121 years since the suffragettes, 105 years since the 19th Amendment was ratified, and 9 years since it was Hilary Clinton’s turn, and now Hollywood has a breakthrough all of its own. A new study from the Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film at San Diego State University (pictured) has heralded some new data.
According to a report in Variety, the percentage of “top-grossing” movies with female protagonists has equaled the percentage of films with male protagonists for the first time.
Of the 100 top domestic-grossing films in 2024, 42% had female protagonists, and 42% of films had male protagonists. Equality achieved!
The report highlights the strides made since 2023 when the split was 28% female to 62% male. The study focuses on the top 100 grossing movies per year only. Its filter is based on the gender of the character from which the story perspective is told.
Hold up… does this mean there are only two genders? Feels like a bigger study for another day.
Of course, there wouldn’t be good news in this space without there being something else found for somebody to moan about. Apparently, the picture changes dramatically when you look at this through an age lens. Only 26% of female characters were 40 and older, but 55% of male characters were over 40. I am sure that all sorts of conclusions can be drawn from this.
It appears that it is not an issue of male bias, as when a male directing and writing team are involved the main protagonist is male in only 67% of cases. When it’s a female director and writing team, there is a female protagonist 81% of the time.
Come on, lady directors, give a guy a break!