Made in Hollywood

"Me? Shall I come up with a name?"

Scarlett pointed to herself and asked, "Is it really possible?"

Duke smiled and said, "Of course, my dear, this is your right."

Holding her chest with one hand and pinching her chin with the other, Scarlett Johansson seriously thought about it for a few minutes before saying a rather uncreative name, "How about 'Duke'? I think it's good. "

The corners of his eyes twitched slightly, and Duke understood that when it comes to naming names, Scarlett, like him, has no talent at all, but the 'Duke' is also good, better than the 'Octopus' and 'Chieftain'. The class sounds nice.

Following the spiral staircase in the living room, Scarlett pulled Duke up to the top deck, hid under a sun umbrella, stood by the guardrail, looked at the sea in the distance, and suggested, "Shall we go to sea?"

Since I came to see the yacht, I must go out to sea, Duke pressed the communicator and informed the captain, but it is not easy for such a long ship to go out to sea, and the 'Duke' did not leave the port until the sun turned to the west. Along the channel left the coastline.

Even though it was at sea, the weather was still very hot. Not long after staying on the top deck, Scarlett took Duke back below, and when it got dark, the kitchen brought up the veal steak they ordered.

Sitting by the glass window, enjoying the night view of the sea and tasting delicious food, the two will not go back to their Malibu estate tonight and plan to spend the night at sea.

"The yacht is big enough."

Scarlett quickly put down the knife and fork in her hand, "We can hold parties here in the future."

Picking up the knife and fork and wiping her mouth, she asked again, "You said last year that you were going to travel around the world, have you planned the time yet?"

"Honey," Duke reminded her. "It seems that your time does not allow it?"

"The executives of Marvel Studios are simply crazy." Scarlett put down the tissue and couldn't help complaining, "The screening of "Captain America" ​​hasn't ended yet, and preparations for "Iron Man 2" have already begun."

At this point, she couldn't help asking Duke, "Will you still be the director of this series?"

Duke shook his head. "I've turned down Marvel Studios."

It is impossible for him to tie himself to the Marvel series forever, and he also recommended Jon Favreau to take over this project. "Iron Man 2" is about to start, and Black Widow is an indispensable part of it , Scarlett is currently negotiating with Marvel Studios on this project, and she and Nancy Josephson are not very satisfied with Marvel's asking price.

"How are the negotiations going?" Duke asked.

Scarlett shook her head slightly, "It didn't go very well. Kevin Fitch has been using the practice of remuneration for actors and actresses in the circle to talk about things."

Because of Scarlett's self-esteem, Duke didn't intervene. He couldn't help but asked tentatively, "Do you need me to call someone from Marvel?"

"Not for now." Scarlett is not a person who doesn't know how to be flexible, she just doesn't want Duke to stand up and solve the problem so quickly. And even she has her own pride, "If it is really necessary, I will tell you."

Duke could only reach out. Gently patted her hand.

This kind of game between actors and producers is extremely common in Hollywood, and the remuneration of male and female actors varies greatly. It is also the practice in the circle.

Pay represents not only money, but also status. In Scarlett's own words, when she learned of the pay gap between herself and Robert Downey Jr. in "Iron Man 2". Totally disappointed.

It's not that she's disappointed with money. Scarlett's disappointment stems more from the status of women in the circle and the fact that she is implicitly discriminated against.

Scarlett has always been keen on political and social activities, and is also one of the advocates of feminism in Hollywood, so naturally she would not sign such a contract easily.

However, Duke is very clear that looking at the history of Hollywood for nearly a century, this is only the most normal situation. If he does not intervene, it will be difficult for Marvel Pictures to compromise.

It's just that Duke has to think carefully about how to intervene, after all, Scarlett's feelings must also be taken into consideration.

In fact, from Marilyn Monroe to Meryl Streep, Hollywood has many enduring famous actresses, and the film industry has brought them countless honors and praises. The care for women is a little insufficient, sometimes extremely insufficient.

Not only are there few female roles in film, television and comedy, they are often paid less than their male co-stars.

In Hollywood, apart from fame, status and charisma, there is another key factor in remuneration, that is—gender!

If they are also second-tier stars, acting as the hero and heroine of a movie, the salary of an actress is often only half of that of a male actor, or even less than a third.

