Report: Television Violence Against Women On The Rise

Studies about pop culture are important because television helps to influence what we perceive as "normal" in our society. Today, the Parents Television Council reports an increase in depicted violence against women on television - which carry real life implications. More »

Mohican Son

Wondering what happened to Madeline Stowe? Well, she's reinvented herself as a writer/director. Her first project: A drama about a woman (Weisz) attacked by Comanches and rescued by a frontiersman (Jackman). Hmm. [Variety]

The Cosby Show's Rudy Wanted To Play A Hooker, Okay?

How apropos: Keisha Knight Pulliam plays "Candy," a heroin-addicted prostitute in Madea Goes To Jail, and on The View this morning, she explained how she made Tyler Perry give her the role. More »

Want An Oscar Nomination? Play A Stripper Or A Prostitute

A Wall Street Journal piece titled "Stripping Your Way To Success" begins: "Marisa Tomei hopes to join the host of actresses honored for playing strippers and prostitutes." Hopes to be part of that crew? Really? More »

No Girls Allowed

Ugh: "Twentieth Century Fox has pushed back the release of Sandra Bullock romantic comedy 'All About Steve' from March 6 to the fall rather than risk saturating the market with too many femme-driven pics." [Variety]

Are "Strange Girls" The New Manic Pixies?

In a review of Uninvited, a new horror movie opening this Friday, New York Times writer and culture critic Terrence Rafferty explores the “strange girl” trope that has become common in books and film. More »

Jennifer's Body Gets A Release Date

Good news for Diablo Cody fans! A release date has been set for Jennifer’s Body, the satirical demon-possessed cheerleader movie penned by the Oscar winning writer.

Hollywood Awards Victim-Playing Actresses With Golden Globe Nominations

Well, the 2009 Golden Globes nominees were announced this morning, so it's time for a new edition Hookers, Victims & Doormats*. (With the hope that you will weigh in!) The award-worthy roles, after the jump. More »

Sarah Jessica Parker Shows Range By Playing Wealthy, White New York Woman

You know the drill: when Hollywood actresses aren't being scrutinized for their looks by dude-centered gossip blogs then they're being given roles laced in stereotypes. The latest round of casting announcements proves to us that female stereotypes in films are here to stay (and probably won't go away with any actor's strike that may come up). This week, we have a large group of heavy-hitters: SJP decides to branch out her acting abilities and play a wealthy single woman living in New York in a new chick-lit-to-chick-flick film; Tilda Swinton gets seduced by Nic Cage; and Hilary Duff seduces a writer. All those and more, along with our assessments, after the jump. More »

Hollywood's Women Problem Is A Case Of Arrested Development

There are few good parts for women in Hollywood right now. This is an incontrovertible fact. When you become a woman of a certain age, somewhere after 30 and before the hot flashes begin, there are no parts at all. Karen Allen, 56, who will be in the new Indiana Jones movie reprising her role as the plucky Marion Ravenwood, tells the L.A. Times, "I'm from a generation of fantastic actresses. It's a big pool of really wonderful actresses, and so many of them we never even get to see on the screen anymore." But why? Why is Julie Christie relegated to senility and Cameron Diaz stuck in the woman-girl cul-de-sac? More »

"Woman-Girl Syndrome": Hollywood's Latest Malady

There are many actresses who have built careers on their innate adorableness — the L.A. Times mentions Cameron Diaz, Meg Ryan and Melanie Griffith, though Kate Hudson also comes to mind — and one Hollywood agent terms this studied cuteness the "woman-girl syndrome." You see, according to LAT writer Rachel Abramowitz, when these women find themselves in the throes of "cinematic middle age...their biceps are well-honed, but their options are limited." Apparently "cute" is not so cute with crows feet, according to the Hollywood establishment. Diaz, Abramowitz points out, "skyrocketed to fame essentially playing grown-up girls. But that's not a stereotype she can keep playing deep into her 30s." It doesn't help that romantic comedies don't even have female heroines anymore, as "the creative Politburos that run the studios have collectively decided that only men are entitled to their romantic fantasies, that love stories should preferably be told from the male perspective." More »

Ellen Page To Star As One Of English Literature's Saddest Sacks

Another day, another round of casting announcements chock full of stereotypes. While older actresses like Susan Sarandon have their pick of saucy-yet-loving-powerful-woman roles, the younger actresses who have yet to convince everyone they're talented sometimes pick up a few victim roles along their march to Serious Actress territory. Maybe it's because they are still pretty "fresh faces", but these talented actresses still succumb to playing victimized lovers, even in supposedly intellectual and interesting films. In this edition of Hookers, Victims, and Doormats, Ellen Page pretends she is "plain" in Jane Eyre and Eva Mendes continues to mimic Angelina Jolie's action film career. All that and more after the jump! More »

Angela Bassett: Boarding The ER Ship To Troubletown

*Inspired by Shirley MacLaine's assertion that the best parts for actresses fall into one of the above categories.

