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What women want in movies
Published: 10/22/2009 2:18 PM
Last Modified: 10/22/2009 2:18 PM

What women want? It’s something that I try to figure out daily at home with my wife and two daughters. What women want at the movies? It’s just as much of a Hollywood mystery.
Two recent young female lead performances have arrived with great hype and all the surrounding hoopla that a Hollywood marketing campaign is capable of these days — and they have fallen flat on their pretty faces.
With Megan Fox as the lead in “Jennifer’s Body,” the young woman whose beauty is known worldwide thanks to “Transformers” films but whose acting is still in question, the film was thought to be a no-brainer at the box-office. It arrived with a script by Diablo Cody (Oscar-winner for her hip “Juno” screenplay). It was a vampire tale, a cultural zeitgeist of the moment.
What it didn’t have was women lining up to view in great numbers. An early explanation from so-called experts chalked it up to the film mixing horror with comedy. That commentary felt empty after the hilarious gore of “Zombieland” opened two weeks later at No. 1.
Among the films that “Zombieland” slayed to reach the top on Oct. 2 was “Whip It,” the Drew Barrymore-directed roller derby picture starring Ellen Page (she was Juno). People who have seen the movie seem to really like it. But not many people have seen it, with the box-office at only $11 million going into its third weekend.
Why are these box-office figures so important? Because if women want movies made about women — and they tell me all the time that they want such motion pictures — then they have to go see movies made about women. These two films’ pedigrees were rare: Both had women directors, producers, writers, stars. Both have been rejected.
Maybe these were not movies that women wanted to see. Fair enough. Women of any age are known to be a more discriminating lot than teen boys.
But teen boys and young men rule the movie world, and most of Hollywood’s product is aimed squarely at their demographic. Why? Because they go to the movies more than anyone else, and they are the most likely group to pay to see films multiple times. They even, on average, buy the most concessions. Their films make the most money for everyone, so Hollywood makes movies for them.
Studios would rather make movies for boys who will see anything rather than women who may or may not see movies that studio heads figured that women would want to see. Now, after “Jennifer’s Body” and “Whip It,” they’ll say they still don’t know what women want, and it will have a chilling effect.

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I See Movies for Free

“I was born a poor, black child” … not me, actually, but Steve Martin’s character in the “The Jerk.” That absurd opening line is just one of the absurd number of film facts, quotes and minutiae contained in movie critic Michael Smith’s brain, at his disposal to toss out on a moment’s notice. It’s a key requirement as Tulsa World film critic to know these things. Michael learned a few other life facts along the way (seven years as a Crystal’s Pizza & Spaghetti manager) before attempting journalism and joining the Tulsa World in 1996, where he’s covered everything from a school shooting in Fort Gibson to a tornado in Stroud to witnessing an execution. A little community theater coverage was sprinkled in there, too. Movies engender many of his happiest memories, from standing in line for “Star Wars” and “Grease” at the Southroads Cinema to the James Bond and Pink Panther movies that always premiered at the enormous Continental Theater.

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Past Articles By Michael Smith

2/16/2013		Broken Arrow movie theater moves to discount showings
2/15/2013		Review: 'Amour'
2/15/2013		Review: 'A Good Day to Die Hard'
2/15/2013		Review: 'Beautiful Creatures'
2/14/2013		Review: 'Quartet'
2/14/2013		Shirley MacLaine to speak at Osage Casino
2/14/2013		Weekly rewind: February 14
2/14/2013		REVIEW: 'Beautiful Creatures'
2/12/2013		Belgian best picture hopeful 'Amour' opens in Tulsa on Friday
2/10/2013		'Die Hard' marathon at AMC Southroads on Wednesday ends with new film
2/9/2013		Review: 'Identity Thief' a stupid movie from stupid idea
2/8/2013		Oscar audit: Critics choices for best picture hold up over time

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