne, Jenny Slate, Elizabeth Banks, Isla Fisher, Emma Stone, Kristen Wiig, Rachel McAdams, and Amy Schumer. Even Margot Robbie had excellent comedic timing in The Wolf of Wall Street and look at how beautiful she is.

Now that I think about it, Eisner's comments are one aspect of the sexism problem in Hollywood because it's hard to find a beautiful or handsome male comedian and nobody says anything. But putting women in a box and saying they can't have it both ways speaks to the gender issue that is prevalent in the industry with not just wage equality, but how actresses are trying to be cornered in terms of the roles they are given.

We have also seen female-centered comedies become a force at the box office like The Heat, Bridesmaids, Spy, Inside Out, and the Pitch Perfect movies. Not just comedies, but films in general like Hunger Games, Maleficent, Gravity, Frozen, Cinderella, Lucy, Gone Girl, and Divergent. Even Ex Machina did well in its limited release run grossing $36 million against a $15 million dollar budget. Like Cate Blanchett said in her acceptance speech at the Oscars, people want to see stories about women and it isn't a niche since those films earn money. It seems audiences are starting to progress, so I think it's time for the industry to progress as well. Why do you think a lot of films nominated for Best Picture are films about men in crisis? They don't seem willing to make change.

So those are my thoughts on Michael Eisner's rather sexist comments. Whether you agree or disagree with my thoughts, please feel free to write your thoughts in the comments section. Thanks for reading!




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