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Tilda Swinton To Feel "Irreparable Consequences" In I Am Love

Sure, there might be an actor's strike on the horizon, but that isn't going to stop studios from casting actresses in stereotypical roles! Yup, it'ss time again for another round-up of the latest movie castings in Hollywood. Unfortunately, aside from Tilda Swinton, we don't have that many big-name actresses in this week's installment (unless you count Virginia Madsen as "big," which you don't) and we're not given that much information about their characters. So, we'll just make educated guesses, like we always do! After the jump, Tilda has an affair with a sexy Italian chef, Virgina Madsen competes with Hilary Swank for some screen time and Gere-time (spoiler: she loses), and Moon Bloodgood takes on the newest Terminator movie. All of it and more, after the jump. More »

Halle Berry Will Suffer In Black And White In Frankie And Alice

Ever notice how many female characters are "suffering" in Hollywood films? "She was suffering through a break-up," "the character was suffering from an abusive past," "she will play a woman who is suffering through cancer," et cetera. It seems like whenever writers want to throw some "depth" into their scripts they will construct a "suffering" character (usually female) and is forced to learn a lesson the hard way and/or die. Sure, it can be done well (Sophie's Choice) but the suffering victim has become so overused that it is now just a cliche that talent agents foist on their starlet clients to move them into Serious Actress territory. In the latest casting announcements, we hear about more suffering women: Halle Berry plays a woman "suffering" from a personality disorder in a mix between Gothika and Queen; Rudy from The Cosby Show plays a hooker (!), and that girl who isn't Vanessa Hudgens stars in a (hopefully) campy re-make of Teen Witch. All that and more after the jump! More »

Allison Janney Taps Into That Other Hollywood Stereotype: The Shrew

Sure, there are enough hooker, victim, and doormat roles around Hollywood to keep Lindsay Lohan in Louboutins, but those aren't the only stereotypical female characters swimming in the brains of underpaid screenwriters. There's another cliché almost every actress over 30 has played: The Shrew. So, in honor of the revival of Kristen Johnston's career (and the popularity of shrews in the newest announcements of castings) we are declaring "Shrew" a new category to our Hookers, Doormats, & Victims feature! After the jump: Allison Janney and Kristen Johnston square-off to see who's baddest bitch in new comedies; Sigourney Weaver teams up with James Cameron again; and a remake of Friday the 13th promises to hack all of the popular girls to pieces. More »

Portman Muscles In On Knightley's Period-Piece Turf

Sometimes it isn't just the starlets who get stuck with the stereotypical parts in films. Serious Actresses can get stuck with stupid shit too, especially since most aren't getting lead roles anytime soon! In the latest round-up of new castings in Hollywood, Natalie Portman sets her sights on an adaptation of Wuthering Heights and Marcia Gay Harden is set to star in a sure-to-be-cancelled new drama series on CBS about journalists who help save the world. Also in the mix, two well-known Spanish actresses lower themselves to supporting roles in American films, but the good news is they are probably getting paid more than they did in any starring role in their Spanish films. More on the latest hookers, victims and doormats in Hollywood, after the jump. More »

Hookers, Victims, & Doormats

Are actresses more likely to avoid stereotypes in comedies? We know that some actresses don't think so but two of the newest casting announcements for comedies show us the two possible ends of the spectrum. Drillbit Taylor's Leslie Mann is cast to play the wife of an imprisoned man (Jim Carrey) who falls in love with his cell mate in the black comedy I Love You Philip Morris. Verdict: probably a victim/doormat. Toni Collete will star as the close friend of Maya Rudolph and John Krasinski, who play a couple looking for the best place to raise their unborn child in an untitled film. Verdict: With Sam Mendes directing and two parts of the McSweeney's machine writing, Collette will probably make out okay. [THR. THR]

Starlet Rosamind Pike To Suffer As Vain Surrogate

*Inspired by Shirley MacLaine's assertion that the best parts for actresses fall into one of the above categories.

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Guess who got another job! Everyone's fave child star turned cautionary tale, Lindsay Lohan, has inked a movie deal. What is BAngieB's pretty pretty girl going to be doing? Why, playing a loyal follower of Charles Manson in a flick called Manson Girls. Sweet! [E!]

