As accounts of sexual harassment and abuse continue to come out of Hollywood (and elsewhere), terms like “reckoning” and “long time coming” are being thrown around. And now, according to Jane Campion, we can add “fairytale” to the list of phrases.
Per Newshub, the writer-director described the post-Harvey Weinstein world as a “fairytale time” for women in the film industry. Speaking at a SPADA industry conference, the Palme d’Or winner observed, “Women are being believed and the men fired. This is breathtaking. I have never seen anything like this solidarity and call to action in my life.” She added, “The more we speak out [about sexual harassment and abuse], the less it will happen.”
We absolutely agree with Campion that this is a watershed moment for women in show business and we, of course, support any woman who decides to come forward with her story. However, to quote Ava DuVernay, “the onus is not on the marginalized to educate and remedy the problem.” In other words, we desperately want to live in a world where women can talk freely about their experiences — and be heard — but it is not our responsibility to fix the problem.
Campion also spoke about the industry’s overall treatment of women at the SPADA event, connecting capitalism to sexism. She identified a change of direction in the biz back in the late 1980s, a time “marked by flagrant greed.”
“[If women] didn’t make money like the men, they were irrelevant,” Campion recalled. And female characters were forced into boxes and given zero dimension.“Women were cast as hot girlfriends, sluts, loving wives, and occasionally MILFs,” Campion said.
“Top of the Lake,” the feminist mystery series Campion co-created and co-directed, aired its second season this fall. Elisabeth Moss, Nicole Kidman, Gwendoline Christie, and Campion’s daughter Alice Englert starred. No word yet on a third season.
Campion won the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay for “The Piano” in 1994. She was also nominated for Best Director, making her one of the just four women to ever receive a directing nod — the others are Kathryn Bigelow, Sofia Coppola, and Lina Wertmüller. Campion is the only female helmer to have ever won Cannes’ Palme d’Or. “Sweetie,” “An Angel at My Table,” and “Bright Star” are among her other credits.
