By: E&P Staff A cover story in this coming Sunday?s New York Times Magazine by Lynn Hirschberg charges that there are ?few complex, nuanced and original leading roles? for women in Hollywood today.
One reason: Women are no longer box office draws, especially in dramas. An unnamed agent sizes up Jack Nicholson: ?He?s had lots of flops. But no one cares. But if an actress has one flop, her stock is immediately down.?
Perhaps in response, Hirschberg suggests, actresses appear more and more on glitzy magazine covers, but ?this type of exposure may be making the possibility of serious leading roles only more remote.?
The cover line asks: "How About A Movie for a Woman?"
The cover photo, and much of the story, profiles young actress Vera Farmiga, suggesting that it will be almost impossible for her to chart a career like Meryl Streep?s. She is appearing in upcoming films directed by Martin Scorcese and Anthony Minghella but laments finding good scripts or lead roles. Oddly, given the theme of the story, Farmiga appears on the cover dressed in a slip.
A former studio chief says that if Streep?s hits ?Sophie?s Choice? and ?Kramer vs. Kramer? were made today they would have to be indies, not big budget affairs.
In another highlight of the issue, language maven William Safire explores the origins of the left/right political putdowns, "moonbat" and "wingnut."
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