Glenn Close noted: “Ours is an industry in which very few actors are indispensable and women are cast in far fewer roles than men, so the stakes are higher for women and make them more vulnerable to the manipulations of a predator. I applaud the monumental courage of the women who have spoken up. I hope that their stories and the reportage that gave them their voices represents a tipping point, that more stories will be told and that change will follow… I feel the time is long and tragically overdue for all of us in the industry, women and men, to unite — calmly and dispassionately — and create a new culture of respect, equality and empowerment, where bullies and their enablers are no longer allowed to prosper.”

In 2017, it is starting to feel like more respect for women both on and off-screen is finding footing, or, at the very least, crawling out of the shadows and demanding to see the light of day. The crimes Weinstein and Cosby are accused of date back decades and yet they were both exposed within three years of each other. It cannot merely be a coincidence.

Consider also the fact that, in that exact same space of time (since the Sony hack of November 2014), issues around pay equity between men and women working in Hollywood have been spoken of much more openly and often. Since 2015 alone, the likes of Jennifer Lawrence, Emma Watson, Meryl Streep, Amanda Seyfried, Patricia Arquette, Natalie Portman, Jessica Chastain, Sharon Stone, and Sienna Miller have all raised their objections to getting paid less than male co-stars. What's more, thanks to the extra attention being given to the issue, prominent actors are starting to take pay cuts to ensure they and their female co-stars get paid the same (Diane Keaton and Emma Stone have both been open about their experiences with, and gratitude for, this).

More coincidentally, Weinstein's toppling occurred the same weekend that Hollywood faced one of its biggest recent shocks -- the disappointing show of the much-anticipated, well-reviewed Blade Runner 2049. Hollywood insiders were shocked to see the $155-200 million movie perform so badly, bringing in just $31.5 million during its opening weekend, thanks to the fact that women stayed away in droves (71% of ticket buyers were male).

It's not difficult to see why this epic didn't appeal to many women. Twitter users pointed out that the movie failed to pass the Bechdel Test, The Guardian pointedly explored the more sexist elements of the film, i-D called it "a misogynistic mess" that portrayed male deaths as "blunt, noble," and female deaths as "desperate" and "fetishistic." Wired noted the film portrayed: "Three female characters, not one of them voicing an ambition or desire that does not pertain to their male counterparts."

The idea that female-led movies do not make money at the box office should have gone out the window once and for all over the summer thanks to Wonder Woman, the biggest blockbuster of the summer, the second-highest grossing film of the entire year, and the biggest grossing movie for a female director ever. It's worth noting also that Girl's Trip was the tenth most profitable movie of the summer when, by Hollywood standards, it was very much supposed to be a movie for mostly minorities. Traditionally, when female-led movies do well, the movie industry gasps in shock; when male-led ones do poorly, the industry responds the same way for the opposite reasons. In the post-Bridesmaids landscape, these types of notions are outdated.

Meryl StreepMeryl Streep

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