Sexism is all too common in this circle.

When actresses learn about the pay of male actors for the same film, they often discover how much less they are paid than those lucky enough to be born male.

It's not just the salary numbers, the extreme underrepresentation of female roles on the big screen also leads to fewer opportunities for actresses to make money. Reese? Witherspoon once raised a question at an awards ceremony - women make up 50% of the population, and female characters should also account for half of the screen characters.

But anyone with a sane mind knows that this too is just wishful thinking.

The imbalance in the ratio of men and women in behind-the-scenes work is even more serious. In terms of directors, screenwriters, and producers, the proportions of women are less than 2%, just over 10%, and less than 3%.

"Why did this happen?" Scarlett knew that Duke saw much more than she did.

"It comes from a concept that is gradually becoming outdated." Duke explained simply, "Most people in the industry believe that movies starring women will not sell."

Scarlett's eyes flickered, as if there were very few films in Hollywood that were completely dominated by women and could still sell well, and since Julia Roberts, Hollywood has no representative figures in this regard, even Julia Leah Roberts, her success is also the route of the silly elder sister looking for love to please the male audience.

This has to be said to be a depressing fact.

"Honey, don't be discouraged." Duke continued, "When the audience proves that there is an audience and a market for stories starring and driven by women, then as an industry that pursues commercial interests, Hollywood is bound to pay attention to female actors. "

Strictly speaking, this situation is not serious for white actresses like Scarlett Johansson, but it is more serious for non-white female actors-including actors in continental Europe.

Although the average American woman earns only 78 percent of what a man earns, the figures for African-American and Latino women are only 62 percent and 57 percent, respectively .

This imbalance also exists in the number of non-white characters in the film.

Duke has seen a research data released by the Ann Lombok School of Communication. Among the top 100 North American box office-grossing movies in 2007, Indians and Latinos accounted for less than 5% of the lines or names. Characters representing this segment of the population are severely underrepresented, even though more than a dozen of the 100 films starred these minority actors.

Of course, this is an issue that affects all of America, not just Hollywood.

In Hollywood, it’s the lucky six-figure, seven-figure or eight-figure salaries that are affected, and elsewhere in America, it’s women struggling to provide for themselves and their families.

However, Hollywood has a high degree of attention and can always spark public discussion.

Just wanting to change this situation, even in Hollywood, which is getting attention, is not easy to achieve.

After beckoning to the service staff to remove the plates, knives and forks from the dining table, Scarlett poured a glass of water for each of them, took a sip after holding them up, and said, "You don't plan to make a film with a female-oriented perspective. movie?"

Duke thought for a while and said, "There is such a plan, but now is not the time."

In fact, he has long set his sights on a representative feminist role, but this role is too sensitive. If the film appeared too early, it might be difficult for male audiences to accept it.

When the feminist movement is more prosperous and women's status is higher, it is the right time.

Thinking of this, Duke couldn't help looking at Scarlett. If she hadn't played the role of Black Widow, she would undoubtedly be a very suitable candidate for the role, but it would be difficult for Agent Natasha Normanov to jump into another world. people accept.

But these are not in a hurry. Several years of high-intensity work has also made Duke feel tired. After the end of "Transformers", he plans to take a good rest. It is not too late to start new projects after autumn.

Moreover, the most important heroine in the film had a suitable candidate as early as last year. Charlize Theron didn't think about it for long, and decided to destroy her image to take the role in the film...

As for the leading actor, when Duke was hunting in Australia last year, he once mentioned to Tom Cruise that when he returned to Los Angeles, he could be formally contacted by someone.

Although Liangtang now has rumors of abnormal beliefs appearing in the newspapers, he is not as scandal-ridden as he used to be, and he has never done too escaping and outrageous behavior. It used to be so bad.

His appeal is strong enough, and like Leonardo DiCaprio, he firmly occupies one of the few super-A positions in Hollywood.

The male protagonist of the new project should be slightly weaker than the female protagonist in terms of setting, coupled with Charlize Theron’s strong personal aura, if you don’t use a strong enough male actor to play with her, it will definitely be the same as before , causing a serious imbalance between the male and female protagonists.

The aura is something that cannot be touched or seen, but it can be clearly reflected through the lens of the camera and the screen on the big screen. (to be continued ~^~)