Over the years, Geena Davis has risen through the ranks as a powerful woman in the movie making industry. By way of her Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media, a non-profit research organization, she’s been urging film and television executives to employ as many girls as boys in children’s entertainment. Davis believes that if you nurture a child's talent from a young age, and provide them with equal opportunities to excel at their craft, it will only aid that young person in performing at their very best throughout the years. Additionally, Davis also feels as if films like Warner Bros. and DC's WONDER WOMAN are changing things for the better in an industry that always needs to evolve.
Recently, the THELMA & LOUISE, A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN, and THE LONG KISS GOODNIGHT star sat down with Variety, and expressed her thoughts on everything from starring in her new film children in film to the desire to appear in the forthcoming WONDER WOMAN sequel.
When asked about her position on the importance of creating gender equality in children's entertainment, Davis responded by saying, "I feel we’re training kids to have unconscious gender bias from the beginning by showing these profoundly unequal worlds where females take up a small part of the population. We’re showing kids that girls are less important and less valuable because there are so few of them in children’s entertainment. How are we ever going to get half of congress to be women or half of our presidential candidates to be women if we don’t change that?"
When questioned as to whether those improvements would lead to better movies being made for teenagers and adults, Davis had said, "It certainly should be the case that movies with a female character should be made more and more. Enough with the proof that it works. We’ve had “Star Wars” with a female lead. There’s been hit after hit. Disney has proved without a shadow of a doubt that movies with a female lead work. Our research shows that in films in 2014 and 15 with a female lead character, had 16% more profit at the box office."
As the interview continued, Ms. Davis commented on the notion of there not being enough female directors in the industry by saying, "Behind the camera we are trying to work on that, but that’s not as easily solved. There’s not anybody who doesn’t know that female directors are profoundly lacking. Everybody knows that. I think that’s a case of conscious bias rather than unconscious bias."
Lastly, when asked if she takes any credit for paving the way for female action stars and films, Davis was quite humble when she replied, "I would never claim credit for those movies. Certainly “Wonder Woman” needed to be made, and I’m so beyond thrilled with how it came out. I met Patty Jenkins and I told her, "I’m sure you’re going to make a sequel and if you need anybody Amazonian, there’s always me. I’m available." She then finished the interview by professing that her dream is to remain a female basdass on film for many years to come. You can tell when the actress said, "I loved it [being a female action icon], and I want to do more of those films. My dream goal would be to have a streaming show where I could be a badass."
As a proud member of the I Love Geena Davis Fan Club (this is totally not a thing, that I know of), I would welcome the thought of someone as classy as Davis stepping into the role of an amazon with open arms. To be completely honest, I've had a crush on Geena ever since I first saw her as the bleach-blonde killing machine in THE LONG KISS GOODNIGHT. Man, when she snapped that deer's neck, something inside of my heart was set ablaze. With such powerful women as Gal Gadot, Connie Nielsen, and Robin Wright having roles in DC's first female-led blockbuster, why not add someone as iconic as Geena Davis to the mix as well?
WONDER WOMAN will triumphantly arrive on a digital format that you can purchase for your very own on August 29th. The Blu-Ray and Video on Demand versions are set for a September 19th release.