Hookers, Victims & Doormats

Breaking! Some dude over at the Huffington Post figured out that being a female in Hollywood sucks! You're either Natalie Portman and Scarlett Johansson basically sucking face in “The Other Boleyn Girl” or you're a creaky old crone like Jessica Lange, Kathy Bates and Joan Allen in Bonneville”, saying things like “"Oh, doesn'’t that just take you back?" The writer in question, Metro film critic Daniel Holloway wonders why "women who look like Scarlett Johansson are handed roles that require them to do little more than look like Scarlett Johansson, while any woman over 45 is left in such a pickle that she jumps at any part with more than 15 lines." Man, we've been asking that question for months now! And anyway, Goldie Hawn said it best in the First Wives Club: "There are 3 roles for women in Hollywood: Babe, District Attorney, and 'Driving Miss Daisy.'" [Huffington Post]

Hookers, Victims & Doormats

Natalie Portman is sick of being offered the same degrading roles over and over again. "It's the virgin-whore thing in evidence to the greatest extent. That's really been bothering." In non-hooker casting news, Bollywood star Mallika Sherawat is playing a female yogi in The Aquarian Gospel , a film based on the myth that Jesus visited India. Also, Mad Men's January Jones has been cast in The Boat That Rocked alongside Kenneth Branagh and Rhys Ifans. The Boat is about pirate DJs (seriously). January plays an American woman who visits the DJs on the boat and falls in love with Ifans. They had us at "pirate DJs." [Mirror, Reuters, Variety]

Marisa Tomei Takes It All Off; Gina Gershon Hangs At The Brothel

*Inspired by Shirley MacLaine's assertion that the best parts for actresses fall into one of the above categories.

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Hilary As Amelia? The Geena Davis Institute Would Approve

*Inspired by Shirley MacLaine's assertion that the best parts for actresses fall into one of the above categories.

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Kate Hudson Gets Creative; Heather Locklear Goes Lifetime

*Inspired by Shirley MacLaine's assertion that the best parts for actresses fall into one of the above categories

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Hookers, Victims & Doormats

The Devil Wears Prada's Emily Blunt may need to start practicing her Texas twang: The British actress is in talks to appear in drama The Girl, playing a young Texas woman who comes across the abandoned daughter of an illegal Mexican immigrant and reluctantly heads to Mexico in search of the girl's mother. Two females, road trip, Texas...will this be like Thelma & Louise but with a less suicidal ending? [Reuters]

Hookers, Victims & Doormats

We're starting to sense a pattern in the career of Katherine Heigl! Following up her roles in romantic comedies playing an accidentally-impregnated TV producer and an unlucky-in-love personal assistant, Hollywood's "hottest blonde" is set to star as an unlucky-in-love TV producer in the romantic comedy The Ugly Truth. According to Variety, Heigl will play a morning show exec who finds herself "reluctantly embroiled... in a series of outrageous tests to prove [a sexist TV correspondent's] theories on relationships". The not so ugly truth? This time around, Heigl's male costar is named Gerard Butler. [Variety]

Hookers, Victims & Doormats

Julia Roberts, who first made her name playing, well, a hooker, continues to use her box office mojo to secure more assertive parts: The actress/mother will be both starring in and producing the film adaptation of the upcoming novel Hothouse Flowers, playing "a divorced woman who chucks her career at a New York advertising agency and sets out on a new adventure," according to the Hollywood Reporter. (Hopefully, that "new adventure" also involves a guy 2/3 her age.) Another red-headed "Julie" in the Tinseltown trades today? Julianne Moore, who will head up the supernatural horror film Shelter, reports Variety. Although the plot of the film has yet to be released by producers, it it's safe to say Ms. Moore will have to spend at least a few hours in the voiceover studio perfecting her scream. [UPI, Variety] More »

Hookers, Victims & Doormats

Marion Cotillard went home without a statuette at the SAG Awards, but the Gallic La Vie en Rose gamine may win a lesser prize: working opposite Johnny Depp. The French actress, 32, is in talks to join Depp and Christian Bale in the Depression-era drama Public Enemies, portraying Billie, the chanteuse and (probably long-suffering) gangster moll to Depp's criminal character, says the Hollywood Reporter. Dear Marion: Welcome to American moviemaking; just don't let them make you take your top off! [Hollywood Reporter]

