Kristen Stewart calls out Industry's 'phony' support for female filmmakers, ‘they check these little boxes’
The Oscar-nominated actress compared present gender discrimination to the past, describing it as a more "passive aggressive" approach that can go unnoticed.
Kristen Stewart, the Charlie’s Angels star, recently stated that Hollywood does the bare minimum to support female filmmakers. Except for four of them.
Stewart, who will make her directorial debut with an adaptation of Lidia Yuknavitch's novel The Chronology of Water, told Porter magazine that there is a "phony" performative structure that women directors use to achieve success in the film industry.
“[There’s a] thinking that we can check these little boxes, and then do away with the patriarchy, and how we’re all made of it,” Stewart said. “It’s easy for them to be like, ‘Look what we’re doing. We’re making Maggie Gyllenhaal’s movie! We’re making Margot Robbie’s movie!’ And you’re like, OK, cool. You’ve chosen four.”
Stewart added, “And I’m in awe of those women, I love those women [but] it feels phony. If we’re congratulating each other for broadening perspective, when we haven’t really done enough, then we stop broadening."
The Oscar-nominated actress compared present gender discrimination to the past, describing it as a more "passive aggressive" approach that can go unnoticed.
“Even if we’re still emotionally violent towards women right now, it’s so much more passive aggressive,” Stewart said. “[Before] it was just so f*cking straight up.”
Stewart opens up about her directorial debut
Stewart has been open about her difficulties in obtaining funding for "The Chronology of Water". Stewart and Andy Mingo co-wrote the script, and Stewart has been attached to direct the movie since 2018.
“It’s kind of a self-conscious thing to talk about, because it’s hard to get anything made,” she said speaking about her directorial debut. “You know, [a film] that’s not regurgitating something that’s pretty standardized. My movie is about incest and periods and a woman violently repossessing her voice and body, and it is, at times, hard to watch…but it’s gonna be a fucking thrill ride.”
However, she does not mean that "The Chronology of Water" is too narrow to attract an audience.
“I think that’s commercial,” Stewart said, “but I don’t think that I have any gauge on what that means. I think people would want to see that, but then…I think maybe people wanna watch movies about, like, Jesus and dogs.”
