Last year a study from Women’s Media Center (WMC) and BBC America concluded that female representation in superhero and sci-fi stories can have an empowering effect on girls in the real world. This sounds great on the surface, but things get a bit more complicated when you realize just how underrepresented women are — on both sides of the camera — in superhero and sci-fi films. WMC and BBC America’s new report, “Superpowering Women in Science Fiction and Superhero Film: A 10-Year Investigation,” found that the superhero and sci-fi movies of the past decade have “been mostly by, about, and for men or boys.”
Using data from Box Office Mojo and IMDb, the study’s authors examined the superhero and sci-fi flicks that received a wide theatrical release from January 2009 to December 2018. The report found that only 14 percent of the movies were led by women or girls. Fifty-five percent were led by males, and 31 percent featured female and male co-leads. The past five years have seen “some improvement,” with females leading or co-leading 53 percent of superhero/sci-fi films, as compared to 2009-2013’s 36 percent. However, overall, 47 percent of the last five years’ films have featured solo male leads.
Credit: WMC
Things are much more dire behind the scenes. “Superpowering Women” concluded that 97 percent of the last 10 years’ superhero/sci-fi films were helmed by men. Among the few exceptions are Patty Jenkins’ box office smash “Wonder Woman” and Ava DuVernay’s “A Wrinkle in Time,” the first $100 million-plus film directed by a woman of color. On the bright side, there as been some forward momentum in recent years. Just six women-helmed superhero or sci-fi films were released from 2009-2018 — and five of them hit theaters in the past four years.
Credit: WMC
Unfortunately, women aren’t faring much better in other key off-screen positions, either. Women comprised only 12 percent of “the most influential behind-the-scenes roles” — such as directing, producing, writing, and editing.
Credit: WMC
Another of the report’s major findings is that, in 2018, “two major motion pictures in the sci-fi genre” were both directed and led by women of color: DuVernay’s “A Wrinkle in Time,” which starred Storm Reid, and Jennifer Yuh Nelson’s “The Darkest Minds,” with Amandla Stenberg. The study declares that these two films opening within one year marks “a significant change from 10 years ago.” That’s true, but it also highlights how much work there still needs to be done in terms of representation and inclusion. Two WOC-directed, WOC-starring films are much better than none, but Hollywood should be making way more movies by and about diverse women each year.
Hopefully, that’s exactly what will happen. The study points to Cathy Yan’s upcoming Harley Quinn movie, “Birds of Prey,” as evidence that the winds are shifting for women in the superhero and sci-fi film genres. The Warner Bros. pic is the first superhero movie to be directed by an Asian American woman. ”It is history making and long overdue to have a big budget superhero film directed by an Asian American woman, as yet another milestone is crossed,” WMC Board Co-Chair Emerita Helen Zia stated. “Diversity at the highest level sets the stage for a more diverse crew and cast and a wider range of experiences on the screen that more truly reflect what America and the world’s people look like.”
Head over to WMC’s website to read the full “Superpowering Women” study and check out its corresponding infographics.
