One of the most prominent female directors in the world has opened up about walking away from directing a huge project because it had to appeal to a “straight man”. We give up.
In a new Rolling Stone interview, Sofia Coppola retold the story of a “breaking point” she had during negotiations for a live-action Little Mermaid film made by Universal, not Disney, a few years back.
"I was in a boardroom and some development guy said, ‘What’s gonna get the 35-year-old man in the audience?’ And I just didn’t know what to say,” she said, describing the way this conversation made her doubt her ability to do her job.
Even though it wasn't discussed on the Beckham documentary, Google searches about her diet and weight are through the roof.
“I just was not in my element. I feel like I was naive, and then I felt a lot like the character in the story, trying to do something out of my element, and it was a funny parallel of the story for me.”
Sofia was also clear about the cause of this problem – the fact that “straight men” have the power to impact what gets financed. So if a project doesn't appeal to them and their narratives, it doesn't get made.
“It happens a lot because usually the people financing things are straight men," she said. "So it’s not the same point of view, but you’re trying to explain, like, ‘People, not everyone’s gonna be into what you’re into,’ but I just wanted to make things that appeal to me and express that.”
Where do we begin with this? First of all, by limiting the scope of successful film projects to ones that appeal to straight men in their 30s, we're cutting out the voices and experiences of people of other genders, ages and most likely ethnicities and life experiences. It reinforces heteronormativity and the patriarchy.
Second, why should a Little Mermaid remake have to appeal to an adult man at all? It's a fairytale, an important storytelling genre for so many people and age groups. Sofia clarified that her rendition would've been closer to the original Hans Christian Andersen story, and “much darker” than the Disney version that was eventually made.
She was even planning to film underwater for it, but was refused the budget. The impressive feat that was later achieved by – you guessed it – male director James Cameron with the Avatar sequel Avatar: The Way of Water. An opportunity that could've been seized by a female counterpart quashed due to a patriarchal bias towards male-approved projects.
There should be space for films, TV shows, podcasts, all entertainment mediums to be made regardless of whether they appeal to an older man, to ensure all audiences feels represented, heard and seen.
Of course, that's not the (current) reality. All the time one extremely specific group of people dominate the way that money is spent in Hollywood and across the entertainment industry, the stories that are told and the cultural messages that permeate our political and societal views will be male-dominated. Male-sanctioned.
And let's face it – if a successful, talented, influential woman like Sofia Coppola hits these kind of roadblocks in her career, and feels imposter syndrome as a result, what hope is there for the rest of us who are hustling for career success in a patriarchal world?
In order for our favourite films to tell stories that promote equality and cater to all voices, the life experiences of the people controlling the money and making the decisions need to be more diverse and more discerning.
“Not everyone’s gonna be into what you’re into”, and that's OK. Silencing female voices and stories due to financial and patriarchal priorities is most certainly not.
