In a new interview with Britain’s The Sunday Times Magazine, former Sony co-chairperson Amy Pascal described the lack of opportunities for female directors as “a travesty, a real travesty.” Pascal went on to say that “[t]here is a mountain to climb with the whole system geared for women to fail in films.”
The producer of the upcoming “Ghostbusters” reboot spoke about how women are undervalued both behind the scenes and on screen in the industry. “For far too long, women effectively did not matter in films, while their behavior had little or nothing to do with the story that was being told,” she said.
Pascal emphasized that she is “now determined to put more women on screen” and “make more films relevant to women” with her new production company, Pascal Pictures
Pascal Pictures will presumably make it a priority to get more women behind the camera, as well. Pascal noted, “for a woman to make a movie in Hollywood you have to go through so much rejection.”
Pascal resigned from Sony in the aftermath of last year’s infamous hacking scandal. The mogul’s emails were among the materials included in the leak. Pascal’s speculations about what kind of movies President Obama would like to see led to accusations of racism. But the biggest controversy stemming from the Sony debacle was the news that the male actors on the Oscar-nominated “American Hustle” — Christian Bale, Bradley Cooper and Jeremy Renner — all made more money on the project than their female counterparts, Jennifer Lawrence and Amy Adams.
When Pascal was questioned about the pay gap in the wake of the hack, she commented, “I run a business. If people want to work for less money, I’ll pay them less money. I don’t call them up and go, ‘Can I give you some more?’ Because that’s not what you do when you run a business. The truth is, what women have to do is not work for less money. They have to walk away. People shouldn’t be so grateful. People would know what they’re worth and say, ‘No.’” This explanation sounded very victim blame-y to us, but these days it seems like Pascal is singing a more empowering than exploitative tune.
[via The Sunday Times Magazine]
