[maxlambert]

Well, that's not very surprising. People write what they know, and most of the screenplays are written by 30+ male writers.

If 20-30 year old women would write more great scripts the situation would be different.

I don't think that screenwriters owe us any social justice. All they need to do is to write the best story they can, and it's much easier to do if you can more easily relate to the main characters.

[schmichael]

> If 20-30 year old women would write more great scripts the situation would be different.

How do you know they don't?

[coldtea]

You presume Hollywood is more misogynist than profit driven, and would pass great scripts if delivered by women?

Maybe women are discouraged from becoming writers at an earlier age, but the above sounds BS.

[nommm-nommm]

This is one film student's experience:

http://thehathorlegacy.com/why-film-schools-teach-screenwrit...

When I started taking film classes at UCLA, I was quickly informed I had what it took to go all the way in film. I was a damn good writer, but more importantly (yeah, you didn’t think good writing was a main prerequisite in this industry, did you?) I understood the process of rewriting to cope with budget (and other) limitations. I didn’t hesitate to rip out my most beloved scenes when necessary. I also did a lot of research and taught myself how to write well-paced action/adventure films that would be remarkably cheap to film – that was pure gold.

There was just one little problem.

I had to understand that the audience only wanted white, straight, male leads. I was assured that as long as I made the white, straight men in my scripts prominent, I could still offer groundbreaking characters of other descriptions (fascinating, significant women, men of color, etc.) – as long as they didn’t distract the audience from the white men they really paid their money to see.

I was stunned. I’d just moved from a state that still held Ku Klux Klan rallies only to find an even more insidious form of bigotry in California – running an industry that shaped our entire culture. But they kept telling me lots of filmmakers wanted to see the same changes I did, and if I did what it took to get into the industry and accrue some power, then I could start pushing the envelope and maybe, just maybe, change would finally happen. So I gave their advice a shot.

Only to learn there was still something wrong with my writing, something unanticipated by my professors. My scripts had multiple women with names. Talking to each other. About something other than men. That, they explained nervously, was not okay. I asked why. Well, it would be more accurate to say I politely demanded a thorough, logical explanation that made sense for a change (I’d found the “audience won’t watch women!” argument pretty questionable, with its ever-shifting reasons and parameters)

At first I got several tentative murmurings about how it distracted from the flow or point of the story. I went through this with more than one professor, more than one industry professional. Finally, I got one blessedly telling explanation from an industry pro: “The audience doesn’t want to listen to a bunch of women talking about whatever it is women talk about.”

---

George R.R. Martin on writing women:

George Stroumboulopoulos: There's one thing that's interesting about your books. I noticed that you write women really well and really different.... Where does that come from?

George R.R. Martin: You know, I've always considered women to be people.