According to a 2016 report from The Center for the Study of Women in Television & Film, women comprise just 27 percent of top critics on Rotten Tomatoes and men 73 percent of these individuals. Women account for more than half of moviegoers, but “major critical outlets … aggregate overwhelmingly male voices that deliver their ratings and reviews with a splat of gender bias,” a press release announcing the launch of CherryPicks details.
The new media review service is “by and for women” and aims to offer an alternative to male-dominated criticism — “a system that more accurately represents the range of critical and audience opinion, along with high-quality content from both established and new critical female voices.” The review aggregate and rating service will use female critics exclusively.
CherryPicks is headed by producer and director Miranda Bailey (“You Can Choose Your Family”) and producer and Gurl.com co-founder Rebecca Odes (“This Is Me”).
Set to launch in March with Cherry Bites, an email subscription highlighting women in criticism and female perspectives on media, the company will unveil a full multi-platform website later in the year.
“CherryPicks will consolidate reviews into a simple four-tier rating,” the release details.
Bowl of Cherries: Great. Must see.
Pair of Cherries: Good. Recommended.
Single Cherry: Mixed. You might like it, you might not.
The Pits: Self-explanatory.
A “Cherry Check” will offer “easy access to information relevant to women as media consumers,” including “expanding on The Bechdel test to evaluate films according to on- and off-screen gender representation.” CherryPicks will also offer original content such as podcasts and interviews with females who are critics, actors, and filmmakers, as well as “a robust data service to studios, retailers, investors, and other researchers.”
“Our goal with CherryPicks is to become the leading brand for the female perspective on media,” said Odes. “The timing is perfect. The male-dominated culture of Hollywood has reached a breaking point. It’s time to start building the Hollywood of the future — one that recognizes the multi-tiered problem of gender bias — and correct it every step of the way.”
Bailey added, “For years now, our industry has been proclaiming that we need change to include more minorities and females on both sides of the camera. This would be impossible to do in a speedy fashion, unless we can change the perceived desires of consumers. How can we possibly change what consumers consider good and worthy content if the majority of critics who tell them what to want are predominately older white males?” she asked. “I’m hoping CherryPicks will prove that female artists, crew, and stories are valuable for our industry to invest in, thereby influencing Hollywood to move towards equality in a more timely fashion.”
Meryl Streep, Reese Witherspoon, and Jessica Chastain are among those who have recently spoken out about Rotten Tomatoes’ gender and race imbalance. “We need inclusivity in criticism,” the latter tweeted.
Women and Hollywood maintains a list of female film critics and writers. If you’d like to be added, please email Women and Hollywood Founder and Publisher Melissa Silverstein at melissa@womenandhollywood.com.
