May 25, 2012
"Female characters remain younger than their male counterparts and are more likely than males to have an identifiable marital status. Further, female characters are much less likely than males to be portrayed as leaders of any kind. This can be partially explained by the tendency to feature female characters under the age of 40."

—

A recent study into the on-screen representation of women in the top 100 films of 2011 found that females characters only make up 33% of all characters.  Of that 33%,  27% of female characters are in their 20s, 28% in their 30s, 25% are 40 or over, and 4% are 60 or over (presumably leaving 16% under 20).  However, male characters 40 or over make up 50%, 8% are 60 or over.

“It’s a Mans (Celluloid) World: On-Screen Representations of Female Characters in the Top 100 Films of 2011”, Martha M Lauzen, 2012

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May 10, 2012

ACTING THEIR AGE: Women, Ageing & Popular Cinema took place on Friday 4th May 2012.

This one-day symposium primarily questioned how cinema has responded to and historically dealt with older women both on and off screen.  Papers ranged from Hollywood stars ageing on screen to the scriptwriter’s creation of older characters, from the acceptable older star to the self-reflexive ageing filmmaker.  We were privileged to have two keynote speakers, Dr Sadie Wearing and Dr Deborah Jermyn, both of whom presented current research into the older woman and cinema.  Papers were also presented by Dr Martin Shingler, Claire Mortimer, Kirsty Fairclough, Deborah Brewis, Dr Helen Jacey, and Rona Murray.

If the interest that this symposium has garnered is anything to go by, now is the time for this discussion and for further work to develop.  Demand for positive cinematic representations of ageing and the older woman is high and there is a willing audience waiting to be satisfied.

This event was funded by The Research Centre for Film and Digital Media at Newcastle University.  Support was also kindly provided by The Gender Research Group at Newcastle University.  Thanks go to all of the speakers and visitors, Professor Guy Austin, Sheila Heppel, Dawn Pinkerton, Petra Hahner and Theresa Poulton.  Thanks should also be extended to our chairs for the day: Dan Horn, Mani Sharpe, Dr Carolyn Pedwell and Dr Melanie Bell.

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April 11, 2012

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April 9, 2012
"It doesn’t actually matter if we are aging naturally, or resorting to surgical assistance. We experience brutal criticism. The dialogue is constructed so that our bodies are a source of speculation, ridicule, and invalidation, as if they belong to others…"

— “Ashley Judd Slaps Media in the Face for Speculation over her ‘Puffy’ Appearance”, The Daily Beast, 09th April 2012

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(Notes: 1)
  
April 4, 2012
“Thirty years experience as an actress in Motion Pictures. Mobile still and more affable than rumor would have it. Wants steady employment in Hollywood. (Has had Broadway).” Bette Davis’s “Jobs Wanted” ad in Variety in 1962 (she was 54).

“Thirty years experience as an actress in Motion Pictures. Mobile still and more affable than rumor would have it. Wants steady employment in Hollywood. (Has had Broadway).”

Bette Davis’s “Jobs Wanted” ad in Variety in 1962 (she was 54).

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March 30, 2012
"I’m a 46-year-old black woman who really doesn’t look like Halle Berry, and Halle Berry is having a hard time."

— Viola Davis on the obstacles (older) black actresses face in Hollywood in US Weekly

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March 29, 2012
Panel Speakers Announced!

Martin Shingler (University of Sunderland)

“Bette Davis: Acting and Not Acting Her Age”

Claire Mortimer (University of East Anglia)

“Potency and Perversity: Margaret Rutherford as Miss Marple”

Kirsty Fairclough (University of Salford)

“It’s Complicated: Meryl Streep and the acceptable face of ageingin Hollywood”

Deborah Brewis (Warwick Business School)

“Feminist potential of haptic cinema and narrative form in Mike Leigh’s treatment of age in Another Year (2010)”

Helen Jacey (Bournemouth University)

“No Regrets: Creating the Older Woman Protagonist in the Biopic Genre”

Rona Murray (Lancaster University)

“Je joue le rôle d’une petite vieille, rondouillarde et bavarde, quiraconte sa vie…. The importance of Agnès Varda’s old lady on screen”

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March 19, 2012
"[I]t’s much harder to get a film with a woman lead made. When a man hits 40 is when roles just begin to happen. And for women it doesn’t happen. I find that to be a very concerning issue."

— George Clooney in Entertainment Weekly, 05th January 2012

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March 16, 2012
Registration is NOW OPEN!

You can now register for a place at the ACTING THEIR AGE: WOMEN, AGEING & POPULAR CINEMA symposium.  Please follow the link and come along!

We will also be screening Billy Wilder’s 1950 classic, SUNSET BOULEVARD, after the event.  Please indicate if you would like to attend this free screening on the registration form (end time approximately 7.30pm).

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March 2, 2012
"[Cinema is] now in pursuit of the increasingly valuable grey dollar, and out to suck up to the old as eagerly as it had sucked up to the young."

— “Why do films do such a bad job at portraying old people?”, David Cox, The Guardian, 28 February 2012

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February 28, 2012

OLDER LOVERS AND MOTHERS

Anne Bancroft was only 6 years older than Dustin Hoffman in The Graduate (lover).

Glenn Close was 9 years older than Mel Gibson in Hamlet (mother).

Jessie Royce Landis was 8 years older than Cary Grant in North by Northwest (mother).

Angelina Jolie was 1 year older than Colin Farrell in Alexander (mother).

Gloria Swanson was 19 years older than William Holden in Sunset Boulevard (lover), but was only 49 when she played the old and forgotten silent movie star, Norma Desmond.

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February 24, 2012
Watching Women’s Films

Do you identify as a feminist?  Do you like watching movies?  Watching Women’s Films is a place for feminists who consume popular culture to share their views, thoughts and feelings about “Women’s Films” today.

Please take a look at the website and take part in discussions on the forum: watchingwomensfilms.tumblr.com

I am a PhD student at Newcastle University, looking at the feminist dialogue that surrounds contemporary Hollywood Women’s Films (chick-flicks, rom-coms, roms, dramas, over the last decade).  A large part of my research is dependent on the participation of a self-identified feminist audience.  If this is something that you would be interested in being a part of please visit the website and/or email me at r.knight@ncl.ac.uk

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February 23, 2012
Is fighting against age discrimination an attack on "creative free expression"? A rather peculiar letter...

Thanks to Kerry Sheldrick for this article.

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February 22, 2012
Support for postgraduate speakers available!

Thanks to the Centre for Research in Film and Digital Media, limited travel grants are available to selected postgraduate speakers who have to travel a distance. 

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February 15, 2012
"Movie and TV actress Kim Cattrall, 53, … keeps the cougar concept at a distance, though she did date a chef two decades younger than her for several years. She recently refused to pose for a magazine cover because the publication wanted to photograph her with an actual cougar."

— An interesting article about “Cougar” women: “‘Cougar’ Women Say He Just Happens to Be Younger”, Claire Bushey, womensenews.com

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