Best Actress Oscar Nominees Aren't All Victims

This year's female acting Oscar nominees are a strange bunch of characters — and no, we don't mean the narcissistic actresses themselves. While the Supporting Actress field is rife with Hollywood's version of the female victim, the Best Actress category has some complicated characters that have too damn much going on emotionally for us to be able to tell decide if they were victims (or hookers, or doormats) or not! After all, tragedy doesn't equate victimhood and playing tough doesn't necessarily make one a hero. After the jump, we break down the characters — and ask you to tell us who's a victim, who's a hooker, who's a doormat, and who's on the fence. (Hint: We consult our Magic 8-Ball.) More »

Ellen Page Can't Wait To "Kick Ass On Wheels"

Pretty awesome news: Juno star Ellen Page will star in Drew Barrymore's directing debut, Whip It!, playing an "alterna-teen" and reluctant beauty-pageant contestant named Bliss who joins a female roller-derby team. (Says Page: "I can't wait to kick ass on wheels!"). In other Tinseltown deals, former porn star Traci Lords has signed up to appear in Kevin Smith's Zack & Miri Make A Porno. No details on what her role will entail, but it's not a stretch to say that it will probably involve... porn. More »

Salma Hayek Gets A Beard; Christian Bale Is A Hot Cop

Salma Hayek has been keeping a low profile since giving birth to her daughter, Valentina, and now she's ready to get back to work. The actress will star opposite John C. Reilly in the horror film Cirque du Freak, according to the Variety. Hayek, 41, will play a bearded lady, "Madame Truska" opposite Reilly's vampire character in the film, which is based on the 12-book children's series by writer Darren Shan. (Is a bearded lady a victim? Survey says: No.) In other casting news, actress Olivia Wilde (The O.C., House) may have finally gotten her big film break, signing on to star as Jack Black's love interest in the "biblical-era comedy" The One, directed by Harold Ramis. More »

Hookers, Victims & Doormats

Royal victim! Scarlett Johansson is set to star in the Phillip Noyce-directed Mary Queen of Scots, playing the Scottish queen, who, in 1542, became Scotland's queen (she was only an infant), and was later imprisoned on charges for plotting to murder Elizabeth I and beheaded. In other casting news, the actress who can do no wrong, Kate Winslet, is taking over for pregnant Nicole Kidman in The Reader, a drama helmed by The Hours director Stephen Daldry. [Variety, UPI]

Hookers, Victims & Doormats

Diablo Cody's ascent in Hollywood continues apace: Her hit film, Juno, made second place in the weekend box office, surpassing the Will Smith starrer I Am Legend, and, in a hat trick for women in Hollywood, the Juno screenwriter's script, Jennifer's Body, has been picked up by Fox Atomic with director Karyn Kusama (Girlfight) set to direct. The film, described as a "quirky comedic thriller", follows a cheerleader (Megan Fox) "whose perfect life goes haywire when she becomes possessed and begins killing the young men in town who lust after her." Looove it. [Variety, Variety]

More great news for women in Hollywood: A poll of motion picture exhibitors conducted by Quigley Publishing has determined the top 10 box office-earners for 2007 and, for the first time in 24 years, there was nary a lady to be found. Johnny Depp came out on top, followed by Will Smith, George Clooney, Matt Damon, Denzel Washington, Russell Crowe, Tom Cruise, Nicolas Cage, Will Ferrell and Tom Hanks. Hey, at least two of them are black! [UPI]

Hookers, Victims & Doormats

Hollywood's most famous reincarnated superstar (and inspiration for this very feature), Shirley MacLaine, is set to star as none other than Coco Chanel, reports Variety. MacLaine, 73, "will play the designer in her later years, as she set out to re-establish her reputation as a fashion trendsetter" in a Lifetime miniseries on the legendary French designer's life that will cover everything from Chanel's upbringing in an orphanage to her re-invention in her 70s. (Shirley is playing the "older" Coco, natch.) "It's a love story, it's a rags to riches story, it has some strong statements about women and about how the world has changed," the film's director, Christian Duguay, says, adding that Chanel head designer Karl Lagerfeld is helping on the production. Which means, invariably, that the finished product will end up being 90% Karl and 10% Coco, just like the Chanel exhibit at the Costume Institute a few years back! [Variety]

Hookers, Victims & Doormats

Talk about Dreamgirls: Oscar-winner Jennifer Hudson, box-office behemoth Queen Latifah, singer Alicia Keys and British actress Sophie Okonedo (Hotel Rwanda) are set to star in the Fox Searchlight drama The Secret Life of Bees, based on Sue Monk Kidd's 2002 novel of the same name. Latifah, Keys and Okonedo will play "an eccentric trio of beekeeping sisters" who take in a teenage girl (Dakota Fanning) and her caregiver (Hudson) after the two flee the girl's troubled, mother-less home. Wonder who will get top billing? [Variety]