Okay, well sexism in the entertainment industry is hardly a new concept (sadly), but we've come a long way, right?
Not so much, according to Keira Knightley. In an interview with The Sunday Times, the actress described a very shitty reality: movies cast men in leads because a female lead puts audiences — of both genders — off.
"Women will go and see a male lead, but it's difficult to get guys to see a film that is seen as 'girly,'" she explains.
"My friend was saying that she loves seventies movies, and we both realized that's because we see ourselves as the main guys in them," she continued. "When I watched The Godfather, I was Al Pacino. I wasn't his fucking wife. It's interesting that there's still this funny construction of femininity. So yes, it's nice working with hot women, because then you don't have to do this whole lovable, soft version of what the female sex has to be. It also allows men to understand women, as opposed to them being something fluffy and pink."
Knightley makes a good point — is anything worse than being the secondary character to some guy almost every time? (No.) And to add to that, she brings up another point:
"I think when you recognize it's strange that half the population doesn't have the same voice as the other half," she pointed out. "And there's minorities within minorities that don't have a voice and should have, you go, 'Ha. This is interesting.'" Which it is! More conversations like this, please, Knightley (and everyone).
What are your thoughts?
