The odds that someone is going to watch a movie or read a book that has worse reviews than its competition is extremely low. This study found that when a female-driven film is reviewed by male critics, they are harsher than female critics, sighting that “female writers award an average rating of 74% and males an average rating of 62% to films with female protagonists,” even though “women writers award an average of 73% and men 70% to films with male protagonists.” Do their tastes suddenly differ when a female is presented as the lead, or is there something about the storytelling that becomes unrelatable to the male critic? If there was equal representation in the critic world, maybe there wouldn’t be these ideas that female-driven comedies don’t sell or that women don’t do well as action stars. Maybe the truth is that people are deterred from seeing these movies because they are unfairly critiqued. Diversity among critics would make overall reviews, such as the percentage on Rotten Tomatoes, more honest and thus impact the way women are seen in the entertainment world.
“The Problem With Men Dominating Movie Reviewing.” The Female Gaze 10/